Broken Promises (7 page)

Brad’s eyes widened, and he pulled at his
shirt collar. “You know I’d never be unfaithful to your
sister.”

“How do I know something like that?” Alex
leaned back and made himself comfortable. “Can’t blame you. Most
men wouldn’t turn down a little strange if they’re out of town and
no one’s the wiser.” He spread his hands over the table like a
dealer spreading cards. “Just tell ’em who you were with that
night. Jackie never has to know.”

Brad wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I’m
a good husband. Instead of sitting down to another rubber chicken
dinner, I went to the bar for a drink. Just to decompress. I-I
never had any intention of meeting someone.”

Bingo
. “But you
did
meet
someone?”

“Yeah. Guess I had too much to drink. Anyway,
we ended up in my hotel room.”

Sonofabitch!
“You fucked her?” Of
course he did—cheating bastard.

“Yeah.” Brad wiped the sweat from him
forehead. “Man, she was wild. Turns out she was a pro.”

“Not like you can put that on your credit
card.”

“Hell, no.”

No proof. Just his no-good, cheating
brother-in-law’s word. “Tell me you at least got her name.”

Brad’s expression brightened. “Brandi.”

“Dude, half the hookers in the world go by
Brandi. You gotta do better than that.” He eyeballed his miserable
excuse for a brother-in-law. “You better be straight with me.” Not
for a New York minute did he believe Brad was telling the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

“I didn’t have anything to do with Jackie’s
disappearance. I swear.”

He leaned across the table, got in his
brother-in-law’s face, and lowered his voice. “You better not have,
because I will kill your ass if you did.”

Brad paled and pushed back. “I swear I didn’t
hurt her. She’s the mother of my son. What kind of man do you think
I am?”

Alex stood and slapped both his hands on the
table, causing Brad to flinch. “The kind who cheats on his wife the
first chance he gets.” With that, he spun on his heel and left his
sorry brother-in-law to stew in the interrogation room.

Outside, he shook his head and spoke to
Spitz. “He’s still holding something back. Are you running his
phone records?”

“Warrant’s in the works. But we’ll get them.”
Spitz stroked his mustache. “Think he’s got something on the
side?”

“Wouldn’t be surprised. He admitted to the
hooker quick enough. Too quick. Could be more.” Time to play nice
with the locals. “Mind if I check out his story with the bartender
on duty at the hotel that night?”

“Suit yourself.” Spitz’s expression
brightened. “Don’t mind at all. This is a small department, and
sending someone to the city is a drain on time and manpower.”

If Spitz thought Alex was going to leave
Canandaigua long enough to interview the bartender, he was sadly
mistaken. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Spitz.” He
pulled out his iPhone, called the hotel, and talked to the
bartender who was on duty the night before. After obtaining a copy
of his brother-in-law’s driver’s license photo from the obliging
Detective Spitz, Alex emailed it to the bartender. Unfortunately
for Brad, the bartender couldn’t corroborate his brother-in-law’s
presence the night before and obviously couldn’t give any kind of
description of the working girl he’d picked up.

Alex shook his head. “No alibi.”

“No alibi. That does it,” Spitz said. “I got
enough to hold him forty-eight hours. “By then, we’ll have some of
the reports back on the evidence from your sister’s house and
office.”

“Anything promising?” Man, what he wouldn’t
give to get his hands on his brother-in-law’s computer. “How long
before we can get back in the house?”

“I’ll let you know.”

“You took the computers?”

“Sure thing.”

Alex smiled and nodded his approval. Even if
he couldn’t access the family’s computers, at least the locals had
the brains to confiscate them. “Bette’s too?”

“Yeah, hers too.”

Good thing he’d left his Bureau-issued
computer in his rental car or the locals might’ve tried
confiscating that one too. Not that it would’ve done any good. At
least with access to the federal data bases, he could do some
digging on his own. And the first thing he wanted to know was if
there were similar cases logged into the Violent Criminal
Apprehension Program or ViCAP.

Now what he needed was to get back to the
motel and get to work. Bette was probably chomping at the bit to
get back into her apartment, but if Spitz was halfway telling the
truth, it would be at least a couple of days before she could
settle in with her new four-legged companion. At the thought of the
dog, Alex shivered. Involuntary, but there it was.

