Page 99 of M for Murder

‘He’s telling you the truth. We were together both nights. Last Saturday we spent the evening in and the Saturday before we were out for a meal with friends then we were home together.’

‘You’re sure about that?’

‘I’m sure.’ There was a brief pause. ‘Will you let him go now?’ Kylan asked, sounding hopeful.

‘We really need you to come down to the precinct,’ Rebecca told her.

‘I can’t!’ There was panic in Kylan’s voice. ‘I need to be away for a while. I need some time to think.’

Rebecca bit her bottom lip, deliberating over whether or not she should tell her that they knew about her past.

‘We know about what happened, Kylan,’ she started hesitantly. ‘We know about Rodney Boone.’

When Kylan spoke, she sounded wary. ‘What do you mean?’

‘We know what he did to you. We know that you’re Jennifer Isaac.’

For a long time Kylan didn’t answer. ‘I can’t come back,’ she said eventually, neither confirming nor denying what Rebecca had said.

‘Lawrie needs you, Kylan. Why don’t we send someone to pick you up?’

‘I’m not coming back!’

‘No one will hurt you,’ Rebecca tried again. ‘If you come back to Juniper, we can protect you.’

‘No!’

‘Please! Kylan, just listen to–’

Before she had the chance to finish her sentence the line went dead. Putting the phone down Rebecca let out a deep sigh. She dropped her head into her hands, combing her fingers back through her hair.

‘You found her, then?’

She glanced up to see Hickok watching her from the door of his office, a cup of coffee in his hand.

‘Yeah, I found her,’ she grumbled. ‘But I don’t think she’s coming back to Juniper any time soon. She hung up on me.’

Hickok gave a half smile. ‘I guess it must be the effect you have on people, Angell,’ he said dryly.

Max awoke to see the smiling face of a young blonde nurse looking down at him. It took him a second to recollect what had happened, but everything came back with the raging pain that

thumped in his head.

‘Nasty fire,’ the nurse commented, a solemn expression on her face. ‘You were very lucky to get out alive.’

Fire? What fire?

He stared at her blankly and then at the four white walls of the small hospital room, not quite sure how he’d gotten there.

‘I guess you must have knocked yourself unconscious trying to escape from the flames. You were very lucky to get out alive,’ she repeated.

He narrowed his eyes. ‘There was a fire in the library?’

‘You don’t remember?’ The nurse shook her head frowning. ‘It was pretty bad. The whole building was devastated.’

‘What about the newspapers in the back room?’

‘All gone. The books too.’