Deadly Obsession (A Brown and de Luca Novel Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

don’t mind. Really odd.
I shook the baffling state of my contentment away, because I wasn’t yet ready to talk about it. “Myrtle is happier than a carnivore at a meat market. She’s already figured out their routine. She waddles right over and plunks her ass in front of the door at a quarter to three every weekday and waits for them to get back from school.”
    He smiled at that, because he loved my dog almost as much as I did. “She is one boy-loving bulldog.” Then he opened the file again.
    “Rouse said the hacksaw in the back of his pickup wasn’t his.” He flipped a few pages. “No fingerprints on it. Looked like it had been wiped.”
    I nodded. “They searched his house, too, though, right?”
    “Yeah.”
    “They find anything related to the detonator?”
    His eyes raced over pages, his lips tightening. “Nope.”
    “So all we’ve got is the hacksaw?”
    “His fingerprints were found inside the wife’s house,” he pointed out.
    “Yeah, but his kids lived there. I’m sure he was in and out a lot.”
    “There was a silver Chevy Cruze seen parked a couple of blocks away at the time of the fire. The neighbors say it didn’t belong there,” Mason said. “Another neighbor said Rouse’s truck was seen in the area that night.” Then he shrugged. “But Rosie says it was there every weeknight. He drove the kids home from school. And this neighbor’s sighting was several hours before the fire.” He looked at me—waiting, I knew, for my feedback. He counted on me for it. And since I was an official police consultant now, I was happy to give it.
    “Sounds like they must’ve been getting along, then. She’d have picked up the kids herself if she thought he was dangerous, right?”
    “Women seldom think their spouses are dangerous until it’s too late. But when a woman is murdered, it’s almost always the spouse,” he pointed out.
    “Says a lot for the state of marriage, doesn’t it?”
    He peered up at me, but when I looked back he turned back to the report and flipped a page. “He admitted during questioning that he didn’t want the divorce. He didn’t want to lose custody of his kids.”
    “So why try to burn the place with them inside?”
    He met my eyes again, and his were brighter than they’d been since the fire. He loved his work, and this was the first chance he’d had to really sink his teeth into a case since nearly getting his gorgeous ass killed.
    “Lots of men would rather see the kids dead than lose custody.”
    “I refuse to believe it’s ‘lots of men.’ Granted, we see it in the news, but it has to be rare or it wouldn’t
be
news.”
    “That sounded dangerously positive, Rache.”
    “I know, right? Having the boys around, I just can’t imagine how a parent could hurt their own kid.” I heaved a sigh. “I suppose it’s possible he did it. But still, all we really have is the hacksaw.” I finished my doughnut, sipped my coffee, leaned back in my chair.
    “You have an idea, don’t you?” he asked.
    “How can you tell?”
    “If I look deep into your eyes I can see a bunch of gears turning in your brain.”
    I nodded. “Get me in to see him. I mean, he’s still in custody, isn’t he?”
    “No. He made bail. Probably because our evidence is so freaking weak.”
    I shrugged. “Even better. I can talk to him more easily that way.”
    “Uh-uh. No way. That’s a very bad idea.”
    “Oh, come on, Mason.” He hadn’t touched his breakfast sandwich, so I picked it up and took a bite, then put it back. After some yummy caffeine, I went on. “You know I can tell if he’s the guy with a single conversation.”
    “He could be dangerous.”
    “So am I.”
    “This guy probably killed his own wife, almost killed his two kids and damn near took me out with them. I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
    “You’re worried he’ll turn his focus to me?”
    “That too. Mainly I was thinking about your temper.”
    I smiled sweetly and batted my eyes. “What