~~*~~

While Alex was out playing special-agent man,
Bette took Shadow for a long walk along Eastern Boulevard, then
toward Muar Lake. Ducks were swimming in the small man-made lake,
and tall trees gave dappled shade and cool respite from the bright
summer sun. A small shop sold frozen custard, but she couldn’t take
the Sheltie inside. Luckily, it had a walk-up window where she
could buy a cone of the rich creamy treat. It’d been ages since she
tasted frozen custard. Certainly couldn’t find anything like it in
Nashville.

She licked the cone of latte-flavored custard
and sat on a park bench. Shadow gazed at her intently, not quite
begging, but there was no mistaking what the small dog wanted.

Watching the ducks swim in leisurely circles
was so relaxing. Bette’s eyelids grew heavy.

Without warning, the hair rose on the back of
her neck. The Sheltie pulled at the leash as if she saw something
to chase. Bette straightened, whipped around, looking for whoever
was watching her.

No one. At least no one she could see. But
she hadn’t imagined it. Oh, no. And Shadow had certainly reacted to
something as well. Whether it was a scent or a sound inaudible to
human ears, she didn’t know. Clouds had covered the sun, turning
the bright day into one of shadows. She shivered and rubbed her
arms.

“Time to go, Shadow.”

Somehow, the walk back to their room seemed a
lot longer. More urgent. The gloom deepened, and fat drops of rain
splattered on the concrete ahead of them. She picked up their pace
to a jog, and the small dog managed to keep up through the
downpour.

~~*~~

Bette’s T-shirt and shorts were soaked by the
time she and one very wet dog reached the motel. Just as they
dashed inside the motel lobby and headed down the hall, Alex
emerged from their room. “Where the hell have you been?”

She scowled. “What does it look like? I was
walking Shadow—thank you very much.” She rubbed her arms to abate
the wet chill. “I’d like to get dry, if it’s not too much
trouble.”

He shook his head but unlocked the door and
let them inside. “I was afraid someone might’ve grabbed you
too.”

She brushed past him, then turned. “Grabbed
me? With this ferocious guard dog?” She held back a shiver. Should
she tell him about the weird feeling someone was watching her? More
likely it was just her imagination.

She walked into the bathroom and grabbed a
towel, then bent down to dry the Sheltie’s fur. Once she’d gotten
Shadow’s coat as dry as possible, she dried the dog’s dainty paws,
one by one. She straightened and reached for another towel.

“What’re you holding back?” Cocking his head
to the side, Alex stood with his arms folded across his chest.
“What happened while you were gone?”

“Who said anything happened?” Damn. Was the
man a mind reader?

“Your expression. Body language. Eyes
averted. Hesitation. Come on, Jersey, spill it.”

Still holding the towel, she straightened,
set her hands on her hips, and glared. “Is this how you interrogate
suspects? I really need to get out of these wet clothes.” She
wrapped the towel around her head, turban style.

“Don’t change the subject.”

“It’s silly…really.”

She walked over and plopped on the bed,
patting the bedspread beside her for the dog. “We walked down to
Abbott’s for a frozen custard.” She bent and untied her shoes, then
toed them off.

“You walked? Why didn’t you drive?”

“It’s not that far. Besides, Shadow needed
some exercise, and so did I, for that matter.”

“Okay, you picked a hot afternoon for a walk
along one of the busiest streets in town. Go on.”

“I was sitting on one of the benches behind
Abbott’s and just relaxing. Enjoying the shade and watching the
ducks. Then the hair on my neck prickled. At the same time, Shadow
alerted to something. I couldn’t see anything, so I figured it was
just a squirrel.” She gave a self-conscious laugh. “Anyway, I
decided we might as well move along and get back here. So, did you
see Brad?”

“You just changed the subject again. First of
all, you’re not to go anywhere without me until this is settled.
And yes, I saw my brother-in-law. His alibi hasn’t checked out—not
yet, anyway.” He couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth about
what her boss’s husband had been up to in the city.

Her brows drew together in a frown. “I’m sure
someone must’ve seen him. You just have to keep trying.”

