When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions) by Lynette Eason Read Free Book Online

ground, then back at Serena. “I’ve tried to call her.”
    “How often?”
    “Often enough,” she mumbled.
    Serena pushed. “And how many messages have you left?”
    Exasperated, Alexia threw her hands up. “A couple.”
    Serena lifted an eyebrow.
    “Seriously, I’ve left several.”
    Hunter wondered how many several actually translated into.
    “And when she called you back, you didn’t answer, did you?” There was no condemnation in Serena’s voice, just a soft question that carried a wealth of meaning.
    Alexia groaned and bit her lip. “I . . . couldn’t,” she whispered. “I just . . . couldn’t.”
    “And I enabled that,” Serena said quietly.
    Alexia seemed to think about that for a minute. “I guess you did. You always kept me pretty well informed. I really had no reason to talk to her.” She must have remembered that Serena hadn’t told her about Devin, because she cut her eyes at Serena and added, “At least I thought you told me everything.” She paced, lifted her head, and spotted him standing there.
    “Sorry to eavesdrop,” he said.
    She simply stared at him with that blank expression that was starting to dig holes in his heart. What had she gone through as a child? What had her mother done that made Alexia cut off practically all communication? Instead of voicing his questions, he said, “Just thought I’d let you know, we’re searching the house.”
    The blank stare morphed into a frown. “For what?”
    “The murder weapon.”
    “But he took it . . .” Realization dawned and her lips thinned. “Oh. You still think I did it.”
    Hunter held up a hand. “Just call it covering all our bases.” He used Katie’s reasoning. “A knife is missing from the block in the kitchen. Did you go in there? Move it?”
    She frowned. “No. I heard something in the basement practically the moment I walked in the door. I didn’t touch anything in the kitchen.” Alexia bit her lip, then focused her gaze on his. “Do I need to call a lawyer?”
    Letting out a sigh, he said, “That’s certainly your right.”

9
     
    Monday, 8:57 p.m.
     
    Alexia felt a surge of satisfaction. She’d passed on the lawyer. The fingerprint results would prove she’d been nowhere near the kitchen. And they’d searched the house—and her car—and found nothing.
    She knew they wouldn’t.
    Serena had offered to let Alexia stay with her until the crime scene cleanup crew could get out to the house and take care of the basement. Alexia appreciated the offer and decided to take her friend up on it. Only she had one stop to make first.
    The hospital.
    She had to or the guilt would consume her.
    Glancing at the time on her cell phone, she saw that it was pushing 9:00. And still her mother’s neighbors watched the action from across the street. Some even stood just beyond the nearest cruiser. She wanted to holler at them to go home.
    The need to escape made her nerves jump and her palms itch. She wanted to go straight to Serena’s and crawl under the covers. Instead, she called the nurses’ station and found she could come see her mother, even stay the night with her if she chose to do so.
    She didn’t. She couldn’t. At least not yet.
    But she did need to break the news to her about Devin.
    And to avoid giving her mother a heart attack, she told the nursing staff to let the woman know Alexia was on her way to see her.
    She wondered if her mom would believe them. She wondered if her mother would be awake. Alexia hesitated. Maybe she should wait until morning. But the guilt pressed in on her. Even if her mother was asleep, someone would pass the word on that Alexia had been there. She’d tried. Right?
    Hunter watched her from the front steps, his eyes intense. He’d told her she could leave, go to the hospital, but . . .
    Emergency vehicles still loitered at her mother’s curb, and she felt weird leaving, even though she was no longer needed. She reached to open the door to her car.
    “Alexia? Is