Crime & Passion (21 page)

“I can’t imagine how that must have
felt.”

“I tried to stop the bleeding. I tried so
hard. I remember screaming at my partner to get help, knowing it
wouldn’t arrive in time.” He covered his eyes with his hand,
wishing that could block the picture in his mind. “Benny told me
his name and said he was sorry.”

Benny coughed, and blood leaked out the
corner of his mouth. ‘I didn’t mean no harm. Tell my ma I love
her.’

Donovan pressed his hands harder into the
wounds. ‘No, damn it. You’re going to tell her yourself, Benny.
Stay with me.’

‘
I’m scared.’ The boy coughed again, more
blood bubbling from his lungs. ‘Am I’m goin’ to hell?’

‘
No, Benny. You’re not going to hell.
There’s a special heaven for kids.’

‘
Good.’ Benny’s body shook and his
breathing made a bubbling noise. Donovan knew the kid was drowning
in his own blood, but he didn’t know how to stop it.

Benny took one more shuddering breath and
his eyes glazed over.

Donovan leaned back, his hands falling away
from the wounds. He closed Benny’s eyes, unable to handle the look
of accusation in them. He leaned down to whisper in the kid’s ear.
‘When you get to that special heaven, tell Madison I said hi.’

“He died before help arrived,” he finished
out loud, looking once again at Madeline. “So, you see, it was my
fault. Just like it’s my fault Maria’s dead.”

Madeline shook her head. “You stop that right
now, Donovan. You didn’t murder Maria anymore than you murdered
that kid. You did what you were trained to do back in LA, and this
morning you had no way of knowing what would happen.”

“You know what the funny thing is?” he asked.
“I left LA after that because I couldn’t handle seeing that level
of crime anymore. I wanted to work where the biggest problem I’d
face would be kids stealing cigarettes from the grocery store.” He
laughed bitterly. “And then this happens, and everyone thinks I’m
the killer.”

She squeezed his hand. “Not everyone.”

“Thanks for that.”

Madeline leaned over and kissed him,
lingering against his mouth just long enough to make him regret
bringing up this story and pulling their mood down. Sex had always
been a fix-all for him, and he could sure use some of that
particular treatment now.

Donovan pulled away from her and stood,
helping her to her feet. He gently tugged on her arm, leading her
to the bedroom.

Madeline took a few steps forward before
stopping. “Hold up there, buddy. Where do you think you’re
going?”

Donovan turned to look at her, and the
obvious passion in his eyes raised her pulse rate.

“I changed my mind about taking things slow.”
His voice emerged as a growl, chipping away at her willpower.

She held her breath for a moment, trying to
decide what to do. Finally, she shook her head. “Exchanging one
memory doesn’t mean we know each other. I think you were right
before. We need to be friends first.”

“Using my own arguments against me, are
you?”

She caressed his face with her free hand.
“I’m really starting to like you, Donovan, and that scares me.”

“You don’t need to be afraid.”

“I can’t help it.”

He rested his forehead against hers and
closed his eyes. “I just don’t want to think about all this misery
anymore. I need some happiness.”

“I’m sorry things have been so hard today.”
Her heart ached for him. She was sure Donovan had other horrible
memories. The life of a police officer did open one up for bad
experiences.

“Well, if you won’t let us do what I want
to,” Donovan said, backing away from her, “what should we do? I
need a distraction.”

Knowing he desired her, not Suzie, felt
wonderful, but she needed a different way to keep him busy or she
might give in to his wishes. “We could see a movie. Want me to
check what’s playing?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

He grinned. “Are you going to make me watch a
chick flick?”

“Mmmm...maybe.”

“Do I at least get to keep my arm around your
shoulders the entire time?” He raised his eyebrows up and down. “I
can do that cheesy stretch move if you want me to.”

“Most definitely.” She laughed. “We could
also reach for the popcorn at the same time, if you’re too afraid
to just hold my hand.”

“In that case, you can choose what we watch.
I doubt I’ll spend much time looking at the screen with you next to
me.”

