Southern Lights by Danielle Steel Read Free Book Online

Alexa usually tried to get by with a salad, which seemed minimally risky. Jack liked a man-sized meal, and took the daily special, which was lethal.
    He ordered meat loaf and mashed potatoes, and she a Caesar salad, which arrived looking limp and wet.
    “God, I hate the food here,” she muttered as she started to eat it, and he grinned.
    “Yeah, me too. That’s why I try to eat here at least twice a day, sometimes three. I never have time to go anywhere else.” Since his divorce years before, he spent most of his waking hours at work, even on weekends. He had nothing else to do and said it kept him out of trouble. Alexa had the same theory for herself.
    “We both work too hard,” she commented, making a face over the soggy lettuce that seemed weeks old and probably was, and had been the cheapest they could buy in the first place.
    “So what else is new? How’s your love life?” he asked casually. He liked her, he always had. She was smart, she worked hard, she was tough when she had to be, even relentless, but she was also fair, and kind, and a truly nice person, and pretty too. It was hard to find anything he didn’t like about her, except that she was a little too skinny for his taste, and didn’t do much with her hair. It was always tied back in a knot, although he suspected it would be long and luscious in bed. He tried not to think about it, and to remember that she was one of the “guys” in his life. It was how she acted, and the only relationship she seemed to want with him or anyone else. She’d been badly burned by her marriage, and her husband’s betrayal. She had told him the story once, it was even worse than his.
    “I assume you’re kidding, right?” She smiled as she answered his question. “Who has time for a love life? I have a kid and a full-time job. That’s good enough.”
    “Some people seem to manage more than that. They even go on dates, fall in love, and get married, or so I’m told.”
    “They must be on drugs,” Alexa said as she pushed away the salad. She had had enough. “So what do you think of our case? Think we’ll get him?”
    “I hope so. I’m sure as hell going to try. He’s as cold as they get. I think he would kill damn near anyone he chose to, if he could get away with it and had the chance.”
    “What makes you think so?” Alexa was intrigued by his comment and trusted his judgment, and always had before. He was rarely wrong. And he probably wasn’t this time either. “He has no history of violent crimes, and he’s never killed anyone before this spree, that we know of.” She was playing devil’s advocate for them both.
    “That just means he’s good at what he does. I don’t know why I think so. But I’ve seen guys like him, and so have you. Ice cold and dead inside. They’re like machines, they’re not human beings. He’s a classic sociopath, and they’re usually smart, just like he is. The most dangerous guys around. They’d as soon kill you as shake your hand. He may not have killed anyone when he was younger, but I’m convinced he would now. Maybe something snapped the last time he was in prison. I think he’s one sick, twisted sonofabitch, and he’ll give us a run for our money. He’s covered his tracks pretty well. I don’t know why we got lucky with the blood on his shoes. Sociopaths don’t usually make mistakes like that. Maybe he got too cocky, and he sure didn’t know we were watching him.” That had been clear in the interrogation, and they hadn’t told him. They had just let him talk to see what he said.
    “Shit, I hope we get him,” Alexa said with fervor. She wanted nothing more. She wanted to put him away.
    “So do I,” he agreed.
    “It makes me sick when I see those girls’ faces. They’re all so young and pretty. They look like my daughter.” As she said it, a chill ran down her spine. She hadn’t thought of it before, but they did. Savannah was just his type. But fortunately, he was safely in jail, and not