Scene of the Crime: Deadman's Bluff by Carla Cassidy Read Free Book Online Page B

by working in another room from where she was located, he wouldn’t be so distracted, but he’d been wrong. The thought of her long dark hair spilled over the white of the pillowcase distracted him. He didn’t want to entertain thoughts of how warm and soft her body would be against his underneath the bedsheets.
    He just wanted to figure out what had happened to her and get her back where she belonged. He didn’t want to think about how lush-looking he found her lips, how much he liked the sound of her voice and how she created an ache inside him that he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
    She now looked at Seth from across the table, obviously eager for him to share the information he’d gathered about her throughout the afternoon, information he hoped would kick-start her memory and lead them to their killer.
    Atkins appeared tired, but also anxious to hear what he had to say. Seth had a legal pad in front of him and once he’d offered the sheriff a cup of coffee and they were settled in, he began.
    “Tamara Jennings, thirty-two years old, you live alone in an apartment in Amarillo, Texas. You were married briefly but divorced two years ago. You were fairly easy to find by a driver’s license and the photo on the license was good enough to make the identification.” He paused and looked up at her, waiting for some kind of an aha moment.
    Her hair shone like black silk with the early-evening sunshine streaming through the window. She shrugged with a frown. “Nothing rings a bell. You could be talking about anyone.” Her eyes grew slightly glassy, as if she was fighting back tears, but she nodded for him to continue.
    Seth glanced back at his notes. “Nothing criminal in your past, not even a speeding ticket. I couldn’t find any living relatives. According to your neighbors in the apartment complex where you live you don’t socialize with anyone in particular, you’re friendly but pretty much stay to yourself. Nobody I spoke to could give me the name of a boyfriend or even a close friend. You own a successful business designing and maintaining websites for a variety of businesses and work out of an office in your apartment.”
    Once again Seth looked at her, hoping to see something, anything in her eyes that might indicate a glimmer of memory, but there was nothing in the blue depths but the swimming start of tears.
    To Seth’s surprise it was Atkins who reached out and patted the back of her hand. “It’s all right. It will all come back to you in time. You’re just going through a rough patch, that’s all.”
    Tamara cast him a grateful smile and Seth wished it had been he who had reached across the table to comfort her, he who had been the recipient of her smile.
    He clenched his jaw muscles and looked back down at his notes. “According to DMV records you own a blue Ford Focus. It isn’t currently parked at your apartment building in Amarillo.”
    “So, I probably drove it here to Amber Lake.”
    Both Seth and the sheriff nodded. “I’ve got my deputies looking everywhere for the car, but so far it hasn’t turned up,” Tom said.
    “I checked your ex-husband out,” Seth said. “He’s a real estate investor who moved to California months after your divorce.” He’d mostly gotten details about her ex out of curiosity, but he wasn’t about to admit that out loud. “He hasn’t been out of the San Diego area since the time you’ve been missing from your apartment. I ruled him out, but we all know that the killer we’re looking for is probably right here in Amber Lake.”
    He turned his attention to Tom. “I don’t want to step on toes here, but I’m starting at the beginning with a reinvestigation into Rebecca Cook’s and Vicki Smith’s murders.”
    “You aren’t stepping on my toes,” Tom replied. “I welcome the help and you know you have my full force at your disposal. Just tell us what you need and we’ll see that it’s done.”
    “The first thing I want from you is your gut