The Trouble with Temptation by Shiloh Walker Read Free Book Online

away.
    Deatrick had a small black fire safe in his long, skinny hands and behind the lenses of his glasses, his eyes were gleaming.
    “You aren’t going to believe this, sir. I know you need to get to the hospital, but this is crazy.”
    Gideon braced his hands on his hips and waited.
    But the detective shook his head. “Not out here, sir.”
    Gideon sighed and nodded toward his office. “Let’s see what you got.”
    A few minutes later, he was still gaping in disbelief at what he had on his computer.
    “How far does this go back?” he asked softly.
    “Years, man,” Deatrick said, his excitement becoming more and more apparent. Like Gideon, Deatrick was a Treasure native and like Gideon, Deatrick had gone on to serve in the military. He’d done his one term though, gotten out, and had gone on to college. He’d done a few years on the force in Huntsville before returning to Treasure with his wife, once they had found out she was expecting. He was one of the best cops Gideon had ever worked with—and sharp as a blade.
    Both of them knew what they were looking at.
    Shayla Hardee hadn’t just been a mean-spirited gossip. Judging by what they were looking at, she’d most likely been involved in blackmail.
    Now they had the possibility of what looked like a serious motive behind her death.
    A motive, and a damn long list of possible suspects. More than fifteen names—and one of them was a damn cop.
    “Why the hell didn’t he come to me?” Gideon muttered, staring at the broad, shiny face of Officer Theodore Billings. Theodore wasn’t in uniform. Matter of fact, he wasn’t in anything —well, unless you counted the man who was on his knees in front of him.
    It seemed Teddy had some secrets, and one of them included a lover who looked about half his age.
    “He wouldn’t risk it,” Deatrick said, shaking his head. There was some sympathy in his voice when he glanced away from the screen to meet Gideon’s gaze. “You know how people are about this shit.”
    The video came to an end and the next one popped up. Both of them went silent as they waited to see what sort of dirt Shayla had on this one—it would be about Teddy. Shayla was nothing if not organized. Gideon had already …
    “Son of a bitch,” Deatrick whispered.
    Gideon closed his eyes.
    Then he rubbed them, blinked hard twice, and looked again.
    “Well, the good news is we can’t say this would catch Teddy’s wife by surprise,” Deatrick said, craning his head as if to get a better look.
    It was possible he needed to—the images on the screen now included more limbs. Three heads. Six limbs. Two of the bodies were male. One was Teddy and the other was the man from the earlier videos. The woman was, without a doubt, LaToya, Teddy’s wife of almost twenty years.
    “And now we have another suspect,” Gideon muttered.
    Deatrick looked down at the fire safe. So far, he’d managed to go through maybe a quarter of the contents.
    “I’m going to have a long day, aren’t I?”

 
    CHAPTER FOUR
    “I bet you’re ready for tomorrow!”
    Hannah managed to smile at the nurse. Her name was Jill. Jill had graduated a year behind Hannah, attended a technical nursing program and then gone on to get her bachelor’s degree.
    Hannah knew all of this because she’d asked.
    Jill had seemed to know her and when prompted, Jill had been more than happy to chatter on easily.
    Yet none of the knowledge seemed to do anything to pry loose those memories. They remained stubbornly stuck behind a wall.
    Four days had passed and that wall hadn’t yielded.
    Dr. Briscoe had wanted to keep her in the hospital for a few days to make sure she put some weight on and keep an eye on her—and the baby—but finally, tomorrow, she could go home.
    Maybe seeing her own place would knock something loose.
    One brick could send that wall tumbling down, or so she wanted to think.
    “Stop pushing yourself.”
    At the sound of Jill’s voice, Hannah looked up. “Am I that