Red Rain: Lightning Strikes: Red Rain Series #2 Read Free

he seemed to dislike the fact that I was there. Or not so much me being there, but me in general.”
    “What do you mean?”
    He let a few seconds of silence pass as he figured out how to put it into words.
    “I felt like he was looking down on me, maybe. Except, that’s not even exactly right. The man held some disdain for me that I can’t really put my finger on. He said he would come down to the station tomorrow for another interview, and didn’t really sound like he’d bring a lawyer.”
    “Sounds to me like you don’t like him ,” Susan said.
    “I don’t. Not at all.”
    “Because of how he acted or because you’ve already convicted him?”
    “I don’t know,” Alan said.
    “That’s not the best answer in the world.”
    “Maybe not, but it’s all I’ve got.”
    “So what do you want to do?” Susan asked.
    “I don’t think we’re going to get this guy to admit something in an interview room. He’s educated and has money. If we put too much pressure on him, he’ll lawyer up and that’ll be the end of it.” Alan paused as he thought about how that might feel, to have their first real lead in the case burn like a cheap match. Whatever else happened, that couldn’t. “We need to look into everything he’s ever done. As far back as we can find. If he’s guilty, something is going to turn up. We also need to put a tail on him.”
    “Something he can slip?” Susan said.
    “Yeah, I want him to see that we’re looking. One tail he can slip, and then a second one he won’t ever know is there.”
    “Alright. I’ll get on it tomorrow.”
    Alan nodded, alone in his car, finding satisfaction in his decision.
    “Okay, see ya,” he said and hung up the phone.
    When’s the last time you asked how Susan was doing?
    The thought poked into his brain like a needle through skin, painful and bright. Painful because he hadn’t asked and bright because the pain illuminated the truth: he didn’t care how she was doing. He didn’t care how his wife was doing. He didn’t care about the girls, either—not really. Not how he had cared before Paul Stinson showed up dead beside that lake. He cared about Teresa, and everything else fell to the side until he made sure she was okay.
    And she would only ever be okay if the person that killed her paid for it. In blood or time, Alan didn’t care.
    Do they notice?
    Of course they notice, he answered. Your wife just called you three times and you didn’t bother answering or returning the calls. Everyone around you knows what you care about. Even your kids.
    It wouldn’t be long. A month, maybe? At the outside? They could all go back to normal once this was over. He promised himself and them, even if they couldn’t hear him.

    * * *
    M arie Tremock lay in bed , sitting up with a pillow behind her back.
    The pale blue television screen cast its glow across the room, turning what should have been a dark and quiet place to something unnatural—a room at midnight, full of light and people talking, though only one person occupied the bed.
    She watched what felt like the ninth commercial for an upcoming movie—‘The Singularity Rising’ a sequel to something that came out a few years ago titled ‘The Singularity’.
    Just awful names , she thought as the commercial ended.
    Marie wasn’t angry, though she thought she should be. In fact, given it was nearing midnight, she should probably be pissed that Alan wasn’t home. But she couldn’t find it in her, even if she wanted to.
    She understood.
    She didn’t like it, wasn’t even sure she respected the decisions he was making, but she did understand.
    Marie didn’t want to have the conversation that was about to take place, but what choice was there anymore?
    She heard the door open downstairs, closing as quietly as possible. She listened, turning the television down. His footsteps led to the kitchen, the sound of water running, and then silence as he drank. He started climbing the stairs and as he reached the