The Bone House - Brian Freeman [17]
'My husband didn't kill Glory Fischer.'
'Except we've already established that you were sleeping, Mrs Bradley, so you really don't know what he was doing.'
'I know Mark.'
'Nobody knows anybody,' Cab said.
'Maybe you don't, but I do. I'm not going to see my husband subjected to another witch-hunt, Detective.'
'I don't do witch-hunts. I don't believe what anyone tells me, good or bad, until I can prove it one way or another. So right now, what I'd really like is for your husband to stop hiding behind the bathroom door pretending he's in the shower, and instead have him come out and talk to me.'
'I'll let him know you stopped by,' Hilary said.
'If your husband has nothing to hide, let him answer a few questions.'
'You've already lied about your reasons for coming here, Detective,' she snapped. 'So spare me the "nothing to hide" speech. Mark and I don't trust people any more than you do. We've learned that we can only trust each other.'
'I've seen a lot of wives who think that,' Cab told her. 'Most of them wind up disappointed.'
'Do I look like a naive twenty-five year old to you?'
'No, you don't,' he said.
'Then don't treat me like one.'
Cab dug in his pocket. 'Your husband is going to have to answer questions sooner or later. Here's my card. Have him call me. Don't bother leaving town today, because you'll just have to fly back here again.'
'Are you finished?'
'No, if your husband won't answer questions, then I'll ask you. Did you know Glory Fischer and her sister were here at this hotel?'
'I've said all I plan to say for now,' Hilary told him.
'You're painting a target on your husband's back. You're both acting guilty.'
'You've already said you won't believe me, so why should I say anything at all?'
Before he could answer, Cab heard his phone ringing in the inner pocket of his suit coat. It was Lala on the other end of the line. He listened to her, and he knew that the Cuban cop's voice was loud enough to be heard throughout the room. He didn't care. When he hung up, he noticed the changed expression in Hilary Bradley's eyes. She'd followed the thread of his conversation, and she was uncomfortable now. And worried.
'I don't think you were sleeping, Mrs Bradley,' he told her. 'I think you woke up, and your husband was gone.'
'Goodbye, Detective.'
'That was one of my investigators on the phone. You heard what she said. We have a witness. A hotel employee who saw Glory Fischer going out to the beach. The question is, what else did he see?'
Hilary said nothing.
Cab rapped his foot against one of the suitcases on the floor, which had been open when he first arrived. 'I saw the yellow tank top. Is that what your husband was wearing? That's hard to miss, even at night.'
She folded her arms again and was quiet. Her face grew flushed.
Cab walked past her toward the hotel room door. As he passed the closed door to the bathroom, he pounded on it loudly. 'Don't think you can hide behind your wife forever, Mr Bradley. The sooner you talk to me, the easier this will be.'
When there was no answer, he left the room.
Mark waited until he heard the hotel room door slam shut. He emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed, and found his wife sitting on the end of the bed. Her face was tired and stressed. He'd seen that look for weeks last year, as they'd both faced his accusers at the school.
'You heard?' she asked.
Mark nodded. His frustration bubbled over, and he felt like punching the wall. 'He's right. I should have come out and talked to him. I don't like to hide, Hil. That's not me.'
She shook her head. 'He was just pushing your buttons. He was trying to goad us into saying something stupid. Look, I'll call my father and get the name of a defense attorney here in Naples. There are probably Chicago snowbirds all over the place down here. We'll talk to him and then decide what to do next.'
'Guilty people hire lawyers.'
'No, smart people do,' she told him. 'This is about protecting ourselves.'
Mark glanced at the suitcases on the floor. 'We can't leave.'
'I'll call the