Then whats wrong? Why are you here?
Its your husband. Ace Longbow.
My ex-husband, she corrected. The handsome man whod first beaten her the night hed accused her of getting pregnant to trap him into marriage. The flowers and apologies and diamond ring hed brought her the next day had fooled her. Ace Longbow, the exciting, slightly dangerous man, whoas a nineteen-year-old barely out of high schoolshed naively thought she could tame.
Shed mistaken passion for love. Control for caring.
Shed thought a divorce would end the torture.
But the man who, to this day, claimed to love her in the letters that went straight to her attorney, had accused her of betraying his loyalty to the Wolfe crime family and had dragged her down to the river to kill her.
Melissa self-consciously touched the scar on her cheek, then quickly turned away to busy her hands with pouring herself a cup of coffee. The bones had mended. And the surgeons had done a good job of rebuilding her shattered face. But the scar theyd left behind was functional, not pretty. And until she could get ahead on her bills, a plastic surgeon was out of the question.
It wasnt vanity so much as the violence it represented that made her sensitive about the long, curving mark. Every time she washed her face or brushed her hair in the mirror, she saw the brand of her shameful marriage stamped there. What about Ace? Has something happened to him?
Im sorry. I guess you havent seen the news this evening.
News? Sawyers shadow fell over her, consuming her breathing space. The coffeepot rattled against her cup. He rescued the objects from her shaking grasp and set them safely on the counter. But the surprising gentleness of even that impersonal touch chilled her to the bone.
This couldnt be good.
Melissa curled her fingers into her palms and scooted some distance between them, steeling herself for the worst. With Richard Ace Longbow, there was always a worst. Sorry about what?
He escaped with two other inmates from a courthouse in Jefferson City this afternoon. Authorities there believe he was shot. The getaway car they were in ran off the bridge and plunged into the Missouri River.
The words swam inside her head. She gripped the edge of the counter to stop the dizzying sensation. Are you telling me Ace is dead?
Sawyers silence lasted a beat too long. Her world instantly righted itself with cold, numbing clarity. She angled her gaze up to Sawyers eyes. You dont know if hes alive or dead. You dont know where he is.
His big shoulders lifted, absorbing the weight of the accusation. Since none of the bodies have turned up, were assuming all three fugitives are still alive. But theyve gone underground and disappeared. We dont know where Ace is or what his plans might entail. But were doing everything we can to find him.
Melissa didnt bother asking where Sawyer and the prison authorities thought Ace might be headed. If Ace wasnt dead, there was only one answer.
Here.