Blood Silence by Roger Stelljes Read Free Book Online Page A

time.”
    “Four years.”
    “You look good, really good. You do,” she said, reaching for his arm awkwardly, not sure she should do more.
    “So do you, Meredith,” Mac answered stiffly, noticing the number of men leering at his ex-wife. There were probably a few wives giving their husbands a dirty look or a vicious kick under the table.
    “I understand congratulations are in order,” Meredith said lightly, looking back to Sally, who was engrossed in conversation with the Judge and his wife at the table near the front. “Sally looks very happy. She really does.”
    “Yeah, she does,” Mac answered uneasily, not sure what to make of his ex-wife’s warm approach.
    “So do you.” Meredith was genuinely being gracious. Mac dropped his guard and relaxed, but only a little, looking for the joker in the deck. “I hear congratulations are in order for you as well. You made partner at the firm—that’s great. I know how important that was to you.”
    “Yeah, I did,” she answered distractedly, looking back to her left. Mac shifted his eyes in that direction as well and saw her husband, J. Frederick Sterling, talking to a shorter, attractive woman Mac gauged to be in her early forties. The conversation looked comfortable between the two. Meredith’s eyes narrowed, and her lips puckered.
    That’s interesting,
Mac thought, noticing the darkening of her expression. “So, how are things with you and your husband?” It was a question and a dig.
    “Fine,” Meredith replied with her own clipped response, her arms now folded sternly across her chest, still looking back at the table. She turned back to him and let her arms relax. “You two set a date yet?”
    “No,” Mac answered, looking his ex-wife in the eye, trying to get a read on her and whether she was playing an angle, while adding, “It’s a little tough with her job, you know.”
    “Ah, yes, working at the White House,” she said with raised eyebrows and a smile. “Pretty cool stuff.”
    “Sally seems to think so.”
    “You don’t?”
    Mac thought back to his tour of Air Force One earlier in the day. “It has its perks on occasion.”
    “You must be really proud of her.”
    “I am,” Mac answered with a smile, but he couldn’t figure out whether he was being played or she was being sincere. He wanted her to stop. There were years of anger built up that she was effectively chipping away at.
    “You’ve done some pretty impressive things as of late yourself,” she added, and now Mac was dumbfounded. Was this his ex-wife he was talking to who was complimenting him on his investigative work—the work she’d always degraded and felt was beneath him and certainly her?
    He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he simply said, “Thanks.”
    She started moving closer. “You know, Mac, I owe—”
    Just then, Sally approached, wrapping her arms around him. She must have been observing the conversation and decided it was time to intervene. As usual, her timing was impeccable.
    “Sally, you remember Meredith, don’t you?”
    “I do,” Sally answered, reaching out and shaking her hand.
    “Congratulations on your engagement. You both look very happy,” Meredith answered with a shy smile.
    “We are, Meredith, we really are,” Sally answered with a big smile, beaming, and then looked up to Mac. “I want to dance,” she said and grabbed his hand, leading him away.
    “You two go,” Meredith said. “Good to see you, Mac.”
    Sally led him to the dance floor, and they slow danced. While they did, Mac glanced toward Meredith, who had made her way back to her table. She was in an animated discussion with her husband.
    “Looks like there’s a little trouble in paradise,” Sally observed with amusement, gazing in the same direction.
    “You might be right,” Mac answered, observing his ex-wife and the look on her face. Meredith wasn’t happy as J. Frederick Sterling walked away. It was clear he was leaving for the night. “Looks like you’re exactly