Forbidden Passion Read Online Free PDF

Dante strode over to him, arms crossed. “This is an official crime scene,” Dante growled.
    Bates lurched forward to get a better look at the body, but Dante shoved him back. “If you cross it, I’ll arrest you for interfering with an investigation.”
    “Listen, Sheriff,” Bates said in a slimy voice. “The public has a right to know if a killer is on the loose. What happened to Jordie?”
    Dante glared at him. “I can’t release details until the family has been notified. How did you find out about this so quickly?”
    “I have a scanner, it picks up police and 911 calls.”
    Dante silently cursed. The little fucker had better not get in the way.
    If Dante decided to take things into his own hands, or if a demon showed up, he didn’t want anyone around exposing the truth. “No pictures, Bates. No one in town needs to see the gruesome details, especially the victim’s family.” Besides, he would keep certain details private—he might be able to use them later to catch the killer.
    “I’ll hold off printing anything for now,” Bates said with a nervous twitch of his right eye. “But 1 want the scoop when you get answers.”
    Dante nodded in agreement to appease him, although he had no intention of telling Bates anything. The son of a bitch had tried to dig up dirt on him when he’d first been elected. He’d even caught Bates snooping around his house.
    Bates backed off but refused to’ leave the scene, and Dante began to snap photos of the crime scene, the way the body had been positioned, the burns, ‘the Satanic S on the ground.
    The CSI team divided up; two investigators inside the house, one on the exterior, and another at the site of the body. The medical examiner arrived and began to perform his initial exam. Dante went into the house and noticed the CSIs dusting for prints and searching for blood and other forensics. Hoping to find a lead on who Jordie might have met with or some of her friends, he checked her phone log.’
    Two calls from her mother the day before, but any record of other calls had been deleted. He’d have to request the records from the phone company. Next, he searched for a computer but didn’t find one, then examined Jordie’s purse. No cell phone or address book inside.
    No car in the drive either. So where was her vehicle?
    Questions ticked in his head, but he hoped CSI would find some evidence to lead him to the killer.
    Knowing he had to inform Jordie’s mother of her death, he returned to the deputy.
    “I’m going to see Mrs. McEnroe,” Dante said. “Stay here and guard the crime scene.”
    “Yes, sir’ Hobbs said in a clipped tone.
    Ignoring his surly attitude, Dante walked back to his SUV. Marlena looked pale and was huddled inside her jacket, so he climbed in and cranked up the heater.
    “I’ll drop you off, then I have to talk to Mrs. McEnroe.”
    Marlena touched his arm. “I’ll go with you, Dante. I couldn’t do anything for Jordie tonight, but maybe I can help her mother.”
    Dante didn’t want her help. Didn’t want her to be involved.
    But he was out of his element in dealing with a grief-stricken mother, so he agreed.
    But his hand tingled from her touch, so he pulled away from it and steered the vehicle onto the highway. The burn scars on his arms and hands mocked him.
    Each time he used his power, a mark had been left. A scar to remind him of what he was.
    A demon.
    He had to protect his secrets.
     

Chapter Four
      Marlena felt the tension between her and Dante like a visible knife cutting into her skin.
    Storm clouds thickened as they drove to the diner in town, thunder rumbling as they climbed out and walked up the pebbled sidewalk to the door. A neon sign flickered against the gray sky, blinking in the darkness and playing off Dante’s chiseled face.
    He opened the door and gestured for her to enter first, and she wondered if the anger in his eyes was for her or because of the murder scene they’d just witnessed.
    The diner was