Covert Exposure (5 page)

“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Walker
replied “It seems your little girlfriend upstairs knows both the
victims and now that you guys are back we’re going to have a little
chat with her.”

“What…how?” Spinelli cleared his throat,
realigned his thoughts, and started over again. ”What does Shannon
have to do with any of this? Why do you need to speak to her?”

“Your little green eyed angel happens to play
the role of Santa’s little helper at the mall, however, she hasn’t
worked since last Sunday so I don’t know if she even knows that her
two buddies are dead. At any rate we need to get her down
here.”

“Spinelli!” Captain Jackson screeched from
her office doorway, “in my office, now!”

Spinelli’s body quivered at the sound of her
voice. A sharp pain shot through his temples. He squeezed his eyes
shut briefly, then spun on his heel and headed toward her
office.

“Shut the door and sit down,” Jackson
hissed.

Jackson opened her desk drawer and retrieved
a bottle of Tylenol. She dumped two tablets into her hand and put
the bottle back. She flashed her angry dark brown eyes at Spinelli.
“You do this to me, you know,” she said as she tossed the tablets
into her mouth and chased them down with coffee.

“Got a call from Ms. Fontaine. It appears
that Shannon is quite upset again this morning. I thought we came
to an understanding yesterday. I thought you were going to just do
as you were told. I thought we were going to just get through the
next couple of weeks and then everything would go back to normal.
Where did we go wrong? What the hell did you do to piss her off so
much? And for God’s sake, Spinelli, tell me you didn’t sleep with
her already.”

Jackson’s last comment angered Spinelli. He
sprang to his feet, stepped toward her desk and stared down at her.
“First of all, I am doing what she told me to do but things just
got a little out of hand this morning. This assignment is bullshit,
absolute bullshit.” He pointed out the window as he continued to
speak, “We’ve got killers out there to apprehend and I’m wasting my
time riding around with Social Services taking care of all this
touchy-feely crap. And furthermore, it’s nobody’s business who I do
and don’t sleep with.”

“Sit down, Spinelli.”

Spinelli sat. He folded his arms over his
chest, his jaw knotted so tight his ears started to hurt.
Uncomfortable silence filled the Captain’s office.

Jackson broke the silence. “I told Fontaine
again that you’re it. You are all we can spare right now. I assured
her you would be on your best behavior. We’ll get through the
holiday season and then things will return to normal. Am I
clear?”

“Yes.”

Jackson pointed out her office window and
Spinelli turned his head to look in that same direction. He saw
Walker leading Shannon through the maze of desks toward the
interview room. Marsh followed. Marsh caught Spinelli’s attention,
nodded toward Shannon, and mouthed the word “hot” while displaying
the look of a starving lion on his face.

Spinelli sprang to his feet, took two steps
toward Jackson’s office door, and then looked back at her as if
asking for permission to leave.

She met Spinelli’s gaze and shook her head.
“No, sit. Shit. Christ, Spinelli, don’t do this to me. I don’t have
time for this shit.”

“What, what shit? You said I should help
Walker and Marsh with the Santa investigation. I need to be in that
interview room,” Spinelli snapped as he frantically shifted his
glance back and forth between Shannon and Jackson.

Jackson blew out a sigh. “I don’t think it’s
a good idea for you to be in there with her right now.”

Spinelli opened his mouth to speak but she
cut him off, “I wasn’t born yesterday. I recognize that hungry
look.” Jackson paused and without breaking eye contact with
Spinelli, she shook her head. “You certainly picked a fine
time.”

Chapter
Seven

Spinelli paced the squad room. He ran his
sweaty palms over his thighs, his heart raced and sharp pains
danced through his head. He desperately needed to be in the
interview room. He needed to know what Shannon knew about the
murders, if anything. He couldn’t imagine how anyone so sweet and
thoughtful could be tangled up in anything as sordid as murder.

Finally, the door to the interview room swung
open and Spinelli saw Shannon step out. Marsh and Walker followed.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw her. He wanted nothing more
than to reach out to her and wrap her in his arms. She looked
exhausted. She blotted her teary red-stained eyes with a tissue,
smearing the mascara further down her cheeks.

