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“Is she dead? In the hospital? What?” His gaze moved to the two deputies. “Why the hell is half the police force here?”
Alvarez said, “She wasn’t in the vehicle. It was smashed all to hell, but she wasn’t inside. We think it was forced off the road.”
“What’re you telling me?” he demanded, dread worming through his soul. “Horsebrier Ridge, so she was on her way to her ex’s? Is that where her kids are?”
“How did you get in here? You have a key?”
“I knew where she hid one.”
“That could be construed as breaking and entering.”
“I just need to find her.”
She appeared as if she wanted to believe him but
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her common sense wouldn’t let her. “Let’s go down to the sheriff’s office and you can make an official statement there. You can handle this?” she asked one of the deputies.
“No problem.” A woman deputy was stringing out crime scene tape, carefully walking around the yard.
But she was wrong. The way Santana saw it, they all had a problem. A big one.
“It’s your turn to feed him,” Bianca complained as she worked and worked to get her hair into a French braid, just like the one she’d seen in one of Michelle’s glossy magazines. Sure it was retro, but Miley Cyrus had pulled it off on a recent red carpet and Bianca knew it would be perfect, P-E-R-F-E-C-T, for her date with Chris, if they could ever get together! Cisco was dancing at her feet, yipping and demanding food all the while giving Bianca fits and breaking her concentration. Her braid was a disaster!
“Jeremy!” she yelled, walking down the short hallway to the guest room/office where her brother was camping out. “Hey! Feed Cisco!”
Jeremy was flopped across the day bed that was way too short for him. Briefly he turned his attention away from the television where some army video game flickered—guys in camouflage with big rifles running around some burned-out Armageddon.
“Shit!” Jeremy yanked off his headset as the guy on the screen turned red with his own blood. “Look what you did. I just died! My whole company’s under siege!”
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Lisa Jackson
“It’s a game,” she said in a withering tone. She was still working with her hair, her fingers winding strands together.
“So what’s so damned important?”
“Feed the dog.”
He pulled a face. “Oh, sure.”
Cisco ran into the room and jumped on the bed.
“See, he wants some attention from you,” Bianca declared.
“From anybody,” Jeremy groused, but petted Cisco’s little head anyway.
“Have you heard from Mom?” Bianca asked, trying not to worry.
“Nah, but she’s pissed at me.”
“That doesn’t stop her from calling.”
“Or bossing me around.”
