Page 35 of Locked In Ice

He didn’t move.Lane was highly conscious of his surroundings.The hard chair beneath him.The old clock on the wall with its faint tick, tick, tick.Ophelia’s lush rose scent teasing his nose.

The suspicion on both of the detectives’ faces.

“You were going to kill him and act like it was self-defense, weren’t you?But she…” Now Shay’s index finger stabbed toward Ophelia.“She arrived and messed up your plans.So you had to reevaluate everything.”

Ophelia’s head turned toward Lane.She studied him in silence, then just nodded.

Uh, as his lawyer, shouldn’t she be doing…more?

“You realized you’d have to attack Thomas Bass later.So while everyone else was busy at the station, you stole a cop’s uniform.You headed over to holding.Got your eyes on all the security cameras in the building.You figured out exactly how to get to the prisoner.And you made your plan.You’d come back in the dead of night—”

“Technically, the killer arrived in the early morning,” Ophelia cut in to say.

Shay’s eyes narrowed.“In the early morning,”she corrected, “and you snuck into Thomas’s cell.”

“Oh, wait!”Ophelia held up one hand.“Snuck in?Can you elaborate?Was the lock forced open?Did the killer use a key?”

“Stole a key,” Jules announced.Her voice was cold and flat as she finally broke her silence.“Bold as you please.”

Ophelia’s head turned toward her.“Thank you.Very helpful.So the killer stole a key and entered the cell—then, how exactly, was Thomas murdered?I missed that part.Or, actually, I just don’t think it was mentioned yet.”Her head swung back to Lane.“Am I wrong?Was it mentioned?”

He shook his head.No.

“Maybe Lane would like to tell you how he killed the man,” Shay snapped.

Ophelia released a long sigh.“Lane can’t tell me something he didn’t do.”Utter confidence.

And the fist that had been squeezing his heart so tightly began to ease its fierce grip.

Lane blinked at Ophelia.How was she so certain?

“Hey, there,” Ophelia said softly to him.“You look like you’re only now realizing you’re not here alone.Haven’t you seen me?I’ve been at your side the whole time.”

His head tilted.

A faint smile lifted her lips.“What kind of partner would I be, if I turned on you at the first sign of trouble?”

“I thought you were hislawyer,”Shay rushed to say.

“I am.Lawyer.Partner.You keep getting stuck on me only being one thing.I like to wear all kinds of hats.I find them stylish.”Ophelia slowly focused once more on the detective.“I am still not hearing how Thomas died.”

“Suffocation,” Jules supplied.

Shay whipped around.“Detective.”

Jules rolled one shoulder.“He was smothered with a pillow from the cell.”

“Interesting.”Ophelia eased back in her chair.She reached out for the coffee, but caught herself.“Not making that mistake again,” she muttered.Her shoulders rolled back.Louder, she added, “I’ll assume Thomas woke up once a pillow was shoved over his face, and he couldn’t breathe.He was a big guy, so his assailant had to be strong.”

“We already saw in the video that the attacker was tall and well-built.”Shay spun to glare at Ophelia, then at Lane.“Fits your description, doesn’t it, Lane?”

“I agree, Lane is ripped.But fitting a description isn’t enough to lock a man away for murder.”Ophelia still carried her air of utter unconcern.“Let’s get back to Thomas—”

“How about the fact that Lane snuck out of his hotel room right before the murder was committed and didn’t return until after Thomas was dead?Based on what the desk clerk told me, Lane would have been goneexactlylong enough to walk to the station, slip inside, and then walk back.”

“Oh, so you’re sure he didn’t drive there?”Ophelia asked.

“Checked with the hotel.His vehicle never left.They have cameras in the lot.”A nod from Shay.“You knew that, though, didn’t you, Lane?So you left the car.You took off on foot, and you came to finish what you started.”Now she leaned forward.“You hate them, don’t you?”

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