Madeline couldn’t stop the smile spreading
across her face as she walked into her bedroom and sat at her desk.
She shook the mouse on her computer to wake it up. “I’ll pick
something we’ll both enjoy,” she told Donovan, who followed her in
and sat on the end of the bed.

He jumped up and down experimentally on the
mattress. “I really think we could save some money and be
entertained right here...bouncing.”

A tingle of excitement passed through her.
Down girl. You’re not bouncing with him tonight.
“Donovan,
you’re making this hard for me.”

He laughed. “No, Maddie. I assure you, you’re
making it hard for me.”

“You’re terrible. Making a girl blush
so—”

Loud pounding on the front door interrupted
her words.

“Who could that be?” She stood up, thoughts
of flirting forgotten. Maybe a police officer decided to check on
her earlier than usual.

Donovan caught her at the bedroom door. “Stay
here. I’ll go see.”

Something in the timbre of his voice caught
at Madeline, igniting a jolt of fear in her stomach. “Are you
worried about something?”

“Do you know the theory going around about
why Maria was killed?”

She nodded. “It was supposed to be me. So you
think the killer decided to knock on my door? That’s stupid. With
my nosy neighbors, he’d be caught in no time.”

The person pounded again.

Her heart rate jumped up a notch, and she met
Donovan’s eyes. “He wouldn’t, would he?”

“Don’t worry.” Donovan pressed a fierce kiss
against her mouth. “I won’t let him have you.”

***

Madeline had an irritating habit of not
listening to him. He sighed as she walked into the living room,
despite what he asked her to do. He’d have to be content that she
stopped to stand near the couch and didn’t follow him down the
short hallway to the door.

Donovan looked through the peephole. He
didn’t know if he should be relieved when he saw Brice and Eric
standing on the other side or not. Brice looked grim, Eric
anxious.

He unlatched the security lock and twisted
the deadbolt, opening the door. “Gentlemen?”

“Can we come in, Donovan?” Brice asked.

“Is everything okay?”

Brice shook his head. “I don’t want to do
this in the hallway.”

“Don’t want to do what in the hallway?”
Donovan met Brice’s grim stare. He nodded when Brice’s lips formed
a thinner line and the man shook his head. “I see.”

He stepped back, allowing them to walk in
past him before shutting the door. He wondered what they found.

“What’s going on?” Madeline demanded before
anyone could speak.

Donovan crossed the floor and put his arm
around her, kissing her cheek. “I don’t think we’re going to see
that movie today, darling.”

Brice raised an eyebrow. “You knew what we’d
find then? I thought you were innocent.”

“I am innocent,” Donovan replied. “But I was
stupid to think there wouldn’t be more evidence planted against me.
What did you find?”

Eric exchanged a long look with Brice. “Maybe
we should let you talk to Chief,” Eric said, shrugging.

“Damn it. Don’t give me that shit. You’re the
new guy around here, but that’s not how it works. You guys need to
tell me what you found.” Donovan turned back to Brice, aware of the
way Madeline clung to his waist, as though she would refuse to let
him go. “What am I facing?”

“The rope was in the back of your police
cruiser,” Brice said.

“That’s ridiculous,” Madeline protested. “He
hasn’t even been driving that for a few days. Eric has been.”

Eric folded his arms and glared at her. “Are
you accusing me, Madeline? Really?”

She shook her head. “No, of course not. I’m
just saying you can’t prove that rope is Donovan’s.”

“Must’ve been planted.” Donovan squeezed her
tighter to him.

“That’s getting harder to believe,” Brice
said. “First off, we know you fought with Frank Johnson.”

Donovan wondered if Frank’s wife finally
reported that or if Eric turned him in.

“Then,” Brice continued, “Frank received a
call from you right before being killed. Perfect timing from where
you were on the beach. And by Miss Scott’s own statement, it looked
like a police officer’s uniform and baton.”

Madeline gasped. “I won’t testify against
him.”

Brice shook his head. “You won’t have a
choice, Miss Scott.”

Donovan kissed Madeline’s cheek, trying to
reassure her. Brice was right, though, she’d have to testify if
things got that far.

