Page 52 of The Night Before (Savannah 1)

“I thought you said it wasn’t bad.”

“We just have to remind them that there are other suspects. Now, get your story straight and your alibi down pat.”

“Alibi?” She couldn’t believe the words. “You want me to lie?”

“No, of course not. Let’s not add perjury to the potential charges. I know several good criminal defense attorneys, people I didn’t want to come up against when I was working with the D.A.’s office. They’re expensive, but worth it.”

“Criminal defense attorneys,” Caitlyn repeated, disbelieving that she would ever need their services. She glanced again to the door and saw herself as she was—tired, beaten, scared out of her wits, not even certain if she’d killed her husband or not. “Okay, give me their names.”

“John Ingersol. He’s fabulous.” Caitlyn scratched a note on the back of an envelope. “And Marvin Wilder. Or, if you feel more comfortable with a woman, then Sondra Prentiss in Atlanta is great. It all depends on their schedules. Tell you what, sit tight, have a stiff shot of something if that helps, and I’ll make some calls in the morning. In the meantime, don’t talk to the police, okay?”

“What if they come back?”

“Refuse to talk to them. Insist on having a lawyer with you.”

“Okay.” She felt slightly better.

“Do you want me to come over tonight?” Amanda asked. “Ian’s out of town, and I was just going to go over a deposition, but I can do it later.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure? Maybe you should go out to Oak Hill. Troy thinks you should stay out there until this all blows over and really, it’s not such a bad idea. Besides, if not for you, then for Mom. She could use the company.”

“She’s got Hannah.”

Amanda snorted. “A lot of comfort that is. Mom doesn’t have Hannah,” she said with disgust. “No one does.”

“Maybe no one has anyone.”

“Pessimistic, Caitlyn. Very pessimistic. Oh—I’ve got another call, someone’s trying to beep in and I’m waiting to hear from Ian. I’ll phone you in the morning after I connect with one of the defense attorneys. Until then, avoid the police.”

“I’ll try.”

“Don’t just try. Do it! You don’t have to speak to them. If you want to talk, call me or that shrink of yours, but not to anyone with a badge. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Good. Now try to calm down.”

Oh, yeah. Right. Caitlyn figured there wouldn’t be any calming down, for a long, long time.

“She’s lying.” Reed squinted through the windshield, certain that Caitlyn Bandeaux was hiding something, something about her husband’s death.

“Yep.” Morrisette was at the wheel, her foot as leaden as always as she shot down the narrow, shaded streets on their way back to the station.

“You ever locate her shrink?”

“Still working on it, but get this, her office is being sublet by another psychologist. A guy by the name of Adam Hunt.”

“So the first shrink, Rebecca Wade, isn’t coming back?”

“Who knows? Not for a while. I talked to the manager of the building, a guy who had to be a descendent from one of the last Nean

derthals or Attila the Hun, and he didn’t want to give me any information, of course, but I strong-armed him a bit, suggested I’d check his record, find out if he was checkin’ in with his parole officer if he had one, the whole nine yards, but he stuck to his story, claimed she didn’t leave a forwarding address, so I checked with the utility companies. Ms. Wade stiffed the phone company for the past two months and up until that time was a perfect customer, paid all her bills on time. So I checked with the real estate management company who handles the house she leased. Same deal. She owes two months’ back rent. Before that she never missed a payment. In fact, she usually paid early.” Morrisette tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “The woman I talked to at the real estate company said that Rebecca Wade had intended to move out as of June first, but left early. Half her stuff was packed, half not.”

“So what the hell happened to her?”

“That’s what we have to find out. I checked out the house, and a neighbor, Mrs. Binks, stopped by. Said she was worried.”

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