In the Shadow of Vengeance Read Online Free Page B

tugged him against his side just as Erin gave him a quick hug.
    “Detective McNeil. Long time, no see.”
    “Good to see you, too, Erin.”
    At fourteen, Erin was turning into a beauty like her mother. She moved with grace like a dancer and spent most of her free hours at the neighborhood dance studio.
    “Okay, what’s going on, Detective McNeil?” Elizabeth said directly behind him.
    Her tone and the way she spit out his title ate at the thin layer on his temper. He turned and offered a smile he knew didn’t reach his eyes.
    “Noah, easy name to say.
No
and then just add an
ah
. Go on, give it a try.”
    “How about you just tell me why you’re here?”
    “Mom!” Erin stepped between them. “Would you like to sit?” she said, and indicated the love seat a few feet away.
    “It’s okay, Erin. This really isn’t a social visit, is it, Danny?”
    “I’m going to my room. Stay, go, I don’t care.”
    This time when Danny shoved past him, Noah let him go but yanked the backpack off his shoulder. “Not with this, you’re not.” He handed it to Elizabeth. “I watched Danny buy something off a ganger in the alley behind the arcade.”
    Danny reached for the strap, but his mother jerked it away from him. “He did what?”
    “He wouldn’t hand it over when I asked. I have a real good idea what he purchased, but I don’t want this to become a police matter. You need to check his pack.”
    The color slowly drained from Elizabeth’s cheeks as she eyed her son. “Danny Merlot, what did you do?”
    “Never knew you were a rat, detective.”
    “Danny,” Erin hissed through her teeth. “Shut up and stop being so rude.”
    At least Noah had one person in the room on his side. Elizabeth shot a glance at her son. “Couch, now!”
    Danny didn’t argue but moved over and dropped onto the cushion, his hands fisted on his knees. Elizabeth sat on the coffee table, facing her son. “Open it,” she said, handing him his pack.
    Danny unzipped the front pouch and pulled out the brown paper bag.
    “Now the bag,” she ordered.
    Noah wouldn’t have argued with that tone either. Elizabeth Merlot may have loved and protected her children with the fieriness of a mother lion, but she was a firm, no-nonsense mother.
    He edged around the coffee table and gripped Danny’s wrist. “Don’t touch it. Right now, that man’s prints are on it. Let’s not add yours.”
    “Here, take it,” he spit out. The anger drained from his narrow shoulders as he stared at his feet. A thick wave of hopelessness seemed to swallow him whole. Noah wanted nothing more than to place a hand on Danny’s shoulder and make his world bright again. But whatever drove Danny to that alley today wasn’t going to be fixed with a hug and a few words of encouragement.
    He took the bag and gently dumped the contents. The black revolver clattered on the wooden tabletop. Elizabeth and Erin let out identical moans.
    “You bought a gun? Danny, what the hell were you thinking?”
    Noah cleared his throat. “Elizabeth, maybe what you need to ask is why.”
    The glare she shot his way made him straighten his stance. Noah reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a pair of purple latex gloves left over from the crime scene he’d worked a few hours earlier. After slipping them on, he lifted the gun and set the safety. Hitting the magazine release button, the clip dropped into his hand. “Why, Danny?”
    A dead silence settled over the room. Erin joined her brother on the sofa, resting her hand on his arm. He didn’t jerk away. Instead, he raised his tear-filled eyes and studied Noah.
    “Mr. Ibarra says that it’s a man’s responsibility to take care his family. It’s my job to protect my mom and Erin.”
    “Danny, that’s my job as your mother. I don’t doubt that Mr. Ibarra said that, but you misunderstood what he meant. He would have never suggested this,” she choked out as she nodded at the weapon.
    “No, I didn’t misunderstand. I asked him