No Escape Read Free

with Jo in fourteen years. And time changed plenty.
    Dr. Jolene Granger was no longer a wide-eyed college student but a psychologist who consulted with the Texas Rangers. In fact, her expertise on violent behavior had landed her several television interviews last year when a reporter had been digging for the motivations driving a serial killer that had hunted along I-35.
    He’d seen on television that she’d given up the peasant skirts and flip-flops in favor of dark suits, pencil skirts, a tight bun, and white pearls around her neck. Reminded him of a librarian he’d had in school as a kid. Cool. Controlled. Hot.
    Yeah, she’d changed in fourteen years. Maybe heights didn’t bother her anymore.
    A couple of laughing teens wearing shorts and carrying gym bags raced past him through the front door. He trailed behind them, finding himself in an industrial-style lobby tricked out with a cement floor, solid crate furniture and soda machines. He moved toward a long, narrow reception desk where a young guy was texting. Dark hair swept over a thin, pale face and tattoos covered every bit of skin exposed below his white T-shirt cuff.
    If Brody had been in a more charitable mood, he’d let the kid finish his nonsense communication, which likely had to do with gossip or a party. But a foul and dark disposition sapped all patience.
    He smacked his hand on the reception desk. ‘Need to find Dr. Jolene Granger.’
    The kid jumped, his initial glance aggravated until he took stock of the Stetson, the Texas Ranger’s star pinned to Brody’s broad chest and his six-foot-four frame. Displeasure gave way to startled deference. ‘She’s in the main gym. Can I tell her you’re here?’
    ‘I’ll announce myself.’
    The kid scrambled around the counter and took a step as if to follow. ‘Is she in some kind of trouble?’
    Brody stopped and eyed the kid. ‘Why’s it your business if she is?’
    His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. ‘I like her. And if she were in trouble – ’
    Brody’s own worries sharpened his tone. ‘What would you do if she were in trouble?’
    Slight shoulders shrugged, but the kid’s gaze remained direct. ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘That’s right. You don’t know.’
    ‘She’s a nice lady.’
    Jo had always coaxed this kind of loyalty out of folks. Kind, smart as a whip, she drew people. The kid was no different and Brody gave him props for standing up to him.
    He softened his scowl. ‘Dr. Granger isn’t in trouble. But my business is official. If you don’t mind, I need for you to get back behind that counter and take care of your own business.’ He took a step toward the kid who hustled back behind the counter.
    As Brody turned toward the main gym he imagined the boy on his cell again, texting his friends as fast as his thin fingers could move.
    In the main gym, Brody was greeted by the smells of sweat and freshly polyurethane-coated floors. The walls were covered with gray rocklike facings that jutted and curved as a rock ledge might. Dispersed over the wall were colored footholds and handholds, some large and others so small he wondered how his large hands could maintain a grip.
    A collection of climbers scaled the walls from the floor to ceiling. Belayers stood at the bottom, feeding climbers their safety ropes. A young, blond girl scaled the wall as if she were part monkey. A couple of guys in their midtwenties moved between the rock ledges with a power and grace he admired. He couldn’t imagine that fourteen years had changed Jo so much that she now enjoyed this kind of foolishness.
    The shouts and giggles of a group of girls in a side room drew him. The ten girls, who looked to be between fourteen and sixteen, stood at the base of a tall rock wall. Several were pregnant and most had tattoos and piercings. Young, but he imagined they all had a lifetime of experiences already under their belts.
    There was no whiff of anger or sorrow radiating off anyone. They were cheering, like kids