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interrogation. “I want to get the hell out of here before they change their mind, arrest me, and send me to Alcatraz.”
    Nikki wiped something from the corner of her mouth that could only have been drool. “They never arrested you?”
    “I was interrogated . The guy had the worst breath.”
    “All night?” Nikki followed her out the door. The sun was already up, bright and full of promise, unlike Jessica’s life at the present.
    “Yup. His breath stunk all night. Some awful combination of raw onions, rotten potatoes, and cinnamon Dentyne.”
    “I meant, did they question you all night? I’m parked there.” She pointed to her white Prius. Her mother had given her a Jaguar XF for her fortieth birthday, but she rarely drove it. It embarrassed her to own such an excessive car. Jessica kept telling her she should sell it and blow the money on a trip to Monte Carlo, but Nikki couldn’t do that, either. So it sat in storage and once a month she and Jeremy took it for a drive. Always after dark.
    Nikki fumbled for the key fob in her bag. She imagined her breath smelled as bad as the cop’s who had interrogated Jessica. The corn chips and coffee she’d had at three in the morning probably hadn’t helped matters.
    “They kept you all night without arresting you?” Finally managing to unlock the doors, Nikki climbed in. “Can they even do that?”
    “Do I care, as long as they didn’t arrest me?” Jessica buckled in and fell back against the leather seat, closing her eyes.
    Nikki felt the sudden urge to reach out and give her a hug, a pat on the arm, something, but they didn’t have that kind of relationship. Nikki didn’t exactly consider herself a touchy-feely kind of person, but Jessica was off the chart when it came to physical affection. At least between friends. So Nikki kept her hugs to herself. “You all right?” she asked.
    Jessica kept her eyes closed. “I just need a double espresso and a shower. I’ll be fine.”
    Nikki started the car and it purred away from the curb. “I’ll take you right home.”
    “Can’t.” Jessica sighed, kicked off her heels, and glanced at Nikki. “It’s officially a crime scene. I can’t go in, not even to get any of my stuff, until it’s been released.”
    “Okay. So, my house.” Nikki gripped the wheel. A million things were running through her head, disjointed by lack of sleep, a corn chip overdose, and genuine fear for her friend. “So we should do something about getting you a lawyer. The sooner the better.”
    “I can’t afford a lawyer, Nik. I owe American Express six thousand in two days. Why would I need a lawyer if I didn’t do it?”
    “Then I’ll pay for the lawyer.” Nikki was generally careful about throwing money around. Her father had left her wealthy, immensely so, but she tried to live a lifestyle appropriate to her own income. Growing up, she’d seen what wealth did to too many people and she had decided years ago not to allow that to happen to herself. She had enough baggage to drag around without filling it with gold. It was a subject she and her mother had agreed to disagree on. On alternating Sundays, at least. The rest of the week, Victoria made a point of telling Nikki what a fool she was to even work.
    “So what happened?” Nikki asked, easing onto Sunset. “They questioned you about Rex and . . .”
    “And they questioned me and questioned me.” Jessica gestured wildly as she talked, her words becoming manic. She acted as if she’d already had two double espressos. “They asked me why I killed Rex. I said I didn’t. They asked me how he could be alive when he’d crashed his plane in the desert. I said I didn’t know. They asked me how his body got in my apartment if I didn’t kill him and I said I didn’t know. It kind of went around in a circle after that.”
    “But they believed you? They must have believed you.” Nikki hit her horn as a monstrous black SUV with tinted windows cut her off. “Otherwise they