Bring the Heat by Jo Davis

different. He was asking as a friend, not a colleague. Shehesitated, visibly torn between the truth and not wanting to hurt him more than he already had been.
    â€œYou already know she was strangled with a belt,” she finally said.
    â€œOne of mine.”
    â€œYes. Did they tell you about the two prints on it?” When he nodded, she went on. “The one that didn’t match yours was in the correct position to commit the murder.”
    â€œGlenn didn’t mention that, just that we don’t know who the print belongs to yet.”
    â€œHe might not have known. That will definitely help take the heat off you.”
    â€œInnocent until proven guilty. Right.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness from his tone.
    â€œI agree it’s not fair to have to prove it, but you
are
innocent. The evidence will bear that out, because there’s more. The tissue under Ashley’s fingernails belongs to a Caucasian, and I’m going to guess a male because of the sheer strength needed to kill in this way. It’s actually very difficult to strangle a person.”
    Austin swallowed hard. “So she fought, scratched the hell out of somebody.”
    â€œYes. You get a suspect and you’re going to have him cold with the evidence.”
    â€œThat’s the problem, isn’t it? Finding the monster who did this.” Tears pricked his eyes and he shook his head. “We didn’t have a very good relationship toward the end, but I never wanted anything bad to happen to her. Ever.”
    â€œI know, sweetie.”
    â€œShe didn’t even want our baby. Did you know that?”
    Her eyes were pools of hurt—for him. “No, I didn’t.”
    â€œThe pregnancy was one of those surprises that happens after things get out of control. We got together one more time after I was almost killed a few months ago, but we knew it wasn’t going to work. I was so happy about the baby, but she wasn’t at
all
.”
    Laura frowned. “But she fought you for custody anyway?”
    â€œYeah. Because she could, and the courts favor the mothers. I don’t like to speak ill of her, especially now, but she was pretty hateful. She wanted to put the screws to me.”
    â€œThen it’s a good thing the evidence is steering the blame away from you—otherwise you’d have motive.”
    He shook his head. “I would never harm my son.”
    â€œI know that and so do your friends, but not everyone would be convinced. That won’t be an issue, though. Facts are facts, and someone else did the crime.”
    â€œAnd what if you didn’t have all the facts? What would your gut tell you about me?”
    Her lips curved up. “You’re a good man, Captain. I trust you completely.”
    He wasn’t sure how good a man he was, but he knew one thing: he wanted to keep Laura around, get to know her much better.
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    Convincing his parents to go home this time had been twice the job it had been before.
    Austin watched his dad pull out of the driveway, and waved at his teary mom until they disappeared around the corner. Then he went back inside.
    Now it was just Shane, Danny, and himself. The duo had arrived together, right after his folks had gotten him home. Honestly, it had been sort of a relief because his friends had kept the mood light, and in turn had kept Austin’s mom from coming unglued. Their visit had gone a long way to reassure his folks that there wouldn’t be a repeat of Austin’s breakdown.
    Austin had done his best to reassure them of that, too.
    â€œMy son had his life taken from him before he got a chance to live,” he’d told them. “Who am I to throw mine away? Trust me, please. I won’t let you down again.”
    They had finally believed him. Now he had to make good on his promise.
    â€œThis place looks good,” Austin said to his friends, indicating the