Amnesia by Beverly Barton Read Free Book Online

reacted to the heat instantly, raised his hand and rubbed it across his mouth.
    “You really liked her, didn’t you?” Kendall reached over and patted Quinn’s arm.
    He cut his eyes toward her. “Do you find that amazing— that I’d actually like a woman who’s my lover?”
    “No.” Kendall gazed at him contemplatively. “What I find amazing is that you’d actually like a woman, any woman.”
    “What the hell do you mean by that? I love women. All women. You should know that, honey. Ask anybody who knows me and they’ll tell you that Quinn Cortez is a ladies’ man.”
    “You may love women—all women—but you don’t like them as a general rule. If you liked women, you wouldn’t treat them the way you do.”
    “I’ve never had any complaints.” The flip response shot out of his mouth instantly.
    “I’m sure no woman has ever complained about your prowess as a lover,” Kendall told him. “But what about all the hearts you’ve broken? Don’t you think there are dozensof women out there who would love to see the great Quinn Cortez brought to his knees and begging for mercy.”
    “I thought you said that I didn’t hurt you, back when we—”
    “This isn’t about me. It’s about your reputation. Don’t you realize that if Lulu told just one person that she wanted more from you than a passionate fling, the police could build a case around that fact—that she was clinging to you and you couldn’t shake her without killing her?”
    “Lulu never once said she wanted more from our relationship.”
    “She didn’t say that to you, but can you be one hundred percent sure she never implied to anyone else that she was in love with you or wanted a committed relationship?”
    Quinn slid off the bar stool and stood. “I can’t be certain of what she might or might not have told someone else. But I’m telling you that Lulu wasn’t looking for a permanent relationship with me or anybody.”
    “I hope her family and friends will verify that fact.” Kendall bit off a chunk of protein bar, chewed and washed it down with coffee.
    “Lulu’s family…” Quinn groaned. “I’d forgotten all about them. She has an elderly father and a half brother over in Mississippi somewhere. The old man still runs the Vanderley empire, with the help of a cousin. I can’t recall the cousin’s name. Abigail or Adelaide or something like that. I can hear Lulu saying, ‘Abi…Adel—Annabelle…’ That’s it, Annabelle. She’d say, ‘Annabelle is a real saint, a true martyr. I love her like a sister, but God, she’s such a bore.’ I suppose the Memphis police notified—”
    Kendall stood, put her arms around Quinn and hugged him. “Don’t consider it a weakness to allow Lieutenant Norton and Sergeant George to see this I-actually-do-give-a-damn side of your personality.”
    Quinn stepped back and looked directly at Kendall. “Youthink they’re going to charge me with Lulu’s murder, don’t you?”
    “I think that if they don’t find another suspect and they can come up with the least bit of evidence against you, no matter how circumstantial, they just might try to pin this on you.”
    On the way to the Criminal Justice Center, Jim Norton sipped on a container of black coffee as he maneuvered his seen-better-days Chevy truck along Poplar Avenue. He’d downed a cup of the high octane brew before he left his apartment in the Exchange Building, right after wolfing down a bowl of corn flakes. The alarm clock had gone off at six-thirty, but he’d hit the snooze button twice. He’d gotten all of maybe four hours sleep. He’d tried to get in touch with his ex-wife last night without any luck. He didn’t really give a damn where Mary Lee was or who she was with, but he sure as hell wanted to know where his son was. Spending the night with a friend again? Whenever Mary Lee needed to scratch an itch, she’d send Kevin to a friend’s for the night.
    He could complain. He had in the past. But Mary Lee had