Kennedy 01 - Into the Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page B

herself. He’s not worth it. Be civil, be civilized, pretend it doesn’t matter and get him the hell out of here.
    A taut silence stretched between them.
    When Max had come crawling back to her, his expression not hers, she’d been so angry that she’d hit him hard enough to draw blood. Then, as he’d held her close, told her it meant nothing, and asked her to marry him, she’d cried and cried. She’d clung to him, even agreeing to marry him.
    They were together for nine weeks after that. Jill hadn’t been able to stand it. Emotions had been too raw. Yet she’d never quite known if she was more angry or hurt …
    ‘Everything we did together, we did well,’ Max said at last, his voice level and calm once more. ‘And I mean everything.’
    Jill’s head was filled with the scent of him, his masculine warmth as he made love to her ‘We
    worked well together, too, Jill. We care about the same things, and we think in the same way’
     
    She couldn’t deny that. It was another reason she loved him - used to love him.
    ‘Michael Trueman/ he went on, forcing her mind back to the reason for his visit. ‘We’re interviewing him now, but he’s not talking. Ask him if he smokes, if he wants a drink - nothing. Zilch.’
    ‘Shock probably,’ Jill said.
    ‘Will you come and see him? Talk to him?’
    ‘Nope.’
    ‘What harm will it do?’
    Jill gave a short, mirthless laugh. ‘Ask Rodney Hill.’
    ‘Jill.’ His voice was softer now, gentle. He could coax bees from honey if he put his mind to it. ‘We arrested Hill because we thought he was guilty. The fact that he matched your profile was neither here nor there. You’re not responsible.’
    She’d heard all that before. It didn’t help.
    ‘Please, Jill. As a favour to me?’
    ‘No. I’m sorry, but I can’t.’
     
    ‘I’m senior investigating officer on this one. I want it sorted, and fast.’
    ‘No.’
    ‘You can’t keep living in the past, you know.’
    The intensity of those blue eyes shocked her momentarily It shouldn’t have. Max had been using that piercing gaze to his own advantage for years. Now, though, she almost felt as if he could read her every thought.
    She hoped not. In the midst of her thoughts, mostly bad, was that she still found Max very attractive. In anyone else, the drinking, the long working days, the lack of regular meals and the way he constantly drove himself would have taken their toll. Nothing had though. He wasn’t handsome in the accepted sense of the word; his nose was a little crooked, he had a tiny scar beneath his right eye, and his mouth had a cynical twist to it. Dark hair, swept back from a face that could look arrogant and aloof one moment and as gentle as a playful puppy the next, was greying rapidly, she noticed.
    ‘You’re not prepared to spare a couple of hours?’
    ‘No.’ If it were only a couple of hours of her time, she might consider it. It wouldn’t be, though. She would get involved, not through choice but through necessity. She always had.
    His plate empty, Max looked at his watch, refilled his glass and topped up Jill’s.
    ‘OK.’ He was thoughtful. ‘So why do you reckon he’s not saying anything?’
    “I can’t answer that, Max. Shock perhaps. Who knows?
    Has he asked for a lawyer?’
    ‘He hasn’t even bloody coughed.’
    ‘What’s his father said?’
    ‘Precious little. About as much as anyone would say if they’d come home to find that their son had slit their wife’s throat.’
    Jill swallowed hard.
    ‘He seems torn between weeping at the injustice of it all/
    Max told her, ‘and praying for all our souls. Other than that, he’s just said over and over that he can’t believe it.
    Jill, you know how things are. We need to get Michael talking - and quick.’
    ‘And I’m sure you will.’ She smiled. ‘You find me an eighteenyear-old who can’t talk the balls off a buffalo.’
    Max returned the smile. “I just have.’
    ‘No.’
    With a heavy sigh, Max drained his