Secrets and Lies by Capri Montgomery Page A

expect…in your wildest dreams…that it could ever happen.”
    “Yeah, we see this a lot.”
    “You do?” Thena shouldn’t have been surprised really. They lost her mother; of course they had lost others. The ME’s office was right in the basement of their building and they couldn’t stop a body from rolling out the front door…her confidence in the police was rapidly diminishing.
    “Oh yes. It’s bad all around, but at least when it’s the children you have people who will work harder to find them.”
    Thena shook her head. They lost children too? What kind of a place was this?
    “I can see you’re upset. Look, I’ll get Chris to help you out. He has a huge caseload, but he’ll definitely give you more time than some of the others.” She waved Chris over to the desk.
    Chris was tall, dark chocolate sexy, and built like a man who worked out daily. He was—wow! He was hot. She had a friend she wouldn’t mind introducing to him, except she lived in Washington State most of the year. Still, for a man like that she could make a trip back to Boston for a while. Hannah, the volcanologist, could work from anywhere in the world—she had worked from anywhere in the world.
    She mentally told herself to fix her friend up second, find her mother’s body first.
    “Her mother’s missing,” the friendly officer said. “Help her out will ya?”
    “Gloria…if you weren’t so lovable I’d hate you for this.” He laughed. “Come on over to my desk and I’ll take the report.”
    Shouldn’t they already have a report? It wasn’t like she went missing this morning.
    She sat down at his window positioned desk. The view of downtown Boston was gloriously beautiful—but then most cities looked beautiful from above. It’s when people got down on the streets and walked around that they realized just how messed up a place could be.
    He asked the particulars about weight, height, eye color, etc. Then he looked at her and said, “when is the last time you saw her?”
    “Well,” she sighed. “We found her Monday, and she vanished again…I guess Wednesday night; I think.”
    “Again? Does she have some kind of dementia?”
    “Certainly not,” she gasped. He held up his hand.
    “It hasn’t been forty-eight hours and I can’t take the report until forty-eight hours have passed.”
    “You,” she took in a deep breath to steady her nerves. “Okay, not you, but somebody in this building lost my mother’s body and I want some answers.”
    “Body?” He raised an eyebrow.
    “Yes, body.”
    “She’s dead.”
    “Yes,” she stressed.
    “Then what are you doing up here?”
    “The guy at the front desk sent me down the hall and to the right, and then the officer I met in the hall told me up the stairs, third floor and first door. So that’s what I’m doing up here.” She could tell from the twitch in his lips that he was trying not to laugh.
    “Ma’am, this is missing persons, as in not dead—at least we hope they’re not dead when we find them.”
    She shook her head. “So where should I go?”
    He shrugged. “Downstairs, homicide. Talk to Captain McGillicudy.”
    “Downstairs?”
    “Second floor,” he smiled. “The third door on your left will get you into the right department. You’ll need to ask the front desk officer to get the Captain for you.”
    She sighed before gathering her handbag from her lap and standing. “Thank you, detective…what was your name?”
    “Chris Daniels,” he extended his hand. “And you’re welcome ma’am. I hope you get the answers you’re looking for.”
    “Thank you.” She left the third floor, went down to the second floor and asked the front desk officer to see the captain. The captain was already on his way toward the door by the time she looked up.
    “Captain, she’s here,” came the terse response of the front desk officer. Were they expecting her? Of course they were. How could they not expect family to show up and inquire about the accidental