Trinity Harbor 3 - Along Came Trouble Read Free Page B

trying to keep the impatience out of his voice, but not real y succeeding.
    She stared at him with those huge, watery eyes. “You are the police.”
    Tucker raked a hand through his hair and muttered a curse. Okay, first things first. “You’re sure he’s dead?”
    She nodded, her expression bleak.
    He wanted to relent, to reach for her and hold her until those uncharacteristic tears dried up, but he steeled himself against that reaction. He needed to be a cop first, a friend second, at least until he knew more. It might seem cold and unfeeling, but it was the best way to help her.
    And to protect himself, he thought bitterly. He couldn’t let himself forget for one single second that he’d been burned once by this very same woman. Lust aside, he couldn’t let himself trust her, not for a minute. She could have come here just to muddy the hel out of any investigation by the local authorities. Maybe she wanted the state police on the case, for some reason—they would take over if there was any question about whether the sheriff’s department had a conflict.
    “Did you do it?” he asked, leveling a look straight into her eyes. He would know if she was lying, had always been able to tel , not because she was lousy at it, but because he could see into her soul. He knew her inside out, knew what she was capable of. Or at least he’d once thought he did, and she’d let him believe it, right up until the day she’d announced her engagement to Chandler. He’d missed that one coming.
    Now there was a flicker of hurt in her eyes at the question, but then she responded, her tone as cool and impersonal as his. “No.”
    Tucker held her gaze, but she never once wavered, never even blinked. Something that felt a lot like relief—or maybe more like cautious optimism
    —rushed through him. “Okay, then, why don’t I make some coffee and you can tel me what’s going on.”
    At least that would get her into some clothes and out of this bedroom. Maybe then he’d be able to concentrate, act like a policeman instead of a frustrated ex-lover who wanted to jump the bones of a potential murder suspect.
    She seemed surprised. “Just like that?”
    He shot her a rueful look. “You knew how I’d react. That’s why you’re here and not at the station over in Montross.”
    “That’s one of the reasons,” she conceded.
    “And the others?”
    She sighed. “Maybe we’d better save that discussion for another time.”
    Since Tucker’s supposedly rigid self-control had been weakening for the last ten minutes, he knew better than to press her on that. One tiny hint that she was back here because of him, because of something personal, and he’d be in that bed and al over her. It seemed like a real y bad idea to go that route, especial y if someone had very recently kil ed her husband.
    Which, he noted as he headed for the kitchen to make the coffee, she didn’t seem to be al that broken up about. She was scared and shaken, not grief-stricken. He was going to have to ask her about that. Hel , he had so many questions, they might not get out of the house for days.
    While the coffee brewed and he waited for Mary Elizabeth to join him, he cal ed the station and told the dispatcher that he wouldn’t be in.
    “Until later?” she asked, sounding stunned.
    “No, I won’t be in at al ,” he told her, understanding her shock. He hadn’t taken a day off in weeks, if not longer. Work had been his refuge, especial y since Bobby’s wedding. He knew that he was on his father’s shortlist of projects. Staying out of King’s path had seemed like a good idea. “Until further notice, I am official y on leave.”
    “Wel , good,” Michele said, ral ying. “It’s about time. I hope she’s gorgeous.”
    “This is not about a woman,” Tucker said very firmly.
    “Yeah, right. It’s always about a woman when a workaholic male final y takes time off out of the blue and in the middle of the week.”
    “Wel , this time it’s not,”