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are under arrest for the murder of Assistant District Attorney Allison Laraway.”
    “Treat him with some respect,” Alex encouraged. “He’s a fellow officer.”
    “That makes him all the worse,” Roberts retorted, clamping down hard on Colin’s wrists. “A bad cop killing an ADA.”
    “I don’t want him put in the general population, Roberts.”
    “We’ll see what we can do.”
    “You’d better be kidding, Roberts,” Alex said. “And I expect to see all your evidence by Monday morning.”
    “You’ll have to take that up with the DA,” Detective Roberts replied, tugging on Colin’s arm.
    “I realize that, so you’d better get it over to him,” Alex snapped.
    “Call Emily,” Colin begged Alex as he was pulled from the room. His voice was filled with raw desperation, a tone unfamiliar even to himself. “Tell her I’m innocent—and that I love her.”
    ~*~
    When Alex arrived home, Isabel and Emily were seated at the casual dining table next to the open kitchen, talking quietly. Wearing a pair of Isabel’s pajamas and a robe, Emily sipped her hot tea then set the cup down on the glass tabletop.
    The instant Emily saw Alex appear in the side hallway leading in from the garage, she was on her feet. “Alex, what on earth is going on? Isabel won’t tell me anything.”
    “Sorry, Em, that’s my fault. I asked her not to. I thought it’d be best if she waited ‘til I got home and spoke with you myself.”
    “That sounds bad.” Emily sank back down in her chair.
    “I’m not going to lie to you, it is. The police have quite a bit of incriminating evidence, but so far it’s all circumstantial.”
    “So they didn’t just want to question him, like the detective said.” Emily had had a bad feeling when she stood at the living room window and watched the police take Colin away.
    “They did ask a lot of questions, but I instructed Colin not to answer them.”
    “But if he didn’t do it…” Emily took another sip of tea, willing her hands not to shake as she lifted the cup to her lips.
    “One wrong slip of the tongue could cause more damage than good. He has no alibi for the time of the murder and the detective claims they have compelling evidence that he was—”
    “He was what?” Emily sat up straight, anticipating Alex’s next words.
    “I hate to have to say this, Emily, but the police believe Colin was having an affair with Allison Laraway.”
    “What? That’s absurd!” Isabel asserted. “Colin would never do that.”
    “I agree—that’s ludicrous,” Emily said, trying to convince herself as much as she was the others. “He loves me. I know he does.”
    “Of course he does.” Isabel patted Emily’s hand that was clenched on the table. “The guy is crazy in love with you. Anybody can see that.”
    “What kind of proof do they claim to have?” Emily worked to keep her voice steady.
    Alex went through the litany of evidence the detective had listed for him, which was enough to convince any rational person that Colin was the killer.
    Emily crossed her arms on the table and laid her head down.
    “Em? Are you all right?” Isabel laid her hand on Emily’s arm.
    “We can talk more about this in the morning if you’d like,” Alex spoke in a calming voice.
    Emily pulled herself up straight in her chair. “Do you think he did it, Alex?”
    “The evidence is overwhelming, Em, but no, I don’t believe he did it.”
    “What makes you say that? Because the evidence does seem pretty compelling.” Emily looked Alex in the eye. “I don’t want to believe it either—I’m in love with him—but what am I supposed to think when they claim to have him on tape going into her condo the night she was killed. I’ll never be that blind again.”
    “Look, Emily, even if he was at her place, it doesn’t mean he killed her,” Alex replied.
    “I spoke to him on the phone Thursday night and he told me he was staying home, that he was going to relax, watch some TV, go to bed early.