Whispers from the Dead (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 2) Read Free

Ben before he’d hurled the dish at Denton’s head.
    Still holding out a shard of hope that it was all a huge misunderstanding, I turned to Denton and asked, “Is this true?”
    The room was dead silent and all eyes turned to Denton. The thirty-two year old still looked every bit the high school football star, except that now he was even more ripped. Both of his arms bulged with muscles, and right below each sleeve of his t-shirt was an elaborate tattoo. One arm was decorated with a sun burst and the other with a pouting angel that looked kind of like a porn star with wings.
    He didn’t even have to answer for me to immediately know that what Ben had said was the truth. It was written all over Denton’s unusually sagging face. I inwardly sighed in sadness for Ben’s little girls.
    Denton rubbed his hand vigorously through his blond hair before he finally said, “Yeah, but she’s the one who came on to me.” He glanced back at Ben and said, “Man, you have to believe me. I would never do that to you.”
    “That’s enough,” I said, waving him to silence with an irritated swipe of my hand.
    Denton hadn’t changed one bit since high school. He was still a self-centered, heart breaking dick, too arrogant to take any responsibility for it. And that made the sting even sharper when my body betrayed me with a racing heart and a dry mouth when I faced him.
    “You’re under arrest, Denton McAllister, for disorderly conduct and assault.” He didn’t resist when I cuffed him, but he didn’t go silently either.
    “What the hell, Serenity. Are you kidding me? He’s the one who attacked me and then Ruby’s brother, Nathan, had to get involved. They’re the ones you should be arresting!”
    I turned him around and stared hard into his eyes. Once upon a time, those hazel eyes of his could make me do anything he wanted. I had been a lump of hormones and romantic dreams around him in high school. That is, until he cheated on me with my own best friend at the time. They say that high school memories stay with you for a lifetime. I had to agree, except those memories weren’t always pleasant. In my case, they had turned me into a very jaded adult.
    “For once in your life, keep your mouth shut or I’ll find some other charges to tack on to the list. Now move.” I pointed towards the door. He shook his head in disbelief, but started walking anyway.
    “Todd, can you get Denton into the cruiser. I want to talk to Ben for a minute…and you can take the cuffs off of him.” Then I addressed the crowd. “Everyone go home. Charlie’s is closed for the night.”
    Quickly, people began dispersing, some with down cast eyes and others with smiling faces and Happy New Year wishes. I nodded curtly to get them moving on their way and told Charlie that I’d be with him in a minute to make a formal report. The old bar owner had already gotten to work with a mop and I moved my attention from him to look back at Ben. This wasn’t going to be fun.
    “I’m doing you a favor. I’m sure the last face that you want to be staring at all night through cell bars is Denton’s, so I’m not going to haul you in. But I don’t want you going home to Ruby and the kids tonight, either. You need to get a room at one of the hotels off the interstate and sleep this one off. When its morning and you’re thinking clearer, you can go talk to her about it, but not tonight. Do you understand me?”
    “Yeah, I do.” I was satisfied with his answer and his demeanor, and was about to switch my attention back to Charlie when Ben reached out and touched my arm. I looked at him with a raised brow.
    “Why would she do such a thing? We have a family…I thought we were happy. How could Ruby do this to us?”
    Ben’s eyes were wet and his face was pale. My heart went out to him, but I also wondered when his pain would turn to anger. In cases like this it was probably better to be totally pissed off rather than being lost in so much grief. And what