Darker Than Desire by Shiloh Walker Read Free Book Online

beyond him.
    Max put on a good act, but that’s all it was, an act. He lay in that bed, putting up a frail, fretful face, and any time Sorenson or his top detective, Jensen Bell, pushed for more than a minute or two he started talking about his wife. Asking if they had any idea who had shot her, why she was dead.
    Sorenson couldn’t even say it was a stalling tactic or misdirection.
    The old woman had been helpless, confused. Advanced Alzheimer’s had made her one of the most vulnerable victims Sorenson had ever had to stand for and it pissed him off.
    It pissed him off even more because he knew, as sure as he knew his own name, that Max knew something. Or he had answers. Not about Mary—he’d pull hell apart to find who had killed his wife—but there was information he withheld, nonetheless.
    â€œI’m afraid fifty years from now isn’t a good time for me,” Sorenson said easily, slipping into the room and pushing the door shut behind him. “I plan on having my butt tucked into a beach chair, somewhere down on Maui, and getting sunburnt every day. That’s my retirement plan, in … oh, maybe twenty-some years. Before that happens, though, I’d like to deal with whoever is terrorizing people in my town. That’s why I’d like to talk to Max, and you, Cai—I mean David.”
    David just smiled at him, but the smile was dead, just like his eyes.
    That man creeped him the hell out. Did David Sutter feel anything ? Or had the ability to feel been destroyed, just like the boy he’d been had been destroyed?
    â€œI’m not much help, Chief,” David said, his eyes still empty. “I wasn’t there when Max or Miss Mary was shot. I didn’t show up until later. I promise you, if I had any idea who’d shoot a sweet old lady like Miss Mary, you wouldn’t have to look for me to help you out—I’d drag the motherfucker to you.”
    â€œHmmm.” Assuming you didn’t finish the person off . Sorenson kept that behind his teeth, but he doubted he was far off. How he, or anybody else, had looked at this man and seen anybody remotely mild mannered or even tempered was a mystery.
    Shifting his attention from David to Max, Sorenson moved around the foot of the bed.
    Max glared at him, already settling into his ornery old codger routine. He did it well, too; Sorenson had to give him credit.
    â€œWhy do I got to put up with this horseshit?” Max grumbled. “Nurses coming and going all hours of the night. People knocking on the damn door all day. All I want to do is sleep and you people keep showing up.”
    â€œWould you like us to find who shot you? Who shot Mary?”
    Max’s thick white brows dropped low over his eyes, the vivid blue gaze snapping. “You think you’re any closer than you were two days ago? If you are, then spill it. If you’re just here to nag me, then get your ass out.”
    â€œYou don’t pull punches, do you, sir?”
    â€œAt my age, I don’t see the point.”
    Running his tongue around the inside of his teeth, Sorenson debated. The old man just wouldn’t give. Wouldn’t back down. It was odd, Sorenson thought, looking from one to the other. He felt like he was staring at one big, impenetrable wall. Max was older but just as solid, just as unbreakable.
    He was likely fishing in the dark here, but hell. Sometimes that was what it took.
    â€œI did come down here to discuss a thing or two with you, sir. Things of a sensitive nature.” He flicked his gaze to David. “If you’d step outside…?”
    David went to rise.
    â€œSit down, boy,” Max grumbled. “Whatever he has to say can’t be worth shit.”
    Sorenson rocked back on his heels. “I don’t think you want to discuss this with anybody else in here.”
    â€œNot like David’s going to tell people. If anybody can keep his mouth shut, it’s him.