The Lover. BEVERLY BARTON

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СКАЧАТЬ eyes were mere slits. “They were desperate to find Stephanie. They’d have done anything to—”

      “I didn’t say they deliberately kept anything from us,” Jim said. “But the husband and the parents were under unbearable emotional stress and could have easily forgotten something or dismissed something they thought insignificant. Didn’t y’all mention that the husband’s been sedated for a good part of the past seven or eight days?”

      “I see what you’re getting at,” Bernie said. “And you’re right. I’ll contact Ed first thing in the morning and arrange for us to talk to Stephanie’s husband and her parents and get Kyle Preston’s permission to search the house.”

      “He’ll think he’s under suspicion,” Hensley said. “Even if he’s innocent, he’s liable to clam up and hire a lawyer.”

      “Not if we handle things right.” Agent Patterson glanced at Jim. “We have no reason to suspect the husband and he needs to know that up front. But if he refuses to allow us to search his house, well …”

      Bernie glanced at her watch. Twenty till eleven. “It’s getting late. Why don’t we call it a night, get some sleep and start fresh first thing in the morning?”

      “Sounds good to me.” Patterson rose from his chair.

      Hensley got up and stretched. “Agent Patterson, do you need a ride to the hotel or do you have your car with you?”

      “I think I’ll walk back to the hotel. It’s not that far and it’s a nice night. Besides, I do my best thinking when I take leisurely walks.”

      Hensley nodded, shook Patterson’s hand and said good night to Bernie and then to Jim before heading for the door.

      Patterson shook hands with Jim and Bernie. “Is seven in the morning too early for you two?”

      “Seven’s fine,” Jim and Bernie replied in unison, then looked at each other and grinned.

      A silly little phrase popped into Jim’s mind. Two fools here and two more coming. How many times had he heard his father use that expression whenever two people said the same thing at exactly the same time?

      As soon as Patterson left, Bernie picked up the empty Styrofoam coffee cups scattered about the room and threw them into the garbage. Jim turned off the coffeemaker, picked up the glass pot and took it into the adjoining bathroom. He emptied the remainder of the coffee into the sink, rinsed out the pot and brought it back into his office.

      “You didn’t have much to say about this case,” Bernie said.

      “There’s not much to say at this point. We don’t have the official autopsy or—”

      “What’s the official autopsy from DFS going to tell us that we don’t already know? Morris examined the body at the scene and told us she’d apparently been raped and tortured, and the cause of death was obvious—somebody slit her throat.”

      “There’s more to it than the autopsy. Patterson hasn’t heard back from his crime scene unit yet.”

      “He should have a preliminary report from them by morning, but you’re an experienced investigator. You looked over the scene before Patterson’s team arrived. You must have a gut feeling about this case.”

      “My gut feelings aren’t a hundred percent accurate. I’ve been known to be wrong.”

      “Haven’t we all?”

      They stood there and stared at each other for at least a minute. Jim wondered what this in-control, got-it-all-together woman had been wrong about in the past?

      “Look, there’s something you should know,” he said, the comment coming from out of nowhere. He hadn’t meant to unburden himself on his boss, at least not yet. But before Kevin arrived on Thursday, he’d have to tell her about the changes in his personal life that might conflict with his duties as her chief deputy.

      “Something about this case?”

      He shook his head. “No, about me. About something going on in my personal life right now. I hadn’t meant to bring it up tonight, but you need to know.”

      “Is it something that will interfere with your doing your job?”

      “I don’t think so.” He huffed out a disgruntled breath. “No, it shouldn’t. Not if I can figure out how to handle being a full-time single father and do justice to my job at the same time.”

      Bernie lifted an inquisitive eyebrow. “Your son is coming to live with you?”

      “Temporarily. My ex-wife… Kevin’s mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her surgery is scheduled for next week. I know the timing is lousy, what with me just starting this job and our facing this major murder case, but—”

      “How old is Kevin?”

      “Twelve.”

      “He won’t need a babysitter, just someone to keep an eye on him when you’re not at home.”

      “Yeah, and with this case coming up the way it did, I can’t predict what my hours are going to be during the next month or so while Kevin’s living with me.”

      “I see why you’re concerned, but I think I have a solution for you.”

      “You have a solution? What kind of solution?”

      “My parents are retired. They both want grandchildren and unfortunately neither I nor my sister, Robyn, has given them any … yet. Why not let Kevin spend time with my folks when you’re at work? My mother will spoil him rotten. And Dad will take him fishing and play ball with him and—”

      “Whoa, hon—slow down.” He’d stopped himself just short of calling his boss honey. “You haven’t even checked with your parents. You can’t make that kind of offer without asking them about it first. I can’t imagine they’d want the responsibility of looking after my kid. They don’t even know me.”

      “I’ll tell you what, come to Sunday dinner. Meet my folks. I’ll tell Mom about your dilemma and I’ll bet you twenty bucks she’ll volunteer for the job of playing surrogate grandmother to Kevin.”

      Jim felt overwhelmed by this generous offer. Stunned might be a better word. He was unaccustomed to people going out of their way for somebody who was little more than a stranger to them. “I don’t know what to say.”

      “Say you’ll come for Sunday dinner. My dad’s dying to meet you anyway.”

      “He’s dying to meet Jimmy Norton and I haven’t been that guy in a long time.”

      Bernie stared at him, her gaze pensive and penetrating, as if she were trying to delve deep inside him, to figure out what made him tick. “I believe that the child we were, even the teenager and young adult we were, always remains a part of us. Something of who Jimmy Norton was is still a part of you, whether you like it or not.”

      “You’re awfully philosophical for so late at night, or do you always play amateur psychiatrist?”

      “Guilty СКАЧАТЬ