Loving On the Edge 5-Book Collection: Crash Into You, Melt Into You, Fall Into You, Caught Up In You, Need You Tonight. Roni Loren

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СКАЧАТЬ murderer.

      And Reid’s client.

      Why would he have Hank’s file in his bag? The case had been closed for two years, and the guy had gotten a life sentence—so no parole hearings to worry about. She drummed her fingers along the outside of the folder. She knew she shouldn’t look. Didn’t even know if she wanted to look. What if it contained copies of crime scene photos?

      She’d seen the horrible scene in person and had done her best to block the images from her mind—though they still showed up in her nightmares from time to time. Her mother’s lifeless body, the gunshot wound to the chest, all the blood. So much blood. And the feeling of complete despair that had overtaken her when she’d realized her mother was gone. Taken—right when she’d finally started to work toward a better life.

      Her mom had hit six months of sobriety, was looking for a new place and a respectable job. Had even saved some money to get a fresh start. And then, wham! Gone forever. All because Hank Caldwell, Kelsey’s druggie boyfriend, had heard about her mother’s savings and needed cash to get that night’s fix. Fucking psychopath.

      And then to add vinegar to Brynn’s open wounds, she’d shown up that first day in court to see Reid and his aunt Roslyn sitting next to the cold-blooded bastard. Defending him.

      Apparently, Hank’s wealthy family, who had ­previously ­disowned him because of his drug use, had jumped in at the last second to lawyer-up their son and pay the Jamisons’ exorbitant legal fees.

      She still didn’t understand how Reid had stood by that man, touted his innocence, even when she’d begged him to drop the case. Was he really willing to defend anyone if the paycheck was right? She glanced over at him again, having trouble reconciling the guy in the courtroom back then with the man who’d come to the women’s center to do pro bono work. Maybe the experience with Hank had changed him.

      Regardless, she thanked God that he and his aunt had botched the case and lost. She’d never be able to sleep at night if she knew her mother’s murderer was still roaming the streets.

      She shook the memory from her mind and stared down at the folder again. She couldn’t bear to see the crime photos, but the temptation to find out why Reid was carrying the file around

      was too compelling to resist. After a few centering breaths, she lifted the edge of the file and opened it.

      As she feared, a picture sat on top of the pile of papers, but it wasn’t the crime scene, wasn’t even the killer. Instead, her little sister’s senior yearbook photo stared back at her. Brynn frowned and lifted the black-and-white photocopy, flipping it over to read the writing on the back. Reid’s neat, block lettering filled the page in bulleted notes, but the first line glared like neon in Brynn’s vision: KELSEY LEBRECK. VICTIM’S YOUNGEST DAUGHTER. SCHEDULE INTERVIEW.

      Her fingers gripped the page so hard, it crinkled the paper. She forced herself to read on. Copious notes about Kelsey’s whereabouts in the days leading up to the murder. Her drug dealer contacts at the time and her relationship with Hank. Theories on who could’ve committed the murder and what motive someone may have had. A note that Kelsey had found a list of her mother’s clients that may help with the case. Then, the name J. Kennedy circled with the word killer and a question mark behind it. Finally, at the bottom of the page, the date of his notes.

      Last Sunday.

      Rage ripped through Brynn as she shoved the page aside and looked at the next one. Title: Hank Caldwell Appeal.

       That son of a bitch.

      Reid was working on a way to get that bastard out of prison and hadn’t told her? And he was planning to get Kelsey to help him?

      Jesus. She put her head in her hands as another disturbing realization hit her. That’s why Reid was here. Not because he’d wanted to help her. He needed to know where her sister was for his case.

      She rose to her feet, almost toppling the dining room chair in the process, and stalked across the room to her bags. Goddamn him for lying to her and making her believe he really cared. Self-serving motherfucker. She slipped on a pair of sandals, barely resisting the urge to ram one right up his conniving ass. But that would wake him up, and she planned to be as far away from possible from him when he woke up.

      The sheets rustled behind her and she froze, holding her breath. When no other sound came, she turned her head and saw that he had shifted his face toward her, but hadn’t awakened. His breath had become shallower, however. She frowned.

      With renewed urgency, she zipped up her suitcase and dug through her purse to find her watch. When she slid the silver Timex over her arm, she cringed. The leather from the night before had abraded her wrist, leaving a ring of sensitive pink skin. She dropped the watch back into her bag, then paused, an idea tiptoeing into her brain. Hmm.

      Quickly, she moved past Reid and returned to the bedroom. She hadn’t had time to explore more than the closet the night before, but she knew the place had to be well stocked. When she opened the armoire that faced the bed, her lips pressed into a determined line. She grabbed what she needed and hurried back to the main room.

      Reid had remained in a stomach down, spread-eagle position. Perfect. With the stealth of a thief, she quietly locked a set of fur-lined cuffs on each of Reid’s wrists, then fastened the matching cuff of each pair to the frame of the bed. She placed the keys that would release them on the kitchen counter, far out of his reach. Then, unable to resist the vindictive impulses running through her and encouraged by the return of his sleep-heavy breathing, she hooked her fingers into the waistband of his boxer shorts and gently slid them off and tossed them across the room. That would assure he’d try to get out on his own before calling for help.

      She glared down at his sleeping form, knowing she should just walk out now, get as much of a head start as possible. But the urge to confront him burned bright within her. He’d tricked her into trusting him, loving him—again. God, how could she have been so freaking stupid? Before she could think better of it, she gave the bed frame a sharp kick, jolting the mattress and Reid. “Wake up, asshole.”

      Reid’s body jumped in response and the muscles in his back flexed as he automatically tried to turn over, but the metal cuffs clinked against the frame. He jerked his hands back, fighting against the restraints. “What the hell?”

      Brynn stepped around the side of the sofa bed until she was in his range of vision and tossed the Caldwell file onto the bed next to him. Papers slid out of it and scattered along the sheets. “So is every word that comes out of your mouth a lie or do you just save that for me so you can enjoy fucking me over again and again?”

      He blinked in her direction, his eyes widening when he saw the documents in front of him. “Brynn, I—”

      “Don’t,” she said, her voice deadly calm. “Don’t even try. I don’t need to hear more piles of bullshit.”

      “Brynn, I know, I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you. You wouldn’t—”

      “What? Wouldn’t have helped you use my sister to free a goddamned murderer?” Her voice was rising, but she couldn’t stop it. She wanted to scream at him, to pummel him for the betrayal, to make him hurt as much as she was right now. “He killed my mother, Reid. Left her to die alone. What part of that don’t you get?”

      “Hank’s not a murderer,” he said, his own voice almost meeting her volume. “I know you want to believe he is. Want СКАЧАТЬ