Familiar Escape. Caroline Burnes

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СКАЧАТЬ they were, they left in a big hurry. At night. I found some of their gear scattered at the edge of the clearing, which leads me to believe they left before first light. That makes me wonder if they had a reason to be gone. Sure, I have a suspicious mind, but that’s why I’m such a good detective. I don’t let a motive sneak up on me— I like to see it coming.

      Call me a trained observer, but I detect a bit of chemistry between Molly and Thomas. She doesn’t trust him, not by a long shot, but she felt something for him. If she hadn’t, she’d never have gone to check out his campsite. One thing I’ve learned as a private dick is to always suspect the worst of human nature. Thomas, though, strikes me as a good man. Molly asked the right question—if Thomas is innocent, why was he set up? I think that’s how we’re going to have to approach this. Thomas is the key.

      With that in mind, I hope Miss Molly Marvel doesn’t blow a gasket when she realizes what I have planned.

      We’re back at the county lockup. It isn’t the most sophisticated jail I’ve ever seen. In fact, it’s pretty minimum security. They’re treating Thomas like he’s some kind of hardcore felon, but I suspect they leave him pretty much to himself once he’s back in his cell.

      It’s a simple lock and key system and I didn’t notice any security monitors. Should be a piece of cake. I just hope Molly can handle it.

      “MR. LAKEMAN, why would someone frame you?” Molly asked him.

      Thomas found himself sitting in the interview room yet again, with the beautiful brunette seated across from him. A week ago he would have been planning a way to ask her for a date. Now he was hoping not to frighten her so badly she wouldn’t listen to what he had to say.

      “I think I was convenient. Anna always turned to me when she was in trouble. There were a few times when she spent the night at my house with Kate. Darwin was drunk and she didn’t want to go home.”

      He could see what she was thinking and he shook his head. “Nothing like that happened. Anna and I were friends. Nothing more. You don’t know me at all, but you should know your sister took her marriage vows seriously.”

      “And how do you know that?” Molly’s question sounded angry.

      “She could have left Darwin and started a new life, but she wouldn’t. She never gave up on her marriage. She was committed to it.” He watched her expression change. Something he’d said wounded her, but he couldn’t figure out what.

      “It’s too bad she couldn’t commit to a man who didn’t slap her around.” Molly’s voice was hard.

      Thomas swallowed and looked down at his hands. He knew for a fact that Darwin had beaten—not just slapped— Anna. But it would only hurt Molly to think of her sister’s abuse. Better to keep the ugly details to himself.

      “So you believe you were just a convenient scapegoat?” Molly asked him.

      “What else can I believe? I don’t have a lot of money. I write software for computers. That isn’t the most controversial career.” He saw her look at his hands, the rough callused palms. His face, too, had seen sun and weather. Even though he’d been working indoors for the past two years, he knew he still carried the look of the open range in his features. “Before I got this job I worked as a cowboy on one of the large spreads.” That was as much as he intended to tell her.

      “That’s a jump in career choices.”

      He thought he detected amusement in her tone, and it burned him. “If I’ve answered all your questions, I’d like to go back to my cell.”

      When he stood, the guard was instantly at his side, almost as if he feared Thomas might get a second victim. “I’m done here,” Thomas said, and walked to the door so he wouldn’t have to see the guard and Molly exchange glances.

      “Mr. Lakeman, I’m not finished.”

      “Lakeman!” The guard stepped in front of him.

      Thomas turned back to face Molly, a dare in his eyes. If he hadn’t realized before how much of his rights had been taken, he knew now. He didn’t even have the right to terminate a conversation with a condescending woman. They might make him stay in the room, but he wasn’t going to talk.

      To his surprise he saw Molly look down at the table. She understood what had been taken from him. “Guard, Mr. Lakeman doesn’t have to talk to me.” She stood up. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Lakeman.”

      MOLLY STOOD in the reception area of the lockup waiting for Familiar. The cat had disappeared the moment she entered the building. Now there was no trace of him. She tried not to appear impatient. What would she answer if someone asked who she was waiting for?

      She sat on one of the hard benches set against the wall and tried to gather her thoughts. The bottom line was that she was no closer to finding baby Kate than she had been five hours before. The clock was ticking away and she was useless.

      She waited twenty minutes before she stood and walked to the door that led to the cells. It was shut, and above it in large black letters were the words: Authorized Personnel Only. She opened it a crack to see if she could catch a glimpse of Familiar. He’d darted to the left, toward the cells, when the guard had taken her to the interview room on the right.

      She thought an alarm might sound when she opened the door, but to her surprise nothing happened. It was going on five o’clock, and the few office workers were preparing to leave. No one seemed particularly interested in what she was doing.

      But where was that darn cat?

      The door was painfully wrenched out of her hand and she was pushed back into the waiting room by a large man.

      “What—”

      “Give me your keys!”

      At first she didn’t recognize Thomas Lakeman, but when she did, she froze. He was out of his handcuffs and out of his cell.

      “Molly, give me your keys!” He increased his grip on her arm enough to startle her out of her shock.

      “What’s going on?”

      Before Thomas could answer, Familiar appeared from around the corner, jumped onto her purse, and tugged it from her arm. In a flash he’d dug out her car keys and scooted them across the floor to Thomas.

      Without ever letting go of her arm, Thomas scooped up the purse, the keys and the cat. Dragging her behind him he ran out the front door of the building.

      “I’m sorry,” he said as he pushed her into the passenger seat of her car. In five seconds he was behind the wheel with Familiar right behind him.

      Thomas burned rubber as he put the eight-cylinder SUV in reverse and pulled out in front of oncoming traffic. Without a second’s hesitation, he jammed the gas pedal to the floor and the car shot forward as several police officers swarmed out of the building.

      “Stop!” an officer cried as he drew his weapon.

      Molly felt Thomas’s hand on her neck as he pressed her down. The passenger window exploded and then they were gone. Behind them several panicked drivers had collided, effectively blocking the street.

      Molly sat up. She didn’t really believe СКАЧАТЬ