Murder Under Cover Read Online Free PDF Page A

I’m so ashamed.”
    “Tell me what you saw before you ran,” Derek said evenly.
    “Blood. Everywhere.” She shuddered uncontrollably. “Alex. Dead. Blood trickling down his face, on the sheets. On the wall above the bed. On my hands, my stomach, my legs. I was covered in his blood.”
    “Did you see a weapon?” Derek asked carefully. “Was he stabbed? Shot? Could you tell?”
    Grimacing, she said, “No. No weapon. Just . . . b-bullet holes. In his . . .” She couldn’t say the words, just covered her eyes again.
    “Robin?”
    She nodded, then managed to rub her forehead. “Here.” Then she touched her chest. “Here.” She closed her eyes and bowed her head and rocked slightly back and forth.
    “Somebody shot him in the head and the chest?” I exchanged a quick, apprehensive glance with Derek. “While you were sleeping?”
    “And I never woke up,” she whispered on a sob. “I was curled up next to him, holding him, but I never woke up.”
    “It’s okay,” I said, and wrapped my arm around her shoulders.
    We sat like that for a long moment, rocking slowly. I watched Derek, whose eyes were narrowed in thought.
    Finally Robin eased away and looked at me, then Derek. “Who would do that? Why? In my house? How did they . . . ? Oh, God. They were in my house.” Her face contorted into a mask of disgust and pain and dread. Her entire body shivered as more silent tears fell.
    “I’m sorry, sweetie.” I squeezed her hand, wishing for things I had no control over. “We really need to call the police now.”
    “Yes,” Derek said, standing. “We’ve already let too much time pass.” He was clearly anxious to get the police involved. He couldn’t help himself, having been on the proper side of law enforcement his entire life. “We’ll put clothes on, get Robin bundled up and in the car; then I’ll call Inspector Lee on the drive over.”
    Robin grabbed my hand. “They’ll think I did it. But I didn’t do it. You believe me, don’t you?”
    “Of course you didn’t do it,” I said indignantly. “You’re the victim here.” And there was Alex, I amended silently. I met Derek’s gaze again to telepathically convey the message that I expected him to make sure the police didn’t do something stupid, like arrest Robin.
    His mouth twisted into his version of a determined grin as he telepathically assured me back that he would do his best. His best was pretty darn good, so I was satisfied with that.
    Robin’s gaze darted around my living room; then she stared at her hands in dismay. “Can I take a shower first?”
    “No, honey,” I said gently. “You might destroy evidence, and the more evidence we destroy, the worse it’ll look to the police.”
    Derek’s expression of surprise almost made me laugh. Believe me, it was a shock to hear myself say that, too, because, you know, been there, done that, tried to wash off the evidence. But I guess I’d learned a little something from being involved in so many murders over the past six months. I wouldn’t say I was starting to think like a cop, but at least I was no longer doing the kinds of stupid things that invariably led to my name being put at the top of the suspect list.
    “There’s one thing we can do,” Derek said, looking at me. “If you have a clean cloth to spare, I’ll wipe the blood off Robin’s hands and give the cloth to the police.”
    “Thank you,” Robin whispered.
    “Perfect,” I said, flashing a grateful smile at Derek.
    He took care of washing off her hands, then left the room to change into street clothes. I took his place on the coffee table and leaned forward to grab hold of Robin’s arms. “I want you to know you won’t go through this alone. Things will get better eventually, but it’s going to be slow and awful for a while.”
    “I know you’ll be there for me,” she said softly, her voice tinged with sadness. “That’s why I came here.”
    “Oh, come on,” I teased. “You came here because you