Page 39 of Shiver

“I want to help you.”

“Why would you want to help your prime murder suspect?”

Her anger surprised him. Could he have been so wrong about her? “I know you didn’t kill Michelle.”

“Do you?” she mocked with arched eyebrows. “How can you be so sure?”

Exactly. Why had he been so sure?

Thunder rocked the house. Lightning forked the sky, casting an ominous glow to the room. Their silence deepened and all that could be heard was the angry beat of raindrops against the roof and bushes outside.

Devra grasped the table with splayed fingertips. “Why would Tony brave coming way out here in a torrential downpour? Just to see me? What does he really want? What aren’t you telling me?”

“Don’t you mean what did he find out about you? Why don’t you tell me what you’re hiding?”

Her dark blue eyes shimmered with frustration. Riley wanted to tell her about the sketch but, at this point, he had too many doubts about her, too many questions. Surprise would be his best strategy. He needed to study her reaction before she had time to school her features, to protect herself from whatever she might see in that sketch. It could be nothing, a nobody, a hospital orderly she’d never met. Or it could be an old lover or even an accomplice. He couldn’t be sure. Not of her, not of anything.

What did Michelle’s death have to do with a boy murdered fifteen years ago? A boy Devra claimed she hadn’t killed. And what did that have to do with why his mother’s picture had been taken off his mantle? “If you’re innocent, if you have nothing to hide, why do you care if Tony’s coming over?”

“Why are you working so hard to prove I’m not innocent?”

“Dammit, Devra! Don’t you think I want to believe you?”

Her eyes widened.

His tone softened. “Do you think I would have brought you into my home and introduced you to my family if I believed you were capable of murder?”

Tears watered her eyes, and his gut clenched.

“I can’t trust you.”

“You can. Open up and tell me!”

They stared at one another as the storm thundered above, the rift between them growing wider with each passing second.

“I can’t help you if you won’t let me in.”

Headlights shone through the front windows.

“He’s here,” Riley said.

Devra stood, her frightened eyes growing large and filling her face.

What was she so afraid of?

Tony burst through the front door, peeled off his parka and hung it on a rack. Rainwater ran in rivulets down the slick fabric to puddle on the floor. “She’s a live one. I just about drowned coming in from the car.” Lightening flashed, emphasizing his words and illuminating the trees outside the window.

“Can I get you some hot tea?” Devra asked with only the slightest quiver to betray her anxiety. Riley couldn’t help but be impressed by her ability to hide her emotions.

Surprise widened Tony’s eyes. “Yes, ma’am. That’d be nice,” he responded with a warm smile dimpling his cheeks.

Riley nudged him.

“Whoo—eee,” Tony said as Devra left the room to get the tea. “That’s quite a transformation.”

“She’s the same woman you saw at the station,” Riley said dryly, not liking Tony ogling her.

Even though she was only wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt, the soft cotton molded Devra’s curves, perfectly outlining her heart-shaped bottom and ample breasts. Her natural beauty highlighted by lustrous curls and shockingly blue eyes took Riley’s breath away. Yeah, he knew how Tony felt.

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