Cold Case Cop by Mary Burton Read Free Book Online Page A

some kind of social life outside of the paper and the bar. “I promise to give a full report when I get back.”
    “Good deal. Take care, sweetie.”
    “Thanks.” She rang off, smiling. Tara had been six years old when her mother had died in a car crash. Roxie, her mother’s sister, had just opened her bar and was an unlikely candidate for a guardian. When Tara’s father had refused custody, Roxie hadn’t hesitated, and had taken Tara into her life. Tara couldn’t have asked for a better parent.
    Tara tossed her cell on the passenger seat. Her mind turned back to work as she headed south on the turnpike. She’d just passed Fifth Street when she first noticed the black van in her rearview mirror. The driver was weaving in and out of traffic as if he was in a big hurry. He closed in on her quickly and came right up to her bumper.
    “Okay, Mr. Jerk. What’s the rush?” She gripped the steering wheel and switched lanes, figuring he wanted to pass her on the left. “That jerk’s going to cause an accident,” she muttered to herself.
    She expected the van to pass, but instead he came up behind her and hovered right on her bumper. Gazing in the rearview mirror, she tried to get a look at the driver’s face. Dark sunglasses and a oversize hood made it impossible to determine if the driver was a man or a woman.
    She glanced to the passenger seat at her phone. She needed to call the cops. One hand tightly gripping the steering wheel, she leaned over to get her phone. The van was within inches of her bumper now.
    When her fingers wrapped around the phone, she frantically flipped it open and dialed 9-1-1.
    The van hit her bumper hard. Metal crunched metal. Her car swerved. She screamed a few obscenities she’d learned from Roxie’s patrons.
    Tara dropped her phone and gripped the steering wheel with both hands. She righted the car and kept it on the road.
    She expected the van to fall back, but instead it came toward her again. This time the driver hit her so hard she veered off the side of the road.
    Her wheels crossed the white line of the shoulder and the next thing she knew she was skidding sideways. Her brakes squealed, and in one terrifying moment, her car flipped and her airbag deployed.
     
     
    Alex hated hospitals. The antiseptic smells, the sound of gurneys passing and the hushed conversations all reminded him of the time he’d spent here, fighting for his own life. He’d come because Brady’s oldest son, a rookie highway patrolman, had informed him that Mackey had been run off the road. Her car had been totaled and an ambulance had taken her to the hospital. Alex had left the office immediately and gone directly to St. Bridget’s Hospital.
    A day on his feet had taken a toll on his leg. His muscles had stiffened and his limp had returned. But there was nothing to be done about it as he moved down the hospital hallway toward the nurses’ station. “I’m here for Tara Mackey.”
    The blond nurse peered over half glasses. She looked tired, and her gaze was no-nonsense. “Are you family?”
    “No.” He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out his shield and flipped it open. “I’m with the Boston Police Department.”
    The nurse studied the badge carefully before nodding. “What can I do for you?”
    Alex tucked the badge back in his pocket. “I’d like to see Ms. Mackey and talk to her about tonight’s accident.”
    The woman’s gaze brightened a fraction. “I can tell you that she’s bruised and banged up, but she’ll be fine.”
    “Thank God.” Relief had him smiling. “Can I see her?”
    “She’s in cubical number five.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Detective, are you a friend of hers?”
    He shoved his hand in his pocket. “You could say that.”
    “Good. Try to convince her to spend the night. She’s bucking the doctors and trying to get herself released.”
    Arguing with doctors was pure Tara. “If her mind is set to leave, she’ll be hard to sway. But I will try.”
    “Good