Scene of the Crime Deadman's Bluff - By Carla Cassidy Page 0,60

problem was it was a public place and fingerprints and DNA samples were plenty.

According to the scuttlebutt she’d heard from the deputies who drifted in and out of the break room there was little optimism that the trash cans in the area would yield any clues.

There had been no more mention of her seeing a therapist or a hypnotist and she was convinced that what little she’d been able to give them last night at the rest area was all she had to give.

She couldn’t give them an impression of the man, had no facial features to offer them, and maybe it was because she’d never seen him coming. Maybe the person who had kidnapped her had sneaked up behind her and somehow rendered her unconscious before she’d seen anything about him.

Breakfast had been awkward, the first awkwardness she’d felt between herself and Seth. She didn’t want to hang around until things got worse than awkward.

She hadn’t seen Seth since they’d arrived at the office that morning. Once again it had been Deputy Broadwick who had brought her some lunch and had sat with her and visited for a few minutes before he’d disappeared back to his duties.

As she thought of the night before her cheeks burned with a touch of embarrassment. She’d practically begged Seth to make love to her and she couldn’t even be upset with him for refusing. He’d been right. This wasn’t real life and she had to stop clinging to him, wanting him, pretending that somehow this life with him in Linda’s house in Amber Lake could be real.

Definitely time to go, and hopefully the man who had taken her wouldn’t follow her home. She hoped something would break that would allow Seth and the sheriff and his men to make an arrest within the next couple of days.

Besides, she knew the killer was a local and she had a feeling if she put some miles between him and herself she’d be safe. Unfortunately, that meant he’d turn his attention to another woman.

It was just after five when Seth came into the lounge and it was obvious by the slump of his shoulders, the terse set of his mouth, that nothing positive had happened again today.

He looked bone-weary and she could only imagine the pressure on him and all the others to solve the crime, to put the bad man behind bars.

“How about we stop by the café for some dinner before heading home,” he suggested as they got into his truck.

“Sounds fine to me.” Maybe it would be easier to tell him what she’d decided about leaving in the morning over a meal in a public place. At least then she hopefully wouldn’t have to worry about embarrassing herself by crying or accidentally confessing that she was madly in love with him.

It took them only a few minutes to get to the café and be seated at a table in the back where he ordered the special of chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes and she decided to have the roast beef with vegetables.

As they waited for their meals, they chatted a bit about nothing, the awkwardness that had been between them that morning lingering on.

Again and again her attention was drawn to the sign advertising the caramel pie, her thoughts returned to those moments in the rest area and her brain worked to find any hidden details she could offer Seth as a parting gift. But there was nothing.

“I’m leaving in the morning,” she said, breaking the uncomfortable veil of silence.

He looked at her in stunned surprise. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m renting a car and heading back home. I can’t do anything more here.”

“But there are still things we don’t know. If what you remembered about the rest area is true, then you were abducted around seven or eight at night and yet you weren’t discovered until the next afternoon. We need to find out about those missing hours now more than ever.”

Tamara picked up her glass of iced tea and took a sip and then set the glass back on the table. “I’ve done all I can, Seth.” She didn’t look at him, but rather kept her gaze on the wooden table. “Maybe I’m never supposed to remember that time, maybe my brain will always protect me from whatever happened during those hours. All I know is that it’s time for me to get home. It’s time for Linda and Samantha to have their house back and for me to get on