back toward her chair. “You look exhausted. Sit down before you fall down.”
A weak smile pulled at her lips, and she allowed him to guide her back into the chair. “Thank you, Brad. I know this is a shock for you to find me here, but I had to see you.”
After she was settled, he pulled a chair up from the other side of the room and sat down facing her. “I didn’t even know you were in Memphis. One of the officers said you were found walking on Mud Island last night. What happened?”
Her face crumpled, and big tears rolled down her face. “Oh, Brad, it was awful. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
No matter how much he’d tried through the years to steel himself when a victim started crying, he’d never been able to ignore a woman’s tears. The fact that this was a woman he’d once been engaged to only made it tougher. He swallowed hard and glanced around for the box of tissues he and his partners kept in the office for times like this.
He pulled one out and handed it to her. “Take your time. Just tell me when you feel up to it.”
She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “Let me start by asking if you saw Grace’s interview on the news last night.”
He frowned and shook his head. “No. Who did she interview?”
“Me.”
“You? What...I mean, I don’t understand.” He shook his head in dismay. “Whoa, Laura. Back up here. How long have you been back in Memphis? It must have been some time if there’s something Grace needs to interview you about.”
She glanced down at her hands and twisted her fingers together. “I’ve been back for over a year now. Grace and I share a house in midtown Memphis. It works for us because she’s close to the television station, and I’m near Cornerstone Clinic where I work.”
He sagged back in his chair, his mouth gaping open. “A year? And you didn’t let me know? What do you do at Cornerstone?”
“I’m a forensic nurse. I counsel patients there, and we contract with the hospital and the police to counsel crime victims. I really enjoy this work.”
He stared at her a moment, trying to digest what she’d just told him. “I can’t believe I didn’t know this. I’ve seen Grace reporting at several crime scenes in the past year, and she never said a thing about you being back.”
Her face flushed. “I asked her not to tell you if she ran into you.”
“Why not? I thought she was my friend, too. At least she was all the time we were in school together.” A feeling of betrayal flowed over him as the angry words spewed from his mouth.
“Oh, she is, Brad. But I didn’t want her put in the position of having to explain my presence in Memphis to you. After all, we didn’t part on the best of terms.”
A snort of disgust rumbled in his throat. “That’s putting it mildly.”
She sighed and straightened in her seat. “Well, no matter what happened in the past, you’re a detective in the police department, and I need your help.”
Brad took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. There’s no changing what happened in the past. So let’s deal with the present. Tell me what happened to you last night.”
She looked as if she might say something else, but instead she bit down on her lip and nodded. “I should never have let Grace talk me into doing that interview about my parents’ murders.”
“What?” He scooted to the edge of his seat, his eyes wide. “Don’t tell me you went on television and talked about the car bombing.”
“I did. It was totally the wrong thing to do.”
A sick feeling started in the pit of his stomach, and he swallowed back the bitter taste flooding his mouth. “That’s an understatement. What happened?”
He listened as she related the events of the night before. With each word his heart sank, and he balled his hands into fists at the look of fear in her eyes. She wiped at a tear as she told him how she’d stood in the river with the water nearly to her knees as she’d waited to die, and he clasped his hands together to stop the shaking. He could visualize how she must have looked as she waded from the river and fell on the bank.
“I started walking. I thought I might be able to make it back to the hospital where my car was parked, but the two police officers happened to drive by. They picked me up and brought me downtown.”
When she finished, Brad sat silently as he tried to relax and get his heartbeat back to normal. Finally he spoke. “So you never saw the face of your abductors?”
“No.”
“When the man spoke to you, was there anything familiar about his voice?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“And he told you there would be something on the news about history repeating itself?”
“Yes. It was like a threat that the same thing could happen to me. But I haven’t heard the news today. Do you know what it might be?”
He waved his hand in dismissal. “It doesn’t matter right now.” He let his gaze drift over her again. “Why didn’t you tell the officers who picked you up what had happened?”
Her face flushed. “Because I was afraid. I don’t want word to get back to these people that I talked with the police. I knew I could trust you to tell me what I should do.”
He scowled at her. “I wish you had asked before you did that interview. I would have told you not to do it.”
She sighed. “I figured that out for myself when I woke up and found myself tied up and blindfolded. What do you think I should do now?”
He studied her for a moment. “When was the last time you ate?”
She thought for a moment. “Yesterday at lunch. I didn’t have time for dinner last night.”
He pushed to his feet. “Then the first thing we need to do is get you fed. I know a place that serves a great breakfast.”
She stood up. “But I don’t have time for that. I have to go home and get ready for work.”
“You’re not going to work today. Call in and tell them while I check with my partners about covering a case for me.”
She shook her head. “Brad, really I don’t have time, and I don’t want to take you away from your other cases.”
“Laura,” he snarled, “don’t argue with me. You have just come on the radar of some very dangerous people, and we need to talk about this some more. So whether you like it or not, for the time being we’re stuck like glue. Later we’ll figure out what we need to do to keep you safe.” He pointed a finger at her. “Now call your boss while I get in touch with my partners, then we’ll go to breakfast.”
He strode from the office and closed the door behind him. He walked a few steps down the hall before he stopped, leaned against the wall and punched in the number of Alex Crowne,
