Choking back a laugh, Sam opened the door to the break room where Tara Davenport waited, pale and trembling. As she introduced herself and Freddie to Tara, Sam questioned whether the woman had the physical strength to put a butcher knife through John O’Connor’s neck.

“Is this about John?” she asked softly after agreeing to allow them to record the conversation.

“It is. Can you provide your whereabouts on the night of the murder? Tuesday, from ten p.m. to seven a.m.?”

Rattled but firm, Tara said, “I was out with some friends, early in the evening, but home by ten.”

“I’ll need you to give Detective Cruz a list of the people you were with. Do you live alone?”

She nodded.

“So no one can verify your whereabouts after ten?”

“No.”

“No one saw you arriving home? Neighbors?”

“Not that I can recall.”

“How and when did you meet Senator O’Connor?”

“I met him about six months ago. He was a regular here. He and his chief of staff, Nick, came in for lunch a couple of times a week when the Senate was in session.”

Sam’s belly twisted at the mention of Nick, whom she’d studiously tried to block from her mind all day. Remembering his muscular chest and the tender way he’d cared for her after the dream infused her with heat. She shrugged off her coat and slung it over a chair.

“John always asked to be seated in my section. He liked to tease and flirt. After a few months of that, he asked me out to dinner.”

“Did that surprise you?”

“It did. I mean, he’s a United States senator. What does he want with a waitress?”

“What did he want?”

“At first, I thought he was lonely,” she said, her green eyes filling. “The first few times we went out, we talked for hours. He took me to nice places.”

“You must’ve felt like Cinderella,” Freddie said.

“In some ways, I did. He was a perfect gentleman, and so very handsome.”

“Did you fall for him?” Sam asked.

“Yes,” she whispered. “If you knew John at all, you’d know it would be hard not to.”

“So what happened?”

Playing with her fingers, Tara said, “We had dated for a few weeks when he asked me to spend the night with him.”

“And did you?”

Looking down at her lap, she nodded. “It was lovely. He was lovely.” She swiped at tears. “We couldn’t get enough of each other.”

“Did you have a key to his place?”

“He gave me his once when I was meeting him there, but I gave it back to him that same night.”

“Why did it end?” Freddie asked.

“He, ah…he was looking for more than I was willing to give.”

“In the relationship?” Sam knew the answer before she asked.

Tara shook her head, her cheeks blazing with color. “In bed.”

“What happened to lovely?”