Chill Factor by Sandra Brown Read Free Book Online

along or lately?"
    Both
, Dutch thought. He'd lined up plenty
of justifications
for his first affair. He was under continual pressure at work. Lilly
was preoccupied establishing her career. Their lovemaking had become
predictable and uninspired. Blah, blah, blah.
    Lilly had shot down his excuses like ducks in a shooting
gallery. He
had acknowledged his weaknesses and pledged never to stray again.
    But the first affair was followed by a second. And then
another, and
soon he'd run out of even lame excuses. Now he realized that it wasn't
his
last
affair that had spelled the beginning of
the end of
his marriage. It had been the
first
. He should
have known
that a woman like Lilly wouldn't tolerate unfaithfulness.
    Wes was looking at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.
"There
for a time, you know, after Amy, when I was in a bad way, I looked for
relief anywhere I could find it, with any woman who would say yes, and
there were plenty of them. None of them could replace Lilly, though."
    "Bullshit. You just haven't shopped long enough. Are you
getting
laid now on a regular basis?"
    "Wes—"
    "Okay, okay, don't ask, don't tell. But what woman would look
twice
at you these days? If you don't mind my saying so, you look like crap."
    "That's what I feel like."
    "Right, and it shows. In your face, the way you walk. Your
butt's
dragging, my friend. You look about as much fun as a case of recurring
herpes. That approach isn't going to attract the kind of woman you need
right now."
    "What kind is that?"
    "The anti-Lilly. Stay away from brunettes with brown eyes."
    "Hazel. Her eyes are really green with brown flecks."
    With a look, Wes scorned the detailed correction. "Get
yourself a
bleached blonde. Short, not tall. Big titties and a butt you can hold
on to . A gal that's none too bright,
without an
opinion of her own except regarding your cock, which she thinks is a
fucking magic wand." Wes was pleased with his description of the
perfect female; his entire face was involved in his grin.
    "Tell you what," he said, "come over to the house later. We'll
kill
a bottle of Jack while considering your options. I've got a dirty video
or two we can watch. That'll change your outlook, or you aren't human.
Wha'd'ya say?"
    "I'm not supposed to be drinking, remember?"
    "Rules don't apply during an ice and snow storm."
    "Who said?"
    "I did."
    It was nearly impossible to resist Wes at his most affable,
but
Dutch gave it an earnest try. He pushed the Bronco's gearshift into
reverse. "I'll have both hands full tonight, and then some."
    "Come over," Wes said, wagging a stern finger at Dutch as he
backed
away. "I'll be looking for you."
    Dutch pulled back into traffic and pointed his Bronco toward
the
single-story brick building one block off Main Street that housed the
police department.
    Before finally being booted out of the Atlanta PD, Dutch had
been
required to see the department's psychiatrist twice a week. He'd told
Dutch during one of their sessions that he was borderline paranoid. But
what was that old joke? Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean
everybody still isn't out to get you.
    He was beginning to think that everybody in the whole damn
world had
it in for him today.
    When he entered headquarters and saw Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Gunn
sitting
in the waiting area, that cinched it. He must have a bull's-eye painted
on his back. Lilly, Millicent Gunn's folks, the people of Cleary, even
the weather had conspired to make this the worst day of his life.
    Okay.
One
of the worst.
    Mrs. Gunn, a rawboned sparrow of a woman on her best day,
looked
like she hadn't slept or had a meal since her daughter's disappearance
a week ago. Her small head poked from the collar of her quilted coat
like that of a turtle from its shell. As Dutch walked in, she looked at
him with naked despair.
    He wasn't a stranger to that feeling. He empathized, all
right. He
just didn't want to cope with Mrs. Gunn's desperation tonight, when he
was having a hell of a time battling his