The Body of David Hayes Read Free Page A

million.”
    “Our case?” she said, surprised. “The bank?”
    “You introduced us once. The guy they caught. Remember? It was a Christmas party I think. That guy.”
    “David Hayes,” she said softly.
    “He’s out on parole.”
    The first butterfly wings fluttered in her chest. She moved toward the wall calendar, as if interested in the week ahead: a dinner date at Jazz Alley and a church board meeting for her, piano lessons for Miles and ballet for Sarah again next Monday.
Parole? Already? Was it possible?
    “You didn’t know?”
    Had she spoken her thoughts aloud? She cautioned herself:
Steady!
    “Absolutely not.”
    “I would have thought the bank would have been told. That you guys would all be up to speed. On the lookout, as it were.”
    “We will. I’m sure we are.”
    “Well, that’s Danny’s case. Sort of. Not really. It gets complicated.”
    “Yes, it does. It must,” she said, heading for an open chair and sitting down with the kids. Some things were impossible to juggle.

    A bald eagle with a wingspan of nearly six feet soared past Liz Boldt’s twenty-ninth-floor office window at eye level. She took it as an omen, even though she didn’t believe in such things. Liz’s beliefs were rooted firmly in God. And though she preached to no one, not even her children, she prayed her way through her trials and celebrations. Every day offered her an opportunity to learn something about herself, sometimes strengthening, sometimes testing that faith. She lived to see joy in the eyes of her children, tohear laughter around the house. The smallest things in life proved of the greatest significance. Selfishness, which she now felt had predestined her to cancer and to her rediscovery of faith, was a thing of the past. She had wrestled that demon free, throwing herself into service. She thought of her responsibilities in terms of a pyramid, with God at the top, her children and husband next, her church, her job, her community…
    Paroled
. It felt like falling out of remission. She had little doubt of where this was headed, only how to handle it.
    Her family, her job, even WestCorp’s reputation and therefore possibly the upcoming merger, could all come tumbling down around her if she didn’t manage this exactly right. The eagle represented something frightening: a phoenix, David Hayes, risen from his own ashes.
    Her phone rang, and she answered it.
    “Elizabeth Boldt.”
    “It’s me.”
    Paralysis. Her breath caught in her throat like swallowing water too fast. She knew his voice instantly.
    “Tommy’s cabin. Five o’clock. Watch for anyone following. Coast to the side of the road. Open the hood like there’s something wrong. Shut it if you’re in the clear and climb back inside. You’ve got to do this, Liz. Please. I’m in serious trouble.”
    With the sound of the click, she too hung up the phone, her hand trembling, her mouth dry, a sickening feeling worming through her. Stunned, she sat motionless, steam wafting from the cup of decaf. Her eyes stung.
    The phone purred a second time but she would not answer it. Feeling as if she might throw up, she hooked thetrash can with her foot and dragged it closer. A bubble wedged in her throat.
    Tears threatened behind a screaming in her ears. Fingernails on a blackboard. She forced prayer to replace her thought, her memories, relying on an invisible force that supported her.
    It had started innocently enough. Not so innocent later. And after that a pale, quivering need, a hunger of addictive proportions. The wet slap of flesh and the teeth-gnawing cries of secreted pleasure. A crime, and she the perpetrator. Her husband, the cop.
    Her office intercom chirped, snapping her to the present. She didn’t answer it. Everyone, everything outside this office suddenly felt like a violation.
    Anger stole through her, overcame her, because she knew above all else, that she would do exactly as he’d instructed.
    Nothing would be allowed to come between the peace