Scene of the Crime Deadman's Bluff - By Carla Cassidy Page 0,53

requested some FBI presence anyway. It just made it easier with me already being here.”

He turned into the parking area in front of the sheriff’s office, shut off the engine and then turned to look at her. “I’m thinking of calling in some reinforcements from the bureau. I’ve got a buddy, Mick McCane, who I know recently finished up a case in Arkansas. Maybe he can come out and give us a fresh perspective on everything.”

She unfastened her seat belt and gazed at him somberly. “You know you don’t need to call in reinforcements. What you need to do is find a way to break through my mind, and if that means being hypnotized, then find somebody who can do that for us.”

“Are you sure that’s the way you want to go?” he asked, his heart stepping up his rhythm as he recognized once again what might lie ahead of them...of her.

“At this point I think it’s the only way you’re going to catch the killer. I have to go back, Seth. I have to go back to the moments before I landed in the sand dune. The key to solving the murders may be there and once that’s done we can both get on with our lives.”

And that was exactly what he wanted...wasn’t it?

* * *

THE BREAK ROOM WAS beginning to feel like home and half of the deputies on the force her family. Tamara sat at the table and stared absently at the tiny television that was mounted to the wall in the corner. A morning talk show was playing but she paid it no attention.

It had begun...the distancing from her by Seth. She’d known it was coming, knew it had to happen, but she hadn’t realized just how bereft she’d feel when it began.

The night they had spent together had obviously changed things for him, made him realize things between them were out of control, that her feelings for him were out of control and now he was backpedaling as fast as he could to get on firmer footing.

Despite the constant presence of the officers coming and going, she’d never felt so alone.

It was just after noon when Deputy Billy Broadwick came in carrying a fast-food bag that he set in front of her. “Agent Hawkins told me to get you some lunch.” He sat down in the chair opposite her as she opened the bag. “I got you a chicken sandwich and a side salad. I hope that’s okay. It’s what my wife always orders.”

“It’s fine,” Tamara replied. She liked Deputy Broadwick. The young man was ridiculously in love with his wife, Haley, and they were expecting their first child in a month. “Since you and Haley decided not to learn the sex of the baby, what color did you decorate the nursery?” she asked, eager for any kind of conversation after being alone for so long in the room.

“Yellow. Haley calls it buttercup, but to me it’s just plain yellow. How are you doing? Must be pretty boring just sitting in here day after day.”

She smiled at him ruefully. “Thank goodness there’s a television in here. Otherwise I think I might go stark raving mad.”

“I’ll bet you’re eager to leave this all behind you and get home.”

Tamara opened the wrapping on the chicken sandwich and nodded, because she knew it was the response he expected. But the truth of the matter was she had yet to feel any urgency, any homesickness at all. What did that say about her former life? Had she been unhappy? Lonely?

Deputy Broadwick sat with her while she ate her lunch and they talked about Amber Lake and the Fourth of July celebrations set to occur in the next five days. There was always a huge firework display put on by the town out by the dunes, but he wasn’t sure it would happen this year because of the dunes being closed.

Even though Tamara knew it wasn’t her fault, she felt half-responsible for robbing the town of its annual celebration fireworks. If she could only just remember. Damn her mind for attempting to keep her safe from whatever she’d experienced.

It wasn’t long before Deputy Broadwick had to return to duty, leaving her alone again with only her thoughts.

The fact that Seth hadn’t popped in at lunchtime to check in on her spoke volumes of how far he’d backed off from her. She told herself it was all for the best. It was possible by the time they left here today he’d