Spinelli had witnessed a lot of performances
by the accused in his day but he knew deep down that she wasn’t
acting. He knew she didn’t have anything to do with the deaths of
Roland Hudson and Aaron Reed; she was just too pure.

Shannon stepped toward Spinelli and looked up
at him through her long thick lashes with her big tear-filled
emerald green eyes. She sniffled, “My friends…my friends were
murdered.”

Spinelli stepped toward her, closing the gap
between them. He reached for her but she stepped back. “I’ll be in
my office, Detective. I won’t need your services until later this
afternoon.”

He stared after her as she walked away. For
the first time ever he felt rejected. But he found the rejection
bothered him less than the fact that she hurt. He wanted to help
her. He wanted to hold her and comfort her.

Marsh slapped Spinelli on his shoulder blade.
“Ooh, that was cold, buddy. You’re not kidding. She hates you.”

“Shut up. Just shut the hell up!” Spinelli
barked.

Spinelli turned to Walker. “Did she provide
any insight as to who murdered Hudson and Reed?”

“I don’t think she has a clue and Marsh
verified her alibi while I talked with her.”

A blanket of anger fell over Spinelli and he
got in Walker’s face. “Her alibi! You can’t possibly think she’s
got anything to do with this!”

Walker took a step back. “Hey, pal, she knew
both the vics and she worked with them where they were murdered.
I’m only doing my job.”

Spinelli pinched the bridge of his nose. He
squeezed his eyes shut briefly and drew in slow deep breaths before
dropping his hand to his side. “Sorry, Walker, I understand. You
were right to take that approach. Out of curiosity, what’s her
alibi? How does she spend her evenings?”

Marsh cut in. “Well, your sweet little thing
is exactly that. Both nights she was at St. Mary’s church helping
the Sisters with their Christmas Toys for Tots Program. Sister Mary
verified that Shannon was there from 7:00 p.m. until shortly before
midnight.”

A wide smirk grew across Marsh’s face.

“What, what’s that smirk for?” Spinelli
asked.

Marsh chuckled. “She is so not your type of
woman.”

* * * *

Shannon tossed her tear-dampened tissue into
the garbage can and retrieved another from the tissue box on her
desk. She pressed the tissue to her eyes to absorb the remaining
tears.

The sound of heavy footsteps drew her
attention causing her to look up and glance at the doorway. “Hi
Anna.”

“My God, are you okay? I heard what happened
to Santa and the Elf, and I heard they just questioned you
downstairs. Is that true?”

Shannon’s emotions ran rampant throughout her
causing her body to quiver. Her anger, hurt and grief all jockeyed
for placement. Anger won. “That son of a bitch, he did this to
me!”

Anna cocked her head to the side. “What? Who
are you talking about?”

“Spinelli, that jerk!”

“Shannon, just calm down and take a breath
then tell me what you mean.”

Shannon stared into Anna’s warm eyes and took
a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart.
Her mind wrestled to place her thoughts in order.

“Detective Spinelli, he did this on purpose.
For some reason he hates me. He’s been an absolute jerk since he
walked through my doorway. It’s because of him Detectives Marsh and
Walker questioned me about the murders of Roland and Aaron. I don’t
know what his problem is, he’s just a dick!”

Anna sat down in the chair opposite Shannon’s
desk and leaned forward aligning her eyes with Shannon’s. “Are you
hearing yourself? I’m sure Detective Spinelli is not doing this
just to make you miserable…”

“He is, Anna. You don’t know him. He
completely defies me when we’re on a call. He doesn’t know shit
about what we deal with everyday yet he keeps overstepping his
bounds and screws everything up! If you would have witnessed his
behavior on the Washington and Smith calls you would understand
what I’m talking about.”

Anna leaned back in her chair and raked her
hand through her graying hair. “Shannon, I think there’s something
you should know about Detective Spinelli.”

“What, that he’s really not human and his
heart is made of stone?”

Anna shook her head. “Wow, you are
torqued.”

