Page 4 of Hidden Truths

“My wife, Elyse.” Jack sounded uneasy.

“Good to meet you.” Max strode over and shook her outstretched hand.

She was pudgy, soft, with the same pasty-white complexion as Jack. Her shoulder-length brown hair had artful blond streaks and her shrewd blue eyes sized Max up. “Jack has talked about you for years. Nice to know you’re not a figment of his imagination.”

“Elyse, do you have to?” Jack snapped.

Elyse ignored her husband. “Mara Philippi, huh? She’s got a reputation in the prison. Serial killer, meaner than hell, thinks she’s the hot shit who doesn’t have to obey the rules. Got herself bit by one of the dogs while she was daring the guards to put her back in her cell. Scary bitch. You say you took her down?”

“Me and my wife.”

“Your wife must be one tough woman,” Elyse said.

Max kept his unblinking gaze on hers. “My wife wrote the book on tough.”

Elyse couldn’t sustain that kind of challenge. She looked down, picked up a computer tablet and flipped it onto the counter. “We’ve got your reservation. Room seven. It’s a queen-size bed.” She made that sound like a wicked indulgence. “Sign here. You get two bottles of water for every day you stay. We’ve got no streaming TV or whatever, but you can check out any of the DVDs. Mara Philippi, huh?”

Max had nevernotwanted to sign so much in his life, but somehow within the last five minutes, this scene had become messy and embarrassing. More important, he knew in a town of this size, he might never find another room.

He used his finger to sign and nodded.

“If you helped put Mara Philippi away, what do you need to see her for?” Elyse asked as if she had the right to know.

“It’s a personal matter,” Max said.

“I can’t imagine Warden Arbuckle giving you access for a personal matter.” She scrutinized him, trying to pry into his mind.

Max took the key card, said, “Thank you,” and went out the door.

Before it shut behind him, he heard Jack mutter, “Damn, Elyse, can’t you ever shut up?”

Max held the door open long enough to hear her reply nastily, “I may not have a collegeedumacationlike some people in here, but I know a pit bull from a vacuum cleaner when I see one.”

Whatever that meant.

Jack hissed, “I’m sorry I ever came back here.”

Elyse answered as if this was an old, tattered argument. “I’m sorry I married you.”

“If you hadn’t told me you were pregnant, marriage would never had happened. Liar!” Jack got louder.

“Too dumb to wear a raincoat. Too easy to catch. Not worth having.” Max could almost hear Elyse grinning. “My daddy nailed it.”

“I’m going to get out of this piece-of-shit little town,” Jack vowed. “Get away from you.”

“I’ve heard it all before. The door’s open. Just go,” Elyse invited.

Actually, the doorwasopen. Max pulled it closed behind him and slid on his sunglasses.

Dear God, it was bright here and at the same time…everything about this place, so close to the prison, was depressing as hell. He drove his car into the parking spot before the door with the number 7 on it, got his backpack and went inside.

First thing he did was rip the bedspread off the bed and throw it in the corner. Heaven knows when it had last been cleaned. He stripped the top sheet all the way down and examined the linens. The review was right.No bedbugs!!!

The furnishings were old, but the bathroom was clean. There had once been a door that went to the back side of the hotel; it was painted over, the handle removed. He looked out the high window in the wall and saw a pool filled with gravel. A hole in the Sheetrock marked the place where the phone connection had once been. No problem, he had cell service and his Wi-Fi had five bars.

He placed the two flat pillows against the wall, sat on the bed put his feet up and called home.

Verona answered the phone. “Max. Are you all right?”

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