Extreme Exposure
Page 19
Cullen watched her closely. It was a good bet she’d had her DNA tested in hopes of tracking down her mother. Why not just admit it? Unless she was in some other kind of trouble. Which was more than possible, given her record.
He said, “You still haven’t told us why you ran. If you’ve gotten yourself into some little thing, just tell us. We’re not interested.”
A look of vulnerability flashed in her eyes then quickly disappeared. “It would help if you would tell me what exactly you are interested in.”
He exchanged a glance with Anna, who stood up. She addressed Bosko, “Would you like some coffee?” When Bosko nodded, Anna motioned for him to follow her.
In the kitchen, Anna filled three mugs with coffee, then turned to him, hands on her hips. “This is going nowhere. We’re wasting time.”
“She’s lying.”
She raised her eyebrows in answer.
He said, “Why’d she run, then?”
She gave him a soft punch in the shoulder. “Maybe she just didn’t like the looks of you.”
He frowned. “I don’t give a shit whether she likes me or not.”
“She sure has figured out how to push your buttons.”
Rolling his eyes, he decided to ignore the comment. It seemed too close to the truth. “What if she had something to do with her mother’s disappearance? It’s obvious she doesn’t give a shit about her mother. And it sounded like she was a hell-raiser as a kid.”
“You think she was an evil five-year-old who plotted to get rid of her mother? Why? So she could have her daddy all to herself?”
He took a sip of coffee, grimaced at the bitter taste. “Maybe she saw something. Maybe she’s protecting someone. It could be her father. It’s obvious she’s hiding something. We have to find out what that is.”
Anna considered this for a moment, then nodded. “A few more questions, then we have to tell her.” She grabbed his arm as he was about to walk away. “I’m sorry about Marlee.”
His breath caught. “I suppose that’s all over the squad room.” His girlfriend of three years, a television news reporter, had told him two days ago she was leaving him for another cop. They had talked about getting married, settling down. Now he was left wondering how long she’d been seeing the other cop behind his back. “Fuck it,” he said.
When they got back to the room, he handed Bosko a mug. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, then took a sip.
Anna said, “Sorry, it’s pretty foul.”
Bosko made no reaction. She waited until Anna had sat down, then said, “Why don’t you just tell me what this is about? Has my mother gone missing again? Is her new family looking for her?”
He clenched his fists at her scornful tone. Man, this woman was a piece of work.
She was about to take another sip of coffee, but must have thought better of it because she leaned forward and set the mug on the desk in front of her. “Please be careful about approaching my father. He had a heart attack last year. He shouldn’t be bothered about this.”
Anna shot Cullen a look, then said, “What do you remember about the day she left?”
“There we go again. Asking questions you already have the answers for.”
There was no emotion in her expression. Either she didn’t feel any or she did a damn good job of suppressing it. He was about to say something but held back. She seemed to want to piss him off. As if not giving a shit about her mother wasn’t already accomplishing that goal.
When they both just gave her blank looks, she said, “I came home from school and she wasn’t there. It was two decades ago. That’s all I remember.”
He said, “How can you not remember more?
She shrugged. “It may seem hard to believe, but if you don’t think about something, it’s easy to forget.”
He nodded. The explanation made sense. “Did you see her leave?”
“No, I did not.” She spoke slowly, emphasizing her words. “But everybody knew she wanted to leave.”
“Why do you say that?”
“There was a note. Don’t you have it?”
She played with a thin gold necklace around her neck, then her hand dropped to her lap. Her breasts, firm and round, molded to the thin fabric of her T-shirt. Swallowing hard, he looked away.
Anna said, “We don’t have all the case files yet, although we’ve seen a reference to a note she apparently left.”
“There’s no mystery. She didn’t want to stay.” She bit her lip, sighed. “It may be hard for you to believe, but I’ve spent a couple of decades trying not to think about Lisa Bosko. I have no idea where she went or where she is now.” She glanced at her watch.
He said, “Did you find out anything interesting? In the DNA?”
“Most of it was useless, if you must know. I don’t have any risk factors for inherited diseases. My chances of having a heart attack are slightly higher. And apparently I have a gene that makes me rebellious, although they couldn’t pinpoint the location.”
Not missing a beat, he said, “It’s on the long arm of chromosome seven, right next to the one for being uncooperative.”
She shot him a mock-sweet smile. “I see you’ve read the report.”
Ignoring the quip, he said, “Did you check for relatives?”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “There was nobody close.” She looked at her watch again, then at Anna. “I have to go to work. I will contact a lawyer to ensure information about my DNA is kept private.”
His partner said, “We have no use for it. It will be deleted; you can be sure of that.” Anna stood up. “We want to show you something.”
Bosko shot her a withering look and stood up. “I really don’t care what you have got to show me.”
He walked to the tall metal cabinet, opened the door. On the top shelf was a clay sculpture of a woman’s head. It looked so much like Bosko—the oval face, high cheekbones, wide-set eyes, small mouth—it was as if she’d posed for it. A few things were off, the face too fleshy, the nose too short. But a chill ran down his spine at seeing it again.
At the door, Bosko reached for the handle, then glanced back. For a split second, her expression didn’t change, then she raised a hand to her mouth and the color drained from her face. She looked from his face to Anna’s, then walked slowly as if in a trance and stood in front of the cabinet. One shaky hand reached out to touch the sculpture but drew back.
Looking at him, her lips moved, but it was a moment before words emerged. “Why do you have a bust of me?”
He said, “You should sit down.”
“I don’t want to sit down. Tell me.” The words came out ragged, barely audible.
He said, “It’s a facial reconstruction, but it’s not you.”
“Who is it?” Realization dawning, she covered her mouth again. Shock had darkened her eyes to a coal black.
“It’s your mother.”
Acknowledgments
A big thanks to my family and friends for their encouragement and support. And to my editor, Dana Hamilton of Hachette Book Group, for taking me on and being such a great person to work with.
About the Author
An award-winning writer of romantic suspense, Alex Kingwell is a former newspaper reporter, columnist, and editor, who much prefers spending her days making stories up. When she’s not writing, or stuck with her head in a book, Alex can be found running with her dog, obsessing over tribal textiles, or watching offbeat movies with her husband (not necessarily in that order). She lives on the Canadian Prairies.
Learn more at:
Twitter: @AlexKingwell
Web: AlexKingwell.com
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
We
lcome
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A Preview of the Next Chasing Justice Book
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Newsletters
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Alex Kingwell
Excerpt from next Chasing Justice book copyright © 2016 by Alex Kingwell
Cover design by Brian Lemus
Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First edition: February 2016
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ISBN 978-1-4555-6529-0 (ebook edition)
ISBN 978-1-4555-6531-3 (print on demand edition)
E3
Table of Contents
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A Preview of the Next Chasing Justice Book
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Newsletters
Copyright