Seams of Destruction Read Online Free

muscular arms. Picking up the damp towel, he wrapped it around his waist and followed her to the elevator.
    After they had both showered again and dressed, they met in the kitchen and with unspoken agreement began the preparations for dinner. Mitch took the hamburger out of the refrigerator and unwrapping it, he made it into three patties, two for him and one for Jade. He found seasoning in a cupboard and shook it onto the meat.
    She took out tomatoes, onions, and lettuce from the refrigerator and began slicing the tomatoes and the onions. They worked in a companionable silence and Mitch almost forgot the girl standing beside him was a suspect in a murder.
    Taking the plate of hamburgers, he went out to the patio. While he waited for the grill to heat, he set the raw hamburgers on the table and went back into the kitchen.
    “If you’ll show me where the dishes are, I’ll set the table outside. It’s such a pleasant evening.”
    Jade pointed to a cupboard where he found the plates.
    “Silverware?”
    She pulled out a drawer and he took two knives and two forks.
    “Napkins?”
    She pointed to a holder filled with paper napkins sitting at the end of the bar next to the wall.
    After the table was set, Mitch threw the hamburgers on the grill and watched them cook, spatula in hand. Jade brought out a plate of sliced tomatoes, onions, and lettuce and set it on the table along with a bowl of chips.
    “What would you like to drink?” she asked.
    “What are you offering?”
    “Coke, water, beer, wine.”
    “I’ll take a beer.”
    She started back into the kitchen, turned, and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name when we were introduced.”
    “Mitchell Koehler. Call me Mitch.”
    “I was wondering if you could take me by Sorrento’s later so I can pick up my car.”
    “Give me your keys and I’ll have someone from my office pick it up.”
    She stared at him for a moment, looking as though she was about to say something.
    “You must think I’m pretty stupid,” Mitch said before she could form a sentence.
    “Why is that?”
    “Letting you drive off in your car alone.”
    “I hadn’t thought of it that way. I just wanted to get my car in the parking garage before we leave for Milan.”
    She walked back into the kitchen and returned in a couple of minutes with a bag of buns, catsup, mustard, and a can of beer.
    The hamburgers were done and Mitch flipped them out on a plate, sat them on the table, and turned off the grill. Dragging out a chair which faced the ocean, he sat down.
    “Great place you have here,” he said as he began to put his hamburger together.
    “I think I’m going to sell it.”
    “Why would you want to do that?”
    “It has bad memories for me.”
    Mitch wasn’t interested in knowing about those memories. He had a few bad images in his head, himself. He was sure his were worse than hers. Seeing his father in his casket after being shot during a drug bust, he and his best friend, Chase, finding his best friend’s wife in bed with some strange man, Chase taking all kinds of risks in Afghanistan as though he had some kind of death wish, which finally got him killed.
    Nope, he didn’t want to add her bad memories to his.
    He noticed Jade didn’t put her hamburger on a bun and she passed on the chips. Just had a little fruit and a bottle of water with it. No wonder she was so slim.
    “Are we going to have any dessert?” he asked hopefully.
    “There’s some vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. I think there are some pecans in the cupboard, so you could make yourself a hot fudge sundae.”
    “I’ll do that.”
    “If we want to eat for the next few days, we’re going to have to go grocery shopping.”
    “I’ll give one of my buddies a call in the morning and we can get your car. After he drives it here, we’ll drop him off at the precinct. Then we’ll go grocery shopping. Or we could eat out if you don’t want to cook.”
    “That’s too expensive,” she objected.
    He