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and leaned back against the headboard. The bedroom had turned cold now, the wind whistling between the jalousies. Louis watched Issy on the floor. She stopped her writhing long enough to look up at him.
    “I know how you feel,” he said.
    He rose suddenly and went to the closet . He grabbed a jacket slipped on some old loafers and snatched up his car keys. With a last look at Issy, he left the bedroom.
     
     
     
    Susan was glad to see him. At least it seemed like it from the relieved expression on her face as she opened the door.
    “Come in,” she said, holding open the screen door. Louis followed her into the living room. It was warm after the chill of the outdoors? There was a fire going in the hearth and the TV was on, the volume turned low. The lumpy blue sofa was covered with case files, and Susan’s briefcase was propped open on the coffee table, next to an empty wine glass.
    Susan was wearing old jeans with a rip at the knee, a baggy red sweater, and bright pink socks. She started to tidy up the mess on the sofa.
    “Sorry, I was working,” she said. “I’ve got a prelim Monday morning. She picked up the wine glass and paused. “I’m drinking pinot. You want some?”
    “You got a beer?”
    She nodded and went to the kitchen. Louis followed. He noticed the house seemed awfully quiet.
    “Where are Ben and Austin?” he asked.
    “They’re not back yet,” Susan said, taking a Heineken from the refrigerator. “Austin said they were going to lunch at McDonald’s then over to Lakes Park. Ben likes to ride the train there. They probably stopped for ice cream.” She opened the beer and held it out to Louis.
    Louis saw her eyes stray to the clock on the wall. She let out a sigh and refilled her wine glass. When she looked back at Louis, her eyes were dark with worry.
    She picked up the wine glass and left the kitchen. Louis followed her back to the living room. She was sitting on the sofa, staring at the television, elbows on knees, her hands clasping the wine glass. The guy on the TV was talking now about the cold front, standing in front of a big map marked with huge crescents of white moving down from the north toward the Florida peninsula.
    “Are they late?” Louis asked.
    “Yes...well, no,” Susan said. “Austin told me he has to leave here no later than five-thirty. He has a plane to catch in Miami and it leaves at ten. I saw his ticket. He had tickets for me and Ben, too.”
    “He bought tickets before he asked you to go?”
    “That’s how he is. He just does things without asking.”
    Louis glanced at his watch. It was almost six. He knew it was at least a two-and-a-half hour drive to Miami. He sat down next to Susan, pushing aside a pile of legal briefs.
    “He’ll bring him back,” he said.
    Susan shook her head slowly. “You don’t know him.”
    Louis nodded to the suede coat and hat lying on a chair by the door. “He left his coat and hat.”
    “He said it was going to rain and he didn’t want to get it ruined,” she said absently.
    “He wouldn’t leave his precious suede coat here, Susan.”
    She set the glass down sharply on the coffee table and jumped up, going to the window and pulling back the curtain.
    Louis stifled a sigh and turned back toward the television. The type above the talking head said “Body Found in Glades.” With a glance back at Susan, Louis dug the remote out of the cushions and turned up the sound.
    “Broward County deputi es are investigating the discovery of a body found yesterday at a rest stop off Alligator Alley just inside the county line. The unidentified woman was most likely the victim of a sexual assault.”
    Louis glanced back at Susan. She was still staring out at the street . He went back to the news.
    “The victim is a black woman in her late twenties, about five feet five, one hundred and fifteen pounds. Police are asking anyone who might know the woman to please contact the Broward County Sheriff’s Department.”
    There was a