Ring of Truth (Devlin Security Force Book 2) by Susan Vaughan Read Free Book Online Page A

aunt’s row house has only a paved patio.”
    He couldn’t promise her that would change so he said nothing as he pulled into the blacktopped drive and stopped behind the Subaru sedan in the carport. “You going to be okay with this? You said your sister didn’t sound happy.”
    Mara hoisted a shoulder in a gesture of nonchalance that didn’t fit the tight set of her mouth. “These days Cassie never sounds happy.” On that enigmatic note, she opened the passenger door and slid out of the truck.
    He hoped to hell he didn’t end up in the middle of some family squabble. All he wanted was the files so they could get back to D.C. “Don’t tell her about the rings.”
    “I already told her on the phone.” She gaped at him. “You don’t trust my sister?”
    “The fewer people who know about the rings, the safer we all are.” And no, he didn’t trust her sister. He couldn’t.
    “Come in the side door,” a raspy feminine voice called. He hadn’t noticed anybody seated in the breezeway.
    Mara replied with a casual wave. “This way,” she said to Cort. They headed through the carport past gardening tools and a watering can.
    The aromas of coffee and cigarette smoke enveloped him as he entered the screened-in space. Her sister lounged in an Adirondack chair, a ceramic mug in one hand and a freshly lit cig in the other. The ashtray beside her held three butts.
    With similar features and hair color, the two women were clearly sisters. Cassie was a few years older and a few pounds heavier, same glossy hair but hers was cut chin length. The style gave her a harder look. Her dark eyes held more bitterness than distrust as she openly appraised him.
    Mara made the introductions, and he muttered a greeting.
    Cassie merely nodded. “I made coffee. Help yourselves. It’s in the kitchen.”
    “Where’s Livvie?” Mara asked, looking toward the open kitchen door.
    “At her dad’s for the weekend.” She took a deep drag on her cigarette.
    “Mom would have ten fits if she knew you were puffing away again.” Mara fanned blue fumes away from her face.
    “I don’t smoke in the house.” She inhaled and blew smoke. “Or around Livvie.”
    “You know that’s not what I meant. What is this, a thirty-something version of teenage rebellion?”
    Cort hadn’t grown up with siblings but he recognized when family pushed each other’s emotional buttons. Marton had been a heavy smoker. The case probably wasn’t the only factor in his death, but Cort would keep that opinion to himself.
    Cassie blew a lung full directly at her sister. “She’d have twenty fits if she knew you wanted to dig around in the case.”
    “I’m not going to argue with you. I said it all on the phone.” Mara turned to Cort. “Come on. I’ll pour you some coffee before we head downstairs.”
    In the kitchen she poured aromatic brew from a drip coffeemaker into two bright red ceramic mugs and added cream and sugar to hers. “Basement door’s over here.” The handle rattled when she tried it but it didn’t turn.
    Arms firmly planted on her hips, she went to the breezeway. “Door’s locked.”
    Cassie laid her smoke in the ashtray and swung out of the deck chair. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want you to take those files.”
    Cort retreated to a dark corner of the unlit kitchen to watch the battle.
    Mara chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment. “They’re Dad’s files. I have as much right to them as you do.”
    “But it’s my house now, not Mom’s. What you’re doing can lead to nothing good. Dredging it all up again.”
    Mara looked like she’d been slapped. “You think he’s guilty.” Apparently she’d just realized the source of her sister’s resistance.
    Cassie lifted one shoulder in dismissal. But the red flush on her face said the accusation hit the bull’s-eye. She was named right. Cassandra, the predictor of doom.
    Time to step in. This was his fight. “Mara isn’t doing this only for herself,” he said.