No Escape by Mary Burton Read Free Book Online

productive as I could have been, but I do manage to put pen to paper every day.’
    ‘Am I here so you can tell me about the missing muses?’
    ‘In part, yes.’
    He would draw this out for hours if she allowed it. ‘I appreciate your need to talk, I do. Time no doubt is dear to you. But it is important that I find out the location of those three women. It’s time to offer their families peace.’
    ‘Peace for the families?’ That amused him. ‘Those women had no real families or stability in their lives, and they thought I offered it.’
    He wasn’t being entirely truthful. Two of the girls had lived on the streets but Tammy, the last to vanish, had been in a halfway house. She’d had several rough years but was putting her life back on track. ‘Mr. Smith.’
    His eyes sparked with keen interest. ‘You are persistent. I like that. Do you know when you get angry or annoyed your eyes flash a little greener. If you were playing poker right now, I’d have identified that hint of emotion as your Tell. You do know what a Tell is, don’t you, Dr. Granger?’
    A Tell was a change in behavior that signaled emotion to the opponent. ‘You don’t know me so well.’
    ‘I know you, like I know myself.’ He sighed as he sat back. ‘But you are right. I summoned you here for a different reason.’ Without taking his gaze off her, he said to Brody, ‘Got a pencil and paper, Sergeant?’
    ‘All being recorded,’ Brody said, his voice smooth and easy.
    For a moment Jo had been engrossed with Smith, and she’d forgotten Brody was there. However, her heartbeat steadied at the sound of his voice. All their issues aside, she knew he’d protect her, no matter what.
    ‘When you start talking,’ Brody said easily, ‘I promise we won’t miss a single detail.’
    Smith smiled, but before he could speak he began coughing. A minute passed before he caught his breath. ‘The devil is in the details.’
    ‘That is a misquote,’ Jo said. ‘The actual quote is, “God is in the details.”’
    Smith laughed. ‘Quite right, Dr. Granger. Quite right. My only regret is that you and I don’t have more time. I’d love to have discussed politics with you or played chess. Are you a good chess player, Dr. Granger?’
    ‘I hold my own.’
    ‘You are modest.’
    ‘Our games and conversations would have been interesting. I could have given you enough insight to transform your dissertation into a book.’
    For a moment she imagined wistfulness in his gaze. ‘The bodies are located off Rural Route Twelve exactly fifteen miles west of Austin. There is an old farm. I’ve not been there in several years but at the time a large tree marked the right turn off Route Twelve onto a dirt road. Follow the dirt road over three miles and you’ll see an old shed or at least what remains. The bodies are buried one hundred and twenty feet due east of the structure. They’re lined up in a single row. Find one and you’ll find the others.’
    His casual, easy manner didn’t soften the horror of what he’d said. Three women. Brutalized. Buried alive. And he spoke about them as if they were insignificant.
    ‘Thank you for the detailed information, Mr. Smith,’ Jo said. She thought about what he’d said about her eyes and hoped they’d not flared and betrayed her anger. ‘May I ask why you’ve chosen to reveal the location of the bodies? You’ve resisted all questions and refused to tell anyone.’
    ‘That is a fair question.’ He traced a deep purple vein running under his paper-thin skin. ‘I did not come to this decision lightly.’
    ‘Why, when you have but weeks to live? Is it that you didn’t want this information to go with you to your grave?’
    ‘That is partly true, Dr. Granger. I think as I see my life slipping away, setting the record straight means more.’
    She studied him closely. ‘The numbers are that important to you?’
    ‘For the longest time it was enough that I knew what I’d done and where I’d buried the