Cold Case Cop by Mary Burton Read Free Book Online

school and now both worked for the paper. They’d gone out a few times and Bill had wanted to get serious, but Tara had kept the relationship limited to friendship and the occasional Red Sox game. “It’s going. Thanks again for that mock-up. It’s been great.”
    “No sweat.”
    “Where you headed?”
    “Going to the sports bar across the street. They’re doing highlights of the Sox games from last year. Want to come?”
    She was genuinely sorry she couldn’t go. “I’ve got to work. Rain check?”
    “Will do.” He grinned. “Tell Roxie hi. And I’ll be by on Saturday to fix that leaky faucet.”
    “Thanks, Bill.” She kissed him on the cheek and got on the elevator. She punched Three and the doors closed. The elevator doors opened on the third floor to a large room with three rows of desks separated by narrow aisles. Most of the desks had reporters sitting at them. Everyone was either staring at a computer screen or talking on the phone. They were all racing to meet the evening deadline for the morning paper.
    Tara hurried to her desk. Miriam had given her a week to work on the Westgate piece, so she had no evening deadline. The story was due in six days. She sat down and set her bag by her desk. She clicked on her computer.
    While the machine booted up, she glanced at the stack of mail on her desk. Under the pile of various press releases and police incident reports she found a manila envelope. It had T. Mackey written on it. As she reached for it, her computer screen came on and she opened her e-mail. There were several Urgent Reply Requested e-mails from accounting regarding her last expense report. She dealt with those.
    Her phone rang twice. She answered questions from two reporters before she got back to the envelope. She tore the sealed edge open.
    Inside, she found a piece of paper folded crisply in half. She unfolded the paper and discovered it was a New York City rap sheet for a Brenda Latimer. Why on earth would someone send her Brenda Latimer’s file? She checked the envelope for a note, but there was none.
    Tara dropped her gaze to Brenda Latimer’s picture. Immediately, the photo had Tara straightening. The girl was twenty-three or-four and had ink-black hair. A rebellious look glinted behind ice-blue eyes that were outlined in extremely heavy makeup.
    There was no missing the similarities. The oval face, the graceful jawline and the high slash of cheekbones were unmistakable.
    Brenda Latimer was a younger, less sophisticated version of Kit Westgate.

Chapter 5
     
     
    Monday, July 14, 6:15 p.m.
     
    A s Tara drove through downtown traffic toward the turnpike, her head spun with possibilities. Had Kit Westgate Landover, last year’s society darling, had a secret life before she came to Boston? This would change everything, and all the preconceived notions the police had regarding suspects would change.
    The engine of Tara’s car made a grinding sound as she shifted into a higher gear and got onto the turnpike.
    Had Brenda become Kit? Or was this some hoax designed to throw her off? She had no way of knowing until she did more digging.
    Keep me posted . Kirkland’s words echoed in her head. She had promised to keep him informed. And she would. Eventually.
    For now, all she wanted to do was find out anything and everything on Brenda Latimer. She’d start with the police records in New York and work backward to Brenda’s birth records, marriage records and any other bit of public information on file.
    Tara reached into her purse and dug out her phone as she raced around a car. She dialed her aunt. Roxie picked up on the first ring and offered a raspy, “Hello.”
    “Roxie, it’s me, Tara.”
    “Hey, kiddo.”
    “Can you survive without me at work for an hour or two this evening? I’ve got something I really have to do.”
    “Sure, doll, that’s fine.” She lowered her voice a notch. “Please tell me you have a date.”
    Tara smiled. Roxie had been after her for months to build