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spoken to Geoff?” Mia asked when the door slammed behind them.
    “Absolutely,” Alex said. “Mr. Jones may act cool, but he has a tell.”
    “What is it?”
    “He scratches his temple with one finger.  I watched him during the trial and picked up on it.”
    “But they’re going to protect Geoff,” Mia said as she climbed in his SUV.
    He shrugged.  “Protecting him would mean cooperating with us to save his life. Because if he lays a hand on you, I’ll kill the bastard.”
    Mia fastened her seatbelt.  “I never wanted him hurt,” she said softly. “I just wanted to get away from him.”
    Alex pulled onto the road.  Mia was amazing. Even after all the pain and suffering Geoff had put her through, she wasn’t vindictive.  “You said in the trial that he didn’t know about the baby ahead of time. Do you think it would have made a difference?”
    Pain wrenched her face, making him regret the question.  “No.” She fidgeted and glanced back at the house for a moment.  “Maybe. Although he was insanely jealous. More than once, he accused me of sleeping around.”
    His gaze met hers. He refused to ask.
    “And no, I never did,” she said firmly. “But if a man, even one of his friends who he wanted to impress, smiled at me, he flew into a rage later that night and accused me of flirting.”
    “Some people think abusers need psychiatric help,” he said darkly. “But any man who beats up on a woman is nothing but a low down coward.”
    A strained silence fell between them as they drove. Alex wanted to comfort Mia, remind her that none of this was her fault, but his phone buzzed, and he saw it was his superior so he snatched it up.
    “Townsend, it’s Chief Dunn.”
    “Any word on the prison escape?”
    “Cantrell is in charge of the search for Larry Buckham and I’ve put Deke Mann on the Simpleton investigation. He has a lot of experience with serial killers. Any news on Jones?”
    Alex relayed his conversation with Jones’s parents. “I think they’ve talked to him, but they’ll never admit it. Have the tech team analyze their financials.  They probably set up funds for Geoff in an offshore account somewhere.”
    “All three of them may already have fake ID and passports to aid them in leaving the country,” Chief Dunn said.  “We’ve alerted bus and train stations, airports, the border patrol as well as the cruise lines.”
    Alex gritted his teeth. Geoff had enough money that he could hire a private jet.
    “He’ll come for Mia first.” Alex’s jaw tightened at the sliver of fear that slanted Mia’s mouth.
    “We’ve already pulled the Jones’s phone records,” Chief Dunn said.  “So far nothing suspicious on the home line or Jones’s cell, but we’re still hunting.”
    “They’re probably using prepaid cells,” Alex said. “Geoff Jones was a lawyer. He’s smart and would have known the police would examine his phone records and financials along with his parents’ for suspicious activity.”
    Still, they had to search.
    “How about Jones’s cell mate?” Alex asked.
    “The FBI has sent in a team to interrogate the inmates to find out exactly what happened and how the men orchestrated the escape.”
    “Hell, the inmates are so ingenious they can make shanks out of anything,” Alex said. And contraband was easier to get than anyone could imagine.
    “Tell me about it. They’ve had five murders at that prison in the last two months. The prison is on full lockdown now pending a massive investigation.”
    “I’m on my way back to the ranch where Mia works,” Alex continued. “There are a couple of new hired hands that I want to talk to. And I might pay a visit to the prison myself. In spite of the friends Jones bought, he probably made a few enemies.”
    “Good idea.”  They agreed to stay in touch, and Alex lapsed into silence as he drove back to the Crossties.
    When they arrived at the ranch, he scanned the property as they drove past the welcome sign that had