AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’d brought her the soup and a sandwich, which she wolfed down while he watched over her like a hawk. “I saw they brought that crazy lady in; you need me to stand guard or something, or can I go? I still have my shit to take care of on the farm.”
“Nobody asked you to be here.”
“Ooh, snippy, nice. You didn’t think I was just going to run back home after watching someone try to gun you down, did you? What do you take me for?”
“It’s part of my job Riley. What do you plan to do? Follow me around on my cases?” She didn’t like the look he gave her. “Eat your food, Detective, the sooner you do that, the sooner I can get out of here and go take care of my shit.”
“Did you act like this…?” It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if he’d been this much of a pain in the ass with his deceased wife, but she caught herself just in time. He can be a bit testy when she brings her up in conversation. “No, and how many times must I tell you to stop comparing yourself to her? As far as I know, she wasn’t the one putting her life on the line every day for her job, you are.”
“You do know I’ve been trained to do this right.” Riley leaned forward in his seat. There were a few more warm bodies here this time than they had been the last time he was here. Was that only yesterday? He knew for a fact that she’d gut his ass if he put hands on her with all these eyes looking on, but it was close. She’s just so damn cute when she’s trying not to light into him.
“You have a job to do, and so do I. I don’t tell you how to do yours, you don’t tell me how to do mine. Deal?” He got up to leave and couldn’t resist kissing the top of her head before walking away. “See you at home, Detective. Love you.” Riley almost stumbled over his feet as soon as those words left his mouth. “Well, shit!” He mumbled as he carried on, walking out the door.
CHAPTER 36
Celia sat stupefied, ignoring the snickers and murmurs from those around her. He would pick the day when the station was fuller than usual to drop his little bombshell. She dared not look around to see who all was close enough to hear what he’d said, and besides, her cheeks were flaming red. Not a good look for a detective.
She barely tasted the rest of her food as she shoveled it into her mouth for something to do with her hands. At least his theatrics had taken her mind off of the sickening confessions of Don Simpson. She had a few jurisdictions to call and knew she was going to be here all day.
She passed the task of calling around to a few of the others and went back to the interrogation room. By the time she left there that night, she had a crick in her neck, and her mind was numb. Thankfully Stella had clammed up and refused to talk, which worked in Celia’s favor since she wanted to be the one to question the other woman.
Because of what had happened with Valerie O’Rourke, she wasn’t taking any chances and had a suicide watch on both suspects. Don was pretty much a broken man by the time she left him. He knew that even if he wasn’t facing murder charges, he was looking at accessory after the fact, if only in Branson’s case.
She now had info on quite a few unsolved cases spread out over multiple states, which made it look like Stella was a serial killer. She now had the unenviable task of combing through the older woman’s life going back decades. She was almost certain that the woman hadn’t just started killing.
The stationhouse was down to the bare bones by the time she grabbed her jacket from behind her chair and headed for the door. “Night Detective, you did good.” She’d almost forgotten the desk sergeant who she waved to on her way out.
It was way past dark when she walked out of the station house, and she felt suddenly tired and drained. As a cop working in one of the toughest cities in the world, she’d heard and seen some things. But until today, she didn’t think she’d ever been as disgusted and bone wary as she was after listening to Don Simpson’s story.
She doubted that he himself, even as educated as he was, saw the significance of all he had shared. If he finds himself a good lawyer, he just might walk away with diminished capacity. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but she knew that Stella Simpson was a monster.
