Broken Promises by Marie-Nicole Ryan Page A

case.
    Brad’s eyes widened, and he pulled at his
shirt collar. “You know I’d never be unfaithful to your
sister.”
    “How do I know something like that?” Alex
leaned back and made himself comfortable. “Can’t blame you. Most
men wouldn’t turn down a little strange if they’re out of town and
no one’s the wiser.” He spread his hands over the table like a
dealer spreading cards. “Just tell ’em who you were with that
night. Jackie never has to know.”
    Brad wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I’m
a good husband. Instead of sitting down to another rubber chicken
dinner, I went to the bar for a drink. Just to decompress. I-I
never had any intention of meeting someone.”
    Bingo . “But you did meet
someone?”
    “Yeah. Guess I had too much to drink. Anyway,
we ended up in my hotel room.”
    Sonofabitch! “You fucked her?” Of
course he did—cheating bastard.
    “Yeah.” Brad wiped the sweat from him
forehead. “Man, she was wild. Turns out she was a pro.”
    “Not like you can put that on your credit
card.”
    “Hell, no.”
    No proof. Just his no-good, cheating
brother-in-law’s word. “Tell me you at least got her name.”
    Brad’s expression brightened. “Brandi.”
    “Dude, half the hookers in the world go by
Brandi. You gotta do better than that.” He eyeballed his miserable
excuse for a brother-in-law. “You better be straight with me.” Not
for a New York minute did he believe Brad was telling the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
    “I didn’t have anything to do with Jackie’s
disappearance. I swear.”
    He leaned across the table, got in his
brother-in-law’s face, and lowered his voice. “You better not have,
because I will kill your ass if you did.”
    Brad paled and pushed back. “I swear I didn’t
hurt her. She’s the mother of my son. What kind of man do you think
I am?”
    Alex stood and slapped both his hands on the
table, causing Brad to flinch. “The kind who cheats on his wife the
first chance he gets.” With that, he spun on his heel and left his
sorry brother-in-law to stew in the interrogation room.
    Outside, he shook his head and spoke to
Spitz. “He’s still holding something back. Are you running his
phone records?”
    “Warrant’s in the works. But we’ll get them.”
Spitz stroked his mustache. “Think he’s got something on the
side?”
    “Wouldn’t be surprised. He admitted to the
hooker quick enough. Too quick. Could be more.” Time to play nice
with the locals. “Mind if I check out his story with the bartender
on duty at the hotel that night?”
    “Suit yourself.” Spitz’s expression
brightened. “Don’t mind at all. This is a small department, and
sending someone to the city is a drain on time and manpower.”
    If Spitz thought Alex was going to leave
Canandaigua long enough to interview the bartender, he was sadly
mistaken. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Spitz.” He
pulled out his iPhone, called the hotel, and talked to the
bartender who was on duty the night before. After obtaining a copy
of his brother-in-law’s driver’s license photo from the obliging
Detective Spitz, Alex emailed it to the bartender. Unfortunately
for Brad, the bartender couldn’t corroborate his brother-in-law’s
presence the night before and obviously couldn’t give any kind of
description of the working girl he’d picked up.
    Alex shook his head. “No alibi.”
    “No alibi. That does it,” Spitz said. “I got
enough to hold him forty-eight hours. “By then, we’ll have some of
the reports back on the evidence from your sister’s house and
office.”
    “Anything promising?” Man, what he wouldn’t
give to get his hands on his brother-in-law’s computer. “How long
before we can get back in the house?”
    “I’ll let you know.”
    “You took the computers?”
    “Sure thing.”
    Alex smiled and nodded his approval. Even if
he couldn’t access the family’s computers, at least the locals had
the