Shannon could feel her cheeks heating up. She
suddenly felt embarrassed about the accusations she made about
Spinelli. “I’m sorry, I am upset, but it’s no reason for me to
spout off to you. What is it I should know about Detective
Spinelli?”

Anna leaned forward in her chair. “I just
spoke with Captain Jackson in regard to getting a replacement for
him, and well, he’s all they have to spare right now. Jackson’s not
happy about it either, loaning out her best homicide detective to
any other department, but apparently his partner just retired so
he’s the only one flying solo right now and all the others are
loaded with open cases…”

“Can’t they just shift him around and free up
someone else?” Shannon interrupted.

“I asked the same question and apparently
it’s just not that simple.”

“Oh.”

Anna glanced about the room as she nibbled on
her chapped bottom lip.

“Is there more? You look like you want to say
more,” Shannon asked.

Anna met Shannon’s gaze and gave a slight
nod. “Yeah, there is more I think you should know. You see,
Detective Spinelli is actually quite aware of what we deal with day
in and day out in our department.”

“What? You could have fooled me,” Shannon
interrupted as she rolled her eyes.

“Shannon.”

“Sorry.”

“He’s lived it, Shannon. Detective Spinelli
grew up in the system. When he was real young he’d been passed
around from foster home to foster home when he wasn’t living with
his drug addicted mother who supported her habit by prostituting
herself.”

Shannon’s lips parted to speak but she closed
them before any words escaped.

Anna continued. “When Detective Spinelli was
sixteen his mother died of a drug overdose. He doesn’t even know
who is father is. Anyhow, he lived on the streets for a while
making a living by card sharking and pool hustling until he woke up
one day and decided to change his life. He finished high school and
put himself through college all on his own.” Anna offered a slight
smile and shook her head. “Maybe this assignment is just a little
too close to home for him.”

Shannon placed her elbows on her desk and
rested her head in her hands for a few moments, absorbing what
she’d just heard. She lifted her head and met Anna’s gaze again.
“Is there more?”

“Well, I can tell Captain Jackson favors him
a bit, maybe even mothers him a bit. She kept telling me over and
over again what a great detective he is. She also mentioned that
his partner, Mad Dog Maxwell, retired this week. I guess Mad Dog’s
been somewhat of a father figure to him.”

Shannon sighed. Anna’s eyes stayed fixed on
her. “I feel like such an idiot. I wish I would have known this
before. I was so rude to him downstairs after my interview with
Detectives Walker and Marsh. He was trying to be nice to me and I
totally snubbed him.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. You didn’t know,”
Anna replied with a soft reassuring smile.

Shannon shook her head. “No, I didn’t know
but I should have been nicer to him anyway, professional courtesy.
But I can’t seem to help myself, for some reason he just infuriates
me.”

Chapter
Eight

With reluctance Spinelli headed in the
direction of Shannon’s office. It was nearly 2:00, time for their
next call. He rapped his knuckle on her office doorframe and she
looked up at him from behind her desk. A ripple of relief flowed
through his body when he noticed the corners of her mouth twitching
upward, moving slowly and perhaps forced, but they were still
moving in the right direction. He waited patiently for her smile.
It took a bit but it did surface.

“Good afternoon, Detective Spinelli.”

He returned her smile. “Good afternoon, Miss
O’Hara.”

The formalities struck him oddly but he went
with it in an effort to not rock the boat and keep peace.

He took a seat in one of the guest chairs
opposite her desk and sat quietly as he watched her pick up a legal
sized envelope from the top of a tall stack of mail. She sliced the
envelope open with a long plastic letter opener. She set both the
letter and the opener down on her desk and turned her attention
back to him. “I’m sorry but I meant to call you before you came up
here this afternoon. Our home visit for this afternoon has been
rescheduled for next week so I don’t have anything for you on the
docket for the remainder of the day.”

A blanket of relief fell over Spinelli. He
wouldn’t have to go on another one of these awful calls for a
couple of days but the relief was quickly chased off by
disappointment. He found himself wanting to spend time with her but
now that opportunity disappeared as well. He stood. “No problem,
I’ll be downstairs working on the Santa and Elf case. Call if you
need me.”