My throat thickened. “Yes.”
“Why did you tell him your name was Theresa?”
My eyes burned with tears but I refused to blink as I raised my voice. “Because he was gorgeous and charming and interested in me, and I didn’t want to tell him that I was a broke, single mother whose husband had abandoned her for someone else! For one night, I wanted to know what it felt like to be Theresa!”
Nick took a step back. He rubbed a hand down his face. “Did you meet up with him that night?”
I shook my head. “He followed me out to my van to make sure I was sober enough to drive home. He asked me if I wanted to stay until the end of his shift, but I was late to pick up the kids at my sister’s. He gave me his number and told me to call him sometime. Things just sort of happened from there.” I hadn’t had to think about my answer. Every word I’d spoken was the truth.
Nick nodded, his relief palpable, making me realize where his line of questions had been leading from the beginning. None of this was about my fling with Julian. Nick was establishing my alibi, confirming Julian’s story that I had nothing to do with Harris Mickler’s disappearance. That I couldn’t have been the same blond woman Harris left the bar with. Because if I was, it would change everything.
Nick’s voice was gravelly when he asked, “Do you still have feelings for him?”
“Maybe. Sometimes. I don’t know,” I said through a frustrated sigh. “Julian made me feel desirable and sexy and smart. Like all he saw was me. None of the rest of it mattered to him—the kids, the divorce, my failing career. None of it…” I frowned at the floor as those words sank in. As I finally answered the question that had been gnawing at me for weeks. “None of it was important to him,” I finished under my breath.
Nick tucked a finger under my chin, pulling my reluctant gaze to his, holding my head up. “Youaredesirable and sexy and smart. But you’re also resourceful, resilient, and courageous as hell, and any partner who doesn’t see all of you isn’t seeing the most amazing parts.” His full lips were close, dusted in dark stubble, and my heartbeat quickened as I remembered how it had felt to kiss them. He eased back and let me go, but it did nothing to quell the sudden tension between us. His mouth thinned as a fist pounded against the door.
“Nick!” Joey’s voice boomed outside. “You in there?”
Nick called out, “Not a good time, Joe!”
“Get your ass out here. We need to talk.”
Nick dropped his head as the doorknob rattled. “I swear to god, I’ll kill him and they’ll never find the body,” he muttered. He limped to the door and threw it open. Students hovered in the hall, whispering behind cupped hands as a handful of officers looked on in amusement. Nick pulled the door closed behind him, leaving it cracked. I spotted Vero in the crowd. Our eyes caught through the narrow opening.
I peeked out as Nick grabbed Joey by the collar. “The next words that come out of your mouth had better be the most important ones you’ve ever spoken.”
Joey answered with the only two that mattered. “Zhirov escaped.”
CHAPTER 27
I braced myself against the doorframe of the maintenance closet, mirroring Nick’s shock as a hush fell through the hall.
Nick blinked at his partner. “What did you just say?”
Joey lowered his voice. “They think Zhirov escaped early this morning. Correctional officers said they saw him in his cell before lights out last night. This morning, he refused to get out of bed, claiming he had a headache. The officer on duty said he never got a good look at whoever was in the bunk, but when they opened his cell this afternoon, the guy wearing Zhirov’s jumpsuit didn’t match any of the inmates on record. They’re still trying to ID him, but they suspect he’s a Russian national.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Nick released Joey’s collar. “Has anyone talked to his attorney?”
“Kat’s slinging the usual crap. Claims she had no idea. She’s spinning it around, citing negligence on the department’s part, crying to anyone who’ll listen that her client had been receiving threatening letters and was probably abducted while he was in custody. She’s demanding an investigation.”
Nick raked a hand through his hair as he paced. “She’s full of shit. She and Zhirov are working this whole blackmail angle to their advantage. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Kat probably orchestrated the whole damn thing.”
“Careful,” Joey said, darting glances at the other cops lingering in the hall. “She’ll sue you for slander and take you for every cent you have.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
“Want some more? Button up your shirt and fix your goddamn tie. The commander called. He’ll be here in an hour.”
Nick shot Joey a look as he fastened his button. “What’s he coming here for?” he asked, cinching his tie around his throat.
“He probably wanted to be the one to break the news to you. He knows how hard you’ve worked on this case.”
“Zhirov could be anywhere by now. There’s no way we’ll get him back in custody before his trial date.”
“Everyone’s looking for him,” Joey assured him, “including the feds. If he’s still on US soil, they’ll find him. Here,” he said, passing Nick a folded piece of paper. “This ought to make you feel better.”
