Wicked Release Read Free Page B

Zooey wasn’t their perp. There was no way she was the brains behind the newest drug being distributed in Portland. Not that Sam expected Matt to have any knowledge of that. To his friend, this probably did look like a clear cut-and-dried case. What they initially thought to be a robbery gone bad with Cass—and what Sam and Captain Straimer were relying on everyone to believe to better solve her case and find the mole in the department—now looked like a crime of passion. A love triangle between a scorned woman; her boyfriend, Dr. Richard Brown; and Cass, the woman he was flirting with on the side.
    â€œYou really think a girl attacked me in that basement?” asked Sam.
    â€œI’ve seen stranger things,” Matt said.
    â€œWhen she wakes up, she’ll be able to—”
    â€œ If she wakes up,” Matt interrupted. “She’s in rough shape.”
    Fuck. Then all will have gone to Cass’s murderer’s plan. Zooey will be the fall person for Cass’s and Dr. Brown’s deaths and they can carry right on distributing drugs. “You’ve got a uniform watching Zooey’s door, too, right?”
    Matt rolled his eyes. “Of course. What do you think this is? Amateur hour?”
    Well, at least that’s something. A small relief, but Sam would take his wins when he got them. “Have you at least talked to Jessie?”
    Matt shook his head, running his fingers down the length of his trimmed goatee. It would have looked ridiculous had Sam not known the guy well enough to know that was his habit when he didn’t want to admit something. “Matt—what?”
    â€œShe won’t answer my calls, either,” he said, dropping his hands. “Not since we found Zooey.”
    Maybe she’d finally taken his advice? Realized just what was good for her and gotten the hell out of this investigation. Now that her sister’s murderer thought that they had wrapped the case up in a neat little bow with Zooey’s arrest, maybe, just maybe, they’d let Jess go back to her life. Go back to Brooklyn. And even though it hurt like a sock to the jaw, it was the only way Jess could survive this. The person who attacked him at the masquerade Friday night had made that perfectly clear.
    Get her out of Portland. . . . The attacker’s hot breath and raspy voice rang in Sam’s ears as if it had happened seconds ago. He had tried. He had broken up with her and confessed to the one thing he was certain would make her forget all about him and move on—the fact that his mother had been the drunk driver who killed her parents in a car wreck when they were fifteen. Sure, he was just a boy when he came home that night to find his intoxicated mother sweaty and panicking. She had begged him to be her alibi.
    â€œAnd . . .” Matt broke through Sam’s thoughts, hesitating before continuing.
    Sam froze with that one little word. His already sore and stiff muscles bunched beneath his pajama pants and undershirt. “And?”
    â€œAccording to Officer Donnelly, she left this morning. And she was seen loading luggage into her trunk.”
    â€œWhy didn’t they follow her? Find out where she was going?”
    â€œHe wasn’t actually on watch for her. He happened to be in the area and just did a quick drive-by. But . . .”
    â€œBut what? ”
    â€œI mean, her leaving with a packed suitcase. It can really only mean one thing, right? She was leaving.”
    Jess was leaving town. The mixture of relief and pure, empty sadness was overwhelming. She needed to get out of Portland for her own good. No matter how hollow his life would be without her. He did it once . . . he could do it again.
    â€œIt’s okay, Matt. I knew her stay wouldn’t be permanent.”
    â€œYeah, but this is sooner than you thought, isn’t it? Weren’t you two just getting back together—”
    Sam gave his best casual smile. “Jess