Yeah, right
. Alex shook his head. “Are
you sure there haven’t been arguments? Over money or another
woman?”

She let out a huff. “I’ll have you know I
keep to myself, and I
don’t
meddle in their business. Now,
I’m not saying there’s never a cross word, but they’re few and far
between. Anyway, why are you so pissed off at Brad? I don’t believe
for a New York minute that he would hurt her.”

“I don’t have the luxury of your faith in the
man. The husband is always a suspect. I’ve seen cases, time and
time again. A woman disappears, and come to find out the husband’s
unfaithful. And what do you know, he can’t prove his alibi. It’s a
freaking cliché. No, it’s worse than a cliché. Nine times out of
ten, it’s murder.” He paced back and forth, his long strides
covering the length of the room.

She hopped from the bed, crossed the room,
and rested her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I wish I were more
help.”

At her touch, he stopped pacing, sank down on
his bed, and buried his face in his hands. “It’s my fault. I
should’ve come home more often. History’s repeating itself—that’s
the worst part.” His blue eyes clouded with despair. His body
seemed to shrink.

“What do you mean?”

He chewed his bottom lip for a moment before
speaking. “Jackie and I—we had a brother. My twin. He’s dead. That
was my fault too.”

“What? How? But only if you want to tell me.
Remembering is obviously painful for you.” She wanted to reach out,
touch him, but couldn’t quite bring herself to do it.

“We were fourteen. At the movies. Can’t for
the life of me remember what was showing.” He shook his head. “Andy
liked the movie. I didn’t. I went out for sodas and promised him
I’d be right back. But there was this girl I liked, playing one of
the video games. We got to laughing and cutting up. We left the
theatre and walked down to the strip mall for ice cream. When Mom
came to pick us up, Andy never came out of the movie theatre.”

“What happened?” Then she remembered Gloria
Mason’s passing remark in the office parking lot, and even the
sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach didn’t quite prepare
her for the grisly details.

“Three months later, they found his body on
Bristol Mountain. He was still wearing his ID bracelet. One just
like mine. If I hadn’t run off and left him in the movie, he’d be
alive today.”

“It wasn’t
your
fault. Did they ever
find who killed him?”

“Nah. Police figured it was a predator.
Another kid had disappeared in similar circumstances a couple years
earlier. Had to be someone local. And really careful.”

“I’m so sorry.” Helplessness flooded her.
More than anything, she wanted to take him in her arms and give him
the comfort he needed. Not knowing how he’d take such a gesture,
she held back. It was a quick way to get rejected, and that was the
last thing she needed to worry about right now.

“It would’ve happened anyway.” She took a
deep breath before continuing. “What I mean is that this predator
would’ve taken someone that day or another day. Just like whoever
took Jackie could’ve taken me just as easily. I don’t know if you
call it fate or karma, but that’s just how it is. You said yourself
it wasn’t my fault Jackie was kidnapped, but I know how the
responsibility weighs on you, because it weighs on me too.”

“I’m worried he might come back for you.” He
took a breath. “At the very least, you’re a witness.”

The realization that Alex was worried about
her hit her. “Witness? That’s rich. The police think
I’m
involved, except when they’re thinking she ran away on her own.
What about Brad? Do you really suspect him?”

“I have to consider him. Thing is, if I’d
been around more, I might have a better feel for the guy as he is
now. When I was a freshman, Brad was a senior. He was a jock, your
basic prick, and a bully, especially to freshmen.”

“I see.” Had to be some bad history there.
And as much as she wanted to comfort him with more than words, she
held back. “Surely everyone understood why you couldn’t be home
more. You’re doing good work with the FBI. You’re taking down the
bad guys.” Realization hit her. “Your brother—that’s why you joined
the Bureau, isn’t it?”

He nodded, his mouth twisted into a wry
half-smile. “Have to admit it gives me satisfaction when we close a
case and have a suspect in hand.”

A cell phone chimed. “It’s mine,” he said and
pulled it from his belt. “MacGregor.” He paled, nodded several
times, then set the phone down. He looked at her, eyes wide. “My
nephew—Cody’s gone.” Cursing, he jumped up and threw the cell
across the room.