Suspicion Of Guilt. Tracey V. Bateman

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СКАЧАТЬ back here?” Leigh’s voice next to Denni arrested her attention, pulling her from the vision of flying into Reece’s well-muscled arms.

      “Looks like he decided to help us clean up whether we like it or not.”

      Leigh headed for the door—all bad attitude and body language. “Want me to get rid of him?”

      “No, don’t be rude. He’s doing us a favor.” Just why he was doing them a favor, she didn’t know. But she wasn’t opposed to figuring it out.

      “I think it’s sort of sweet.” Denni turned at the soft sound of Cate Sheridan’s voice. The girl waddled across the room, her eight-months-pregnant belly leading the way.

      “Sweet?” Leigh sniffed. “Those hormones are definitely affecting your brain. The guy’s been on our backs for months accusing us of robbing Denni. Now he’s blaming us for a flood. And you think he’s sweet?”

      “Crazy, isn’t it?” Cate grinned and elbowed Denni. “He sure is a hottie, don’t you think?”

      Warmth flooded Denni’s cheeks. It was one thing for her to consider Reece a good-looking man in the privacy of her own mind, another for the girls to notice. She rolled her eyes and tried to recover some dignity. “I’m too old to think ‘hottie’ when I see a guy.”

      “Yeah, right.” Leigh’s voice held no humor.

      Cate nudged Denni again and said in her best Southern drawl, “Ya might be old, honey. But ya ain’t dead.”

      Denni couldn’t hold back a laugh.

      Obviously seeing nothing funny about the whole situation, Leigh swept over them both with a glare. “Just remember this particular guy is out for my blood, Denni. Don’t let him charm you into suspecting one of us.”

      Denni turned to the girl, and her heart softened at the worry darkening Leigh’s black-lined eyes. “Leigh, I know you had nothing to do with any of the things that have happened around here. And it would take a lot more than a great-looking guy with big muscles to make me believe any different.”

      “You say that now. But you don’t know guys all that well, Denni. My mom used to run off with every charmer that came along until he’d dump her, then she’d take up with another one. And my mom isn’t a stupid woman. These guys are good talkers. Believe me, they know how to get what they want from a woman. Especially one as nice as you.”

      Three sharp raps on the door stopped Denni from pursuing the conversation. Leigh rarely talked about her biological mother. Perhaps she was almost ready to open up. But with Reece standing in the doorway, Leigh’s entire demeanor spoke of belligerence and the polar opposite of cooperation. Denni knew there would be no getting the girl to talk today.

      “What do you want, Corrigan?” Leigh demanded.

      “It’s all right.” Denni moved forward quickly in an effort to avoid an unpleasant scene. “I understand you’re to thank for getting the electric company to shut off the power for us.”

      He gave a modest grin and nodded as he stepped inside. “I overheard Miss Sommers mention your luncheon on Monday.”

      “Eavesdropper,” Leigh accused.

      “Yes,” Denni said firmly. “And thanks to his eavesdropping, we can get the basement cleaned up and perhaps pull off the luncheon without all ten churches deciding not to sponsor us.”

      Muttering words that burned Denni’s ears and never failed to make her stomach churn, Leigh spun around and stomped out of the room.

      The detective watched her go, his lips twisting into a sarcastic grin. “She’s going to have to stop throwing herself at me. It’s getting downright embarrassing.”

      Cate giggled. “It would definitely be a cold day—”

      “Cate, will you please go up and let the other girls know we’ll be starting on the basement soon?”

      Denni shook her head. Living with a group of girls who held to no strong faith, and who had pretty much seen and heard it all, definitely presented its challenges. With the exception of Rissa, all of the girls attended services only as part of their requirement for living at Mahoney House. Rissa had found a true commitment to Christ last year.

      Working to place children in foster homes for the past ten years, Denni had met caring families who provided loving, nurturing environments. The kids in those homes were the lucky ones. The children she was most concerned about were the others: the leftovers whose foster parents cashed the checks and spent them on their own pleasure, without providing properly for the children they had agreed to take in, the kids who fell through the cracks when they turned eighteen and the government stopped paying for their upkeep, at least as foster children. Many grew to adulthood and ended up in the welfare system, continuing a cycle of poverty and neglect.

      Denni knew she couldn’t fix the whole problem, but for five girls she was making a difference. At least she believed she was. Each was either in college or, in the case of Cate, taking online courses. Each had a part-time job as well and a mountain of hope for the future.

      If she could pull off the luncheon Monday afternoon, perhaps there would be room for twenty more girls. Two houses, larger than the four-bedroom Victorian home she currently owned, each providing a home for ten, plus a house mother of sorts. Denni would then serve as a paid coordinator for all the houses.

      She wanted it so badly she could taste it. Like a craving for milk chocolate or veal parmesan with sauce and gooey mozzarella cheese. It just had to be God’s will.

      “So, the girls…”

      Detective Corrigan’s voice brought her back to the moment. The proverbial fly in the ointment. This guy’s suspicions could blow everything sky-high. She had to find a way to convince him to point his investigation away from the girls.

      Denni watched him as his gaze perused the five eight-by-ten photographs arranged on the mantel above the stone fireplace.

      “What about the girls?” Defenses raised, Denni narrowed her gaze and geared up for a fight.

      “They all look so innocent. You’d never know from these pictures that one of them could be responsible for the mishaps around here.”

      “They look innocent because they are innocent.”

      “We’ll see.”

      “I don’t understand why you’re so sure one of my girls is responsible for these things, Reece. Again, what would they possibly have to gain?”

      He lifted his eyebrow and she felt herself blush. “Detective Corrigan, I mean.”

      “Hey, don’t worry about it. Reece is fine.” He gave her a shiny, white-toothed grin. “And I’m not so sure it’s one of them. Just checking out all of the possibilities. Denni.”

      She smiled back, trying to calm her racing pulse. “First-name basis, eh? Doesn’t that seem a little friendly considering our positions? I shouldn’t have initiated it.”

      “Maybe I like friendly.” His eyes captured hers and held. Denni couldn’t breathe. With every fiber of her being she wanted to believe that Reece truly СКАЧАТЬ