Page 22 of Shiver

“All right, all right. What is it already? What do you want me to do?”

“Some punk threw a rock through Miss Morgan’s window. Can you bag it and check for prints?”

“A rock?”

“Yeah and berries. It’s a real mess.”

“Berries? That’s plain dumbass weird. Even for New Orleans.”

“Tell me. I’m sure it’s nothing, but the lady insists it isn’t, so let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“All right. I’ll do it.”

“Thanks. Also, can you drop by the hospital and talk to a kid named Joey who was in Miss Morgan’s storytime this morning? And a cute nurse named Betty Jenkins. Apparently, some guy was watching Miss Morgan read to the kids last week. This kid, Joey, found her locket and gave it to him. Maybe we can get a sketch artist to work with them.”

“Sounds good. I’ll pass the information on to Pat.”

“All right,” Riley agreed reluctantly. “Hey, why don’t you join us for dinner tonight?”

“No way. You need to be alone with your family. Besides, I’m sure they’ll have a lot of questions and I don’t have any answers.”

Riley cringed. “You and me both.”

“You can’t avoid them forever. Having me or even Miss Morgan around isn’t going to stop them from wanting to know what happened.”

“I know.”

There was a heavy pause before Tony added, “It wasn’t your fault. There wasn’t anything you could have done.”

Wasn’t there?“I could have kept a better eye on her. Mac depended on me for that.”

“An eye on Michelle? Like I told you before, she had a mind of her own and once she got it wrapped around something, there was no stopping her and you know it. Better yet, Mac knows it too.”

Riley blew out a deep breath. “I know you’re right, but it isn’t going to make seeing Mac again any easier.”

* * *

Devra’s stomachtwisted into knots as she threw her clothes into an overnight bag. How could she have agreed to go home with Detective MacIntyre? How could she spend day and night with the man knowing every moment he’d be probing her mind, trying to get her to slip up? Still, what choice did she have? Until the killer was caught, she’d spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder, wondering who he was and when he’d strike next. Her best bet was for the police to find him and for them to do it without involving her.

Not that they’d ever been able to before. But maybe on this ranch, she could disappear. She doubted the detective told anyone what he was doing. His captain wanted him out of the picture. Perhaps she could use that to her advantage.

She met him out front, handed him her bag and the cat carrier, then climbed into the Expedition. “Have you told anyone I am staying with you?”

Speculation shone in his eyes as he looked at her.

She didn’t say anything, just waited for him to respond. Sometimes silence was the best answer.

“Just my family.”

“What have you told them about me?” she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Not much, just that you need my help for a few days.”

“Is that all the time you think it will take to find this guy?”

“That’s all the time I believe we’ll need to get to the bottom of who broke your window.”

She ignored the prick of disappointment. He still didn’t believe her. How could he protect her if he didn’t believe she was in danger? She rested her head against the seat and stared out the window, barely noticing as freeway gave way to large green expanses dotted with houses as they drove farther and farther away from the city.

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