A Killer Past by Maris Soule Read Free Book Online

man, have a son she was proud of, and a granddaughter she loved dearly.
    For the last forty-four years she’d kept her past a secret. She wasn’t about to reveal it now, especially since she knew what the consequences would be.
    Damn that sergeant for being so nosy.
    If she were twenty years younger, she might be flattered by Sergeant Rossini’s concern for her welfare. In spite of a Roman nose, the guy wasn’t bad looking. He certainly had a nice, full head of silver-gray hair, and his pot belly wasn’t as pronounced as most middle-aged men’s. He was about the same height as Harry had been, but Rossini was broader in the shoulders. In a way, he reminded her of David.
    Damn, she hadn’t thought about David for years, and now, twice in one day, he’d come to mind. David and Pandora . They’d made quite the pair back then. She wondered what he was doing nowadays, or if he was even still alive.
    The doorbell rang, startling her, and Mary glanced at the kitchen clock. It was a bit early for trick-or-treaters, but with all the news about gangs and shootings, mothers might want to get their young chicks home before the older kids hit the streets.
    Time to stop thinking about the past, she told herself. David was probably dead by now, and Pandora no longer existed.
    She pushed her pant legs down so they covered her bruises, eased out of the chair, and limped over to her front door.
    The bell rang a second time, and Mary looked through the peephole. She smiled when she saw Shannon’s heavily made-up face on the other side. Quickly she released the safety chain, and opened the door.
    The exaggerated mascara, eyeshadow and lipstick were combined with a frilly pink prom dress that accented her granddaughter’s small waist. Clear-plastic high heels, a rhinestone-studded tiara, and a plastic wand completed the costume.
    Mary laughed. ‘Don’t tell me you’re out trick-or-treating?’
    ‘Nope.’ Shannon gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before flouncing into the house, the netting of her dress crackling as she passed. ‘I came to help you give out treats.’
     
    After his workout, Jack headed for the Shores Bar and Grill. The building was one of the oldest in town, dating back to the early 1900s, and wasn’t much more than a hole-in-the-wall, but as far as Jack was concerned, they made the best burgers in Michigan, and the beer on tap was always frosty-cold.
    Michigan’s no smoking law, and a good clean-up by the staff, had eliminated the tobacco smell but not the odor of spilled beer and sweaty bodies. Favored by construction workers as well as off-duty police, the place was jammed, and at first he didn’t see Officer Jennifer Mendoza sitting back at a corner booth. If she’d had anyone with her, he would have simply taken the one empty stool at the bar, but she was alone. ‘Mind if I join you?’ he asked the younger woman.
    She looked up and smiled, a hand gesture toward the opposite side of the booth indicating her agreement.
    ‘So how’s it going?’ he asked as he slid onto the bench. ‘Stewart treating you all right?’
    ‘Considering some of the stories I heard at the academy about what rookies go through, Stewart is a dream of a partner. Doesn’t even seem to mind that he’s been paired with a woman.’ She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, her chest nearly touching her half-finished salad. ‘Is it true I’m the first woman ever hired on the Rivershore Police Department?’
    ‘First in my twenty-four years here.’ Jack motioned to the waitress to bring him a beer, then looked at Jennifer. ‘You drinking?’
    ‘Just iced tea. I’m on duty tonight.’
    ‘You must be racking up the hours, what with the overtime you put in this morning.’
    ‘Stewart wanted to follow up on those boys,’ she said, ‘and I wanted to get my paperwork started while everything was still fresh in my mind. Did you follow up on that car parked on Archer Street? The one owned by Harry Harrington?’
    ‘I