Cavanaugh Rules by Marie Ferrarella Read Free Book Online Page B

Jason and how she’d failed him—not that she actually did. For the most part, she avoided the subject altogether, even when one of her siblings—or her father—prodded her to go out socially again. She hadn’t been out on anything even vaguely resembling a date since Jason had put that gun to his chin and put himself out of his misery—and greatly intensified hers.
    “No,” she replied with studied casualness. “Just a general observation.”
    She’d paused, Matt noted. Paused just long enough to make him think that his question had a positive answer, one that she was unwilling to talk about. Why? Had a relationship of hers gone sour?
    Whoever it was probably never stood a chance against that tongue of hers, he surmised. It would take a hell of a man to go toe-to-toe with her and survive, Matt reasoned.
    He tucked away the thought for future review. Right now, they had a job to do. No one had to tell him that he had to make a good first impression. That meant not just solving the case, but solving it as quickly as possible.
    Coming up to the Crown Victoria, he opened the passenger door automatically. She seemed to enjoy driving and he enjoyed not having to bicker with her. As far as he was concerned, it was a win-win situation. He’d been the one to suggest going to Miller’s apartment, but he recalled that this had all started when Ryan Burnett had been reported missing. Maybe they should go back to that salient point and begin the investigation from there.
    “You want to check out the victim’s place of residence, or where our missing accountant-slash-suspect worked?” he asked her.
    “Let’s go there first,” she agreed. “Get a little more insight into what this guy is capable of.” About to get into the car, she paused and looked at him over the roof of the car. “You sure you don’t want to go see your mother? My offer to cover for you still stands.”
    He shook his head, although he appreciated the offer. Appreciated, too, the way her features seemed to have softened just now. He felt something distant stir inside him.
    “I’m sure,” Matt said as he got in.
    There was a pattern to his mother’s behavior. A well-worn pattern. For the next couple of hours, his mother would cry, long and hard. Cry as if her world was literally coming to an end and she didn’t know how to go on. But, eventually, when her entire body would be drained of any and all moisture, she’d sink into a peaceful, albeit reluctant, acceptance of the events and begin the arduous task of trying to rebuild her life.
    But first she would consume a half gallon of rum raisin ice cream.
    It never ceased to amaze him, how his mother could remain as thin as she did. Most people who consumed that quantity of ice cream—especially with the regularity that she did—would eventually begin to tip the scales to an ever-increasing number.
    But his five-foot-three mother had always been a size six. He supposed it was nature’s way of compensating for allowing her to drag her heart through the prickly briar patch time and again.
    “Your mother been divorced long?” Kendra asked casually as she pulled out of the parking space. She guided the car carefully to avoid hitting anything.
    He glanced at her, then decided not to ask the obvious: what made her think his mother was divorced? Divorced or widowed, the upshot was the same. His mother had no permanent man in her life—other than him. There were times when the weight of that felt almost overwhelming.
    “Yeah,” he answered absently. More like forever.
    She prodded him a little more. “How long is long? ”
    “I don’t remember ever meeting my father,” Abilene said after a beat that had gone on way too long.
    His answer made her understand why he had almost not said anything. “I’m sorry,” she said with genuine feeling.
    Her father had always been there for her. However, in her case it was her mother who was missing from her life. And had been ever since she was a little