Page 120 of Fatal Witness

“You’re seeing right,” she said. “I have to leave for Chattanooga in about fifteen minutes. Want to tag along?”

“Depends on how long you’ll be gone.”

“An hour there, an hour back, and thirty minutes to interview Kyle Peterson’s former girlfriend. Will that fit into your afternoon schedule?”

He laughed as he took out his phone. “I don’t know. Let me check with Peg and see if she’ll let me go.”

Peg doubled as his office manager and part-time dispatcher. Alex sipped her coffee while he stepped away and called. She hoped he could get away. Lately they hadn’t had much time together.

When Nathan came back to the table, he was smiling. “It seems things are quiet enough for me to take the afternoon off.”

“Great. Give me a minute while I get a refill.”

Five minutes later, Alex programmed the address Jenna Hart had gotten from the Chattanooga PD into her GPS. “Says we should arrive in forty-five minutes.”

“Must be on this side of the city.”

“It is,” Alex said. “And it’s the same address in the files from twenty-five years ago. She even has the same last name.”

“Does she know we’re coming?”

Alex shook her head. “I didn’t want to give her a chance to say no to our visit.”

“What if she’s not home?”

“She is, or was fifteen minutes ago.” Then Alex added, “I asked Todd Madden to have a black-and-white check and see if her car was in the drive, and it was.”

He nodded. “I wonder if she and Kyle still see each other?”

“I asked Mr. Peterson that question a couple of days ago, but hesaidhe didn’t know.”

“You don’t believe him?”

“I get the feeling he would do or say anything to keep Kyle out of trouble, whether it was true or not.”

“You’re probably right,” Nathan said. “In other news, I found a great place for our honeymoon and will book it once you set the date.”

Alex’s breath caught in her chest. She wasn’t the only one who could spring a surprise announcement. “O-kay.”

“I’m assuming you called the venue and booked our wedding?”

She’d like to say it had slipped her mind, but that would be a lie. It was all she’d thought about when she wasn’t working on the case. “Not exactly.”

“Not exactly? What does that mean?”

“I called the venue to see if they have something later than the first of June, but they haven’t gotten back to me.”

He was quiet for a minute. “Do you want to back out?”

“No! But no woman wants to try and put a wedding together at a venue in a little over a month.”

“We don’t have to have a venue, you know. There are plenty of beautiful places right around here. I just get the feeling ...”

She pulled over to the shoulder of the road and killed the motor. The hurt in his eyes almost undid her. “I ... I don’t know what’s wrong. But every time I pick up my phone to check with the venue, I...” She shrugged. “I don’t do it.”

“Do you love me?”

She stared straight ahead as she took in a breath to slow the pounding of her heart. Loving him—she was sure of that. But marriage was forever. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

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