Conviction: Book 3 of the Detective Ryan Series Read Online Free

longer than she’s been dating her guy.” Lombardo twisted in his seat to face Rodney. “You’re married and have kids with Mia. She’s known this guy for a year or so.”
    “Yeah, but she was in love with him.”
    “She’s acting like this is the first guy she ever fell in love with,” Reyes replied. The look on Rodney’s face made all three officers stop dead in their tracks. “You gotta be kidding.”
    “Look, I don’t know her history or if she felt certain ways about guys she dated.”
    “Bullshit,” Lombardo spat. “You’ve been around her long enough to know who she’s dated, who she’s banged, and who she’s loved.”
    Rodney laughed at the guys while finishing the last of his scotch. “I don’t know what you mean, but I think it’s time for me to go home to my wife.”
    “Hell no.” Lombardo pushed Rodney back into his chair and called the waitress over. He ordered more drinks for the table, shoving another drink into Rodney’s hand. “This is a guy’s night out. The first you’ve had in a long time. You need to sit here and enjoy yourself for once.”
    The Puppet Master watched the group drink themselves into a drunken stupor. This had been the longest any of the men stayed at the bar. Most of the time was spent talking about sports and their married lives, none of which interested him. Throughout the night, someone would bring up the investigation, or the shooting, or how much they couldn’t stand Ali Ryan. Rodney went along with the guys on most of it, except when it came to his partner. They berated her, called her every name in the book, yet he defended her. That lasted as long as his tolerance for alcohol did. After a few hours, they could convince Rodney he was the man of steel and could walk through walls and he would believe them.
    Slowly, they broke him down until he gave into the emotions bottled up inside. “I’ve been through hell and back with her. I can’t believe she’d turn on me.”
    “That girl’s got no loyalty. She turned her back on you and the department for some dead piece of ass,” Lombardo spat. “Bitch needs to know her place.”
    “Yeah,” the other guys shouted.
    The Puppet Master watched as Rodney dipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He stared at it for a minute while the officers egged him on. The pain of what he was about to do was etched all over his face, torn between doing what was right and what would feel good. Caving against the peer pressure, Rodney scrolled to Ali’s name and hit the green phone icon.
    The Puppet Master grinned with delight as Rodney called Ali’s cell. It was near midnight. There was a good chance he would get her voicemail, but he hoped Rodney’s call would wake her.
    Rodney pulled the phone away. “Got her stupid voicemail.”
    “So what? Call her back,” Reyes said enthusiastically.
    “Yeah, we’ll make sure she gets the point,” Lombardo joked.
    The Puppet Master watched them repeatedly call Ali. By the way they were behaving, their calls were hitting her voicemail. They were doing exactly as he wanted. They were driving the wedge further between Ali and Rodney.

Chapter 4-Ali
     
    Sleep had slowly become my enemy. It was bad enough thoughts of Matthew and the shooting burned through my mind during the day, but now they haunted me at night. They worked their way in using a happy memory or a future I will never have as a false sense of security.
    I dreamt of being on the beach, far away from New York, far from the killers, partners, and cases that wanted to destroy our happiness. It reminded me of when I was forced to take mandatory leave after the Campus Killer Case, and Matthew surprised me with a trip to St. Lucia.
    The sun’s heat scorched my skin as I sat in the beach chair. In the distance, I could see Matthew standing by the water. His head was turned towards me, watching me with a hunger in his eyes. Moving my feet onto the hot sandy surface, I stood and ran to the water. The