“She’s dead.”
Her mouth hung open. “What?”
“And you don’t want to see her. Shit, no one wants to see that.”
The drumming of her heartbeat was even louder. She had to get into the office. “Okay.” Soft. Uncertain. “Okay.” Alice spun away, sure he would follow. “We’ll call the cops. We’ll get them here.”
She heard the faint pad of his steps as Saint moved to follow her. After waiting half a beat, Alice did a fast turn to the right. She shot past him even as he swore and grabbed for her.
She made it to the door. His arms curled around her stomach and hauled her back, but her hands slapped out and touched the edges of the doorframe because she had to see for herself if—
OhmyGod.
Alice sagged back against Saint.
“Sweetheart, I tried to warn you.”
Her body shuddered.
She could see Tracy. See her perfectly. The other woman was in Alice’s office. In Alice’s office…in her prized magical prop, the water torture chamber. Only the chamber wasn’t empty. Someone had hooked up a hose and run it from Alice’s bathroom sink all the way to the chamber. The water had overflowed from the cell. Soaked the carpet.
Tracy floated in that torture chamber. Her hair drifted around her, and her bound hands—and feet—were clear to see through the glass.
Alice’s knees gave way. She would have fallen right then, but Saint’s grip held her upright.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. He was more hugging her than holding her. “I’ve got you.”
He was so wrong. She wasn’t okay. He wasn’t okay. Nothing was okay.
Chapter Eight
They’d separated him from Alice. A move that Saint understood, but it still pissed him off when he found himself cooling his heels in an interrogation room at the police station. After finding Tracy, he’d called the cops. Alice hadn’t said a word. She’d looked shell-shocked. Too pale. Too brittle. He’d wanted to wrap her up in his arms and keep her safe from everything and everyone…
But there was the little matter of a gruesome murder to handle. A murder that had been committed in Alice’s office.
Fuck.
“So, let me see if we have this straight.” The detective in front of Saint gave him a tired smile. Heidi. Heidi Lockett. Fairly fresh-faced, but her eyes were sharp. Her partner, Jamal Preacher, looked older, and his eyes said he’d seen too much depravity during his time on the force.
Both seemed competent. And suspicious as hell.
Heidi tapped the table. “You and Alice Shephard entered the office together and discovered the body.”
“Not one hundred percent correct.” They’d been through this before. “I entered first, saw the body, and asked her to stay outside. Figured the less contamination of the crime scene, the better.” And he just hadn’t wanted Alice to see the other woman that way. There were some images you didn’t need in your head.
“But Alice didn’t listen to you. She pushed her way inside?” From Jamal.
More like blasted past him in a flash. He’d have to remember she could be very, very quick on her feet. “She looked inside. Not so much a push as a dodge.” He hadn’t seen it coming because he’d been too busy trying to figure out who the hell had killed Tracy.
“Tracy Eldridge was your client?” Now Heidi was talking again. She and Jamal kept swapping turns with questions. They had a smooth partner relationship going, he’d give them points for that. A nice, fast pace of rapid-fire questioning to keep the suspect off balance.
And Saint did think he might just be a suspect. For the moment. He also damn well knew Alice was at the top of their list. “Tracy came to my office because she wanted help in solving a cold case.” He didn’t glance at the one-way mirror to his right, though he did wonder who might be in there, watching him.
“Her brother’s case?” Jamal asked.
“That would be the one.” A cold cup of coffee sat in front of him. He hadn’t touched it. Didn’t intend to do it. The cops would always keep the coffee coming because the caffeine would hype up perps and make them need to use the restroom. Anything to get a perp nervous or unbalanced.
Jamal shared a look with Heidi before querying, “And how much did Tracy pay you to take the case?”
No sense lying. “She offered two hundred grand for me to find conclusive proof that Alice killed Donovan.”
Jamal whistled.
“I never cashed the check. It’s still in my desk, back in Florida. The Ice Breakers work pro bono.”
“Uh, huh.” Heidi’s doubt was clear. “But you took the check. What did you do, just put it in your desk for fun?”
“No, I did it to calm her down.” And he stayed perfectly calm as he kept answering questions. “I got the feeling that if I didn’t take the case, she’d go to someone else. Someone who might be willing to do just about anything for two hundred grand.”
Jamal leaned forward. “And you wouldn’t? Do just about anything, that is?”
He didn’t take the bait that Jamal offered. No way was he going to lose his cool. “I have plenty of money. I’m not desperate these days.”
Jamal rubbed a hand over his carefully shaven jaw. “Sometimes, it’s not really about money, though, is it? Lots of other things can motivate a man. Not just greed. Plenty of other sins out there.” He frowned at Heidi. “I might be called Preacher, but you’re the one in church all the time. Remind me, what were those seven deadly sins? Greed and gluttony…”
“The cardinal sins.” Heidi’s focus on Saint hadn’t faltered. “Greed, pride, wrath, envy, gluttony, sloth, and, of course…lust.”
Saint couldn’t help it. A slow smile spread over his lips. “That the best you’ve got?” A disappointed shake of his head. “And here I was, being impressed. Thinking that the two of you were more than marginally competent. Then you had to go and shatter my hopes and dreams.” He released a despondent sigh. “If you’re saying I killed Tracy due to some insane lover’s quarrel—”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all.” Heidi leaned forward. “Tracy was after Alice Shephard. The same Alice Shephard that you have been seen with on multiple occasions.”
“Because I was investigating her.”
“Just this morning,” she continued, as if he hadn’t spoken, “a uniform reported that you and Alice were together in Forsyth Park. That someone tried to shoot you…or perhaps tried to shoot Alice.”
“Yes. That happened.”
“The uniform noted that you and Alice seemed quite…friendly.”
He lifted a brow. “Odd detail to note.”
“Not really.” Jamal rose from his chair. Began to leisurely pace around the small room. “Pretty sure Alice has a history of getting men to fall for her at the drop of a hat. You’d just be the latest in a long line. And maybe you got pissed when you realized Tracy had gone over the edge. That she was targeting Alice, so you decided to eliminate a problem for your new girlfriend.”
They were seriously suggesting that he’d killed Tracy for Alice?