Insatiable Desire by Rita Herron Read Free Book Online Page A

and she curved her arm around him, murmuring nonsensical words, assuring him that it would be all right, when they both knew nothing was all right.
    “Who could be so vicious?” he cried. “Who would hurt my sister like this?”
    “I don’t know, but we’ll find out,” Clarissa promised.
    Vincent watched them with a brooding expression, and she shivered. He obviously disliked everything about her. She didn’t know why that hurt, but it did.
    The heat that had radiated between them when they’d touched disturbed her even more. She didn’t want to be attracted to him.
    But concern for Tracy and Ronnie erased any personal misgivings. She’d tolerate him, just as long as he helped them stop the killer.
    Finally Ronnie’s cries quieted. He dragged out a handkerchief and blew his nose, then turned to her. “What happened, Clarissa? Who did this to Tracy?”
    She stroked his damp hair from his forehead. “I don’t know yet, Ronnie. But Sheriff Waller won’t let you down. And an FBI agent is here now, Special Agent Valtrez. He’ll find her killer.”
    Vincent crossed the distance to them, his jaw set tight as he introduced himself. “This woman was your sister?”
    Ronnie nodded, rubbing his hand over his eyes as he blinked back more tears, his bony shoulders slumped. “Tracy was only twenty-one. She can’t be dead. She was so young . . .”
    He scrubbed a hand through his wiry brown hair, making it stick up in all directions. “She hated blood . . . the sight of it,” he said raggedly. “She fainted when they drew blood at her physical. I can’t believe she died covered like this.”
    Clarissa jerked her head toward Vincent. “Her greatest fear . . .”
    For a moment, his gaze flickered with acceptance of her theory, but a second later, a mask slid over his expression as if that moment had never happened.
    “Did your sister live with you?” Vincent asked.
    Ronnie jumped up and began to pace, kicking leaves and rocks as his agitation mounted. “She moved into an apartment last week. I go by and check on her every day, but this morning when I saw her car wasn’t at home, I got scared. So I drove around town and found it on the side of the road near the bakery. The battery was dead . . .” He paused and sniffed, and Clarissa patted his back, encouraging him to continue.
    “I should have installed a new one for her last week . . . but I was going to wait for my next paycheck . . .” He gulped back more tears. “Jesus, it’s my fault. If I had, she wouldn’t have had car trouble—”
    “It’s not your fault,” Clarissa said softly. “Tracy knows you cared about her, Ronnie. She loved you and wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”
    Vincent gave her a sharp look, and Clarissa’s temper flared. But through the hazy turmoil of her own emotions, she saw a misty gray swirling above Tracy’s body.
    Loose particles of ectoplasm glittered like tiny diamonds, then slowly congealed to resemble her shape. Even in spirit form, Tracy’s head hung precariously to the side, and her eyes were stricken as she watched her grief-stricken brother.
    “She was stabbed. Judging from the knife wounds, it looks like the perp used a hunting knife,” Vincent said. “Do you know anyone who would have hurt her, Ronnie?”
    Ronnie shook his head. “No, no one.”
    “Was she dating anyone?”
    Ronnie shook his head. “Not that I know of.”
    “Any recent breakups?”
    Again Ronnie shook his head. “You have to find the monster who did this.”
    A muscle ticked in Vincent’s jaw, and Clarissa grabbed his arm before he could question Ronnie further. “Vincent, can we talk for a minute?”
    “What?” he asked sarcastically. “Do you have more news from the dead?”
    Anger sharpened her voice. “Maybe you should crawl back under your rock and request another agent for this case. You obviously don’t want to be here.”
    His black eyes stabbed her. “My job is not to make friends here or coddle the locals,” he