“I didn’t place that call.” Donovan wondered
if Brice believed him anymore. Perhaps finding that rope was the
final straw. If so, he’d have no one to help him. From the sneer on
Eric’s face, it was all too clear his young partner already passed
judgment as far as Donovan’s guilt.

“I found the phone, Donovan,” Eric said. “It
was in the car, right where you always keep it. How can we believe
you?”

Donovan shook his head. He had no way to
prove he lost the phone, and he didn’t think his word would be
enough to convince anyone. Eric finding the phone in its usual
place really did make Donovan look like a liar.

“I wish I had some way to explain this all
away so I could help you out, Donovan.” Brice shook his head.
“Today just made things worse. You were the last person to see
Maria alive. They are still processing evidence, but I’m sure
there’s DNA and fibers from you all over that crime scene.”

Donovan thought of how affectionate Maria was
this morning. Each time she hugged him was a potential to transfer
his hair to her clothing. He nodded at Brice. “I’m sure there
is.”

“Brandon Feldman swears the open sign was off
when he got there. By your own statement, Maria turned it on. But
Brandon watched you pull out of the lot and said no one else was
there.” Brice sighed and grabbed his handcuffs, holding them
loosely at his side. “You checked the store. No one else was in
there. Assuming we find no DNA on Maria’s body pointing to someone
else, it makes you seem like the only person who could have done
this.”

Donovan eyed the handcuffs and sighed. He let
go of Madeline. “Thanks for telling me what you found. I understand
you have a job to do. I won’t cause any problems.”

“What? No!” Madeline clutched his arm in her
hands. “You guys missed something. There’s some other piece of
evidence. You can’t arrest him.”

The fact that Madeline so firmly believed in
him warmed Donovan’s heart. It had been a long time since he had
someone he could count on. “It’s okay,” he whispered in her ear. “A
lawyer will argue all this for me, but we have to follow procedure
right now.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Fine.”
She faced Brice. “What happens now?”

“If Donovan wants to cooperate, we’ll do this
without handcuffs,” Brice said, putting them away. “You can follow
us down to the station, Miss Scott, and work on finding Donovan a
lawyer. If we move quickly, we might be able to schedule his bail
hearing for today, and he won’t have to spend the night in
jail.”

Donovan shuddered at the thought of spending
much time locked in a cell. With their town being so small, they
just had two big holding areas. That would leave him trapped with
people who might take their frustration at the police department
out on him. Then again, dangerous prisoners were quickly
transferred to the big jail in Eureka.

If things went wrong, Donovan might head
there tomorrow.

“Donovan Andrews,” Brice intoned in a grave
voice, “I am placing you under arrest for the murders of Frank
Johnson and Maria Rains. You have the right to remain
silent...”

***

Madeline once again sat at Donovan’s desk,
Eric beside her. “Who else can I call? The only defense lawyer I
know is Jeremy Rains. I highly doubt he’ll feel up to going to
court today, especially not in defense of the man accused of
killing his wife.” She wondered how Jeremy would manage without
Maria. They had always seemed so happy together.

“He has a partner,” Eric said. “They’re the
only defense team in town. I have the number.” He pulled out his
cell phone and went through the contacts, writing the number on a
piece of paper when he found it. “I also know of a few in Eureka
who might be willing to come here.”

“Give me those too.”

“Or,” Eric said, leaning back in his chair
and not looking for the contacts, “you could let Donovan clean up
his own mess, and just go home and relax.”

“Sure, that’s a great plan.”
Asshole.

“Look, I’m not trying to be insensitive
here.” He placed his hand over hers.

Madeline snorted and yanked her hand back.
“Really? You just want me to believe Donovan is guilty and abandon
him, that’s all.”

“It’s a better theory than you pinning
something on me because it was in the car I’ve been driving around
a few days. You know that’s Donovan’s car for everything that
counts.” Eric rubbed his hand across his forehead. “I can’t believe
you did that, Madeline. What happened to the new kids in town
sticking together?”

She shook her head and fished her cell phone
from her purse. It’d do no good to argue with Eric further. That
wasn’t helping Donovan. She dialed the number to Jeremy Rains’ law
firm and hit send.

“Rains and Wiggins. Can I help you?” asked a
female voice.