Whisper of Evil Read Free

much. Still, people change, especially in—what?— a dozen years? Maybe I could learn to belong."
    He laughed shortly. "Yeah? Why would you want to? What could there possibly be in this pissant little town to interest you?"
    Nell had learned patience in those dozen years, and caution. So all she said in response to that harsh question was a mild "Maybe nothing. We'll see."
    Max drew a breath and shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, gazing off toward the center of town as if the bake sale going on there fascinated him.
    While he was deciding what to say next, Nell studied him. He hadn't changed much, she thought. Older, of course. Physically more powerful now in his mid-thirties; he probably still ran, still practiced the martial arts that had been a lifelong interest. In addition, of course, to the daily physical labors of a cattle rancher. Whatever he was doing, it was certainly keeping him in excellent shape.
    His lean face was a bit more lived-in than it had been, but just as with so many really good-looking men, the almost-too-pretty features of youth were maturing with age into genuine and striking male beauty—beauty that was hardly spoiled at all by the thin, grim line of his mouth. The passage of the years had barely marked that face in any negative way. There might have been a few threads of silver in the dark hair at his temples, and she didn't remember the laugh lines at the corners of his heavy-lidded brown eyes___
    Bedroom eyes. He'd been known for them all through school, for bedroom eyes and a hot temper, both gifts from a Creole grandmother. Maturity had done nothing to dampen the smoldering heat lurking in those dark eyes; she wondered if it had taught him to control the temper.
    It had certainly taught her to control hers.
    "You've got a hell of a nerve, I'll say that for you," he said finally, that intense gaze returning to her face.
    "Because I came back? You must have known I would. With Hailey gone, there was no one else to… take care of things."
    "You didn't come back for the funeral."
    "No." She offered no explanation, no defense.
    His mouth tightened even more. "Most people around here said you wouldn't."
    "What did you say?" She asked because she had to.
    "I was a fool. I said you would."
    "Sorry to disappoint you."
    Max shook his head once, an almost violent negation, and his voice was hard. "You can't disappoint me, Nell. I lost ten bucks on a bet, that's all."
    Nell didn't know what she would have said to that, but she was saved from replying when an astonished female voice exclaimed her name.
    "Nell Gallagher? My God, is that you?"
    Nell half turned and managed a faint smile for the stunning redhead hurrying toward her. "It's me, Shelby."
    Shelby Theriot shook her head and repeated, "My God," as she joined them beside Nell's car. For a moment, it seemed she would throw her arms around Nell in an exuberant hug, but in the end she just grinned. "I thought you'd probably show up here eventually, what with the house and everything to take care of, but I guess I figured it'd be later, maybe summer or something, though I don't know why. Hey, Max."
    "Hey, Shelby." He stood there with his hands in his pockets, expressionless now, dark eyes flicking back and forth between the two women.
    Nell kept her own gaze on Shelby's glowing face. "I thought about waiting until fall or until storm season was mostly past," she said easily, "but it worked out that I had some time now before beginning a new job, so I came on down."
    "Down from where?" Shelby demanded. "Last we heard, you were out west somewhere."
    "Heard from Hailey?"
    "Yeah. She said you were—well, I think the word she used was entangled, with some guy in Los Angeles. Or maybe it was Las Vegas. Anyway, out west somewhere. And that you were taking college courses at night. At least, I think that's what she said."
    Rather than commenting on the information, Nell merely said, "I live in D.C. now."
    "Did you ever get married?