Page 81 of Dead Man's Alibi

“I’ll be there in fifteen,” Sam said to Olivia.Worried about her now.Because if Jake had taken off at four in the morning and Olivia was calling her…

Maybe they were together.But if Jake had something to do with the murder… maybe Olivia was in trouble.Surely if he was going to hurt Olivia though, he would have done it tonight when he’d had the chance at her house.

But if he’d gotten away with one murder at the TikTok Motel, why not another?

Sam didn’t know if she was being insane, but she sped through Marietta and out of town toward the motel.

As she approached, she slowed her car a little.She scanned the surroundings, then the parking lot.Jake’s truck wasn’t anywhere on the street or in the lot, but Olivia’s car was.There were two other cars Sam didn’t recognize, but they were parked down by the lobby.

Sam got out of her car and unholstered her weapon.There weren’t any lights on behind the windows except in a room at the very end.Room124.

Olivia had left her car behind at the restaurant after her dinner with Jake.Jake had driven her back home, so how had the car gotten here?Sam supposed she could have taken an Uber back to the restaurant right after Jake had left, or maybe Jake had gone to pick her up in the middle of the night, and Sam had missed it.

Too many maybes, and none of this was quite adding up in a way that felt right.

But if Jake was behind this, what was he going to do?Try to kill her?Hurt her?Even if he did, he wouldn’t have Nate to blame it on this time around.

It was… just insanity.She’dtrustedJake.Now she thought he was setting her up to be killed?

Well, if the evidence fits, right?

Should she call someone from the police department?Even if she risked Jake hearing about it, itwaspolice backup.But what if someone else at the department was in on what Jake was doing?

Damn, she wished Nate was available.Together they could handle whatever this was.

Because she couldn’t trust anyone at the police department right now.She briefly considered calling Cal, but then she heard something.

It sounded like a faint scream.

Thinking only of helping, Sam ran toward it, toward room124, finger curled around the trigger of her weapon.She stayed low, watching other windows, the dim world around her.She wouldn’t be stupid, but she could hardly let someone get hurt.

She reached the door not sensing anyone or anything outside.Gun drawn, working to keep her breath and heartbeat even, Sam reached out and tested the knob.Unlocked.

Bad news, Sam.But another scream sounded.

From right inside.

Sam couldn’t resist helping.She eased the door open, slowly, carefully, leading with the gun.

Olivia was indeed inside, screaming, in fact.But there was no way she’d called Sam earlier of her own volition.

Unless she’d managed to dial before she was tied to a chair.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Marietta Police Department

Jake hadn’t beenable to sleep, so he’d gotten up early and headed into the station.The only people in at this hour were the skeletal nightshift, but that suited Jake.Alone in his office, he got to work.

Something wasn’t right.He still wanted to believe Nate Bennet was the murderer.The evidence wasthere.There was no denying the evidence existed and was enough for a judge to sign the arrest warrant.

So, Nate had done it.Jakeknewhe’d done it.

But there was a tower of things not adding up.

Maybe Nate had gotten help—Cal or a friend or something.Maybe Jake was just on the lookout for an accomplice.Everything Olivia had told him wasn’tundermininghis case against Nate, it was justexpandingit.

It was that excuse that allowed him to go back over his notes, the reports, the phone.Any hint ofanyonethat could fit the initials O.M.Because he wasn’t letting anything happen during the actual trial that might allow Nate Bennet to worm his way out of paying.