One-Night Alibi. Kara Lennox

investigators at the foundation, was a thirtyish, clean-cut guy with a boyish charm. But his demeanor suggested ex-military. His posture, maybe, or the bulky, complicated dive watch on his left wrist.

      Mitch Delacroix, a slightly scruffy, laid-back man, greeted her with a good-old-boy “pleased to meet ya,” revealing the traces of a Cajun accent. The only other woman in the room, a tall, glamorous brunette dressed to the nines in a turquoise suit, was Raleigh Shinn, the foundation’s chief legal counsel.

      The show of force encouraged Elizabeth; if Daniel was going to reject their request for help, he was pulling out some pretty big guns to do it.

      “I’ll just get right into it, if that’s okay,” Daniel began. He was a man of few words, but what he said was always important. “A lot of people need our services. I wish we could help them all, but though the foundation is growing all the time, we simply don’t have the resources to take on every case.”

      “But—” Hudson started to object. He stopped himself when he saw the quelling look on Daniel’s face. Raleigh, too, gave him a stern look of reproach. He sank lower in his chair.

      “That’s why we have a protocol in place, so that the most urgent and deserving cases get our attention first.”

      Oh, dear. This didn’t sound promising.

      “That said, Hudson, you’ve been a friend to Project Justice on a number of occasions. You were a tremendous help with the Mary-Frances Torres case, and if not for you, our Jillian might have frozen to death in a deep freezer.”

      Elizabeth turned to look at Hudson with a fresh appraisal. She’d heard about the attempt on Jillian’s life because the media had picked up the story. It was the type of situation that begged for headlines: beautiful young investigator working undercover gets locked in a deep freezer at her company picnic by the murdering CFO. She hadn’t realized Hudson had taken any part in her rescue.

      Hudson nodded acknowledgment but refrained from speaking, and who could blame him?

      “I can’t take resources away from cases we’ve already committed to working,” Daniel continued, “and our investigators here are always stretched to the max. But I want to help. Just from the little I’ve learned so far about your situation, it seems highly unlikely either of you committed murder. But it also appears you’ve unwittingly put yourself in an extremely vulnerable situation.”

      To put it mildly.

      “So here’s what I propose. Hudson, you’re a highly trained and decorated homicide detective. But since you’re currently suspended, you don’t have access to the tools you need to properly investigate.”

      “Exactly,” Hudson agreed, unable to stop himself. “I’ve never been so frustrated.”

      “Well, we’ve got the most powerful computers money can buy and the most skilled...data analyst you’ll ever find.”