Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [84]
He came into the small hotel room slowly, passing the bathroom, and was immediately accosted by the scent of her shampoo and perfume. She wore jeans and the same sexy Packers jersey from the other night. Its color was faded. The neckline was stretched and misshapen so that it draped down and exposed a bare shoulder. Knowing she had nothing underneath made him hot, and he tried to divert his attention to something, anything else.
She glanced up at him, then did a double take. “What happened to your face?”
“Christine didn’t wait. There was an article in this morning’s paper.”
“And Michelle Tanner saw it before you got there?”
“Sort of. Someone told her about it.”
“She hit you?”
“No,” he snapped, then realized there was no need to be so defensive. “Her ex-husband, Matthew’s dad, sort of let me have it.”
“Jesus, Morrelli, don’t you know how to duck?”
The anger must have still been in his eyes, because she quickly added, “Sorry. You should put some ice on it.”
Unlike Lucy, Maggie went back to the computer screen, offering no nursing services.
“How’s the shoulder?”
She looked up again. Her eyes met his. For a brief moment they softened, remembering. Then she quickly looked away. “It’s okay.” She rolled it as if to check. “It’s still pretty sore.”
The Packers jersey slipped further down her shoulder, revealing creamy, soft skin. It easily distracted him. God, he wanted to touch her so bad it hurt. It didn’t help matters that her rumpled bed was just feet away.
“So, you’re a Packers fan.” He filled the silence while she clicked through information on the computer screen.
“Actually, my dad grew up in Green Bay,” she said without looking up. The computer screen changed quickly as she scanned its contents. “My husband keeps trying to get me to throw this old thing away. But it’s one of the few things I have that reminds me of my dad. It was his. He used to wear it when we watched the games together.”
“Used to?”
There was a pause, and he knew it had nothing to do with the information on the screen. He watched her tuck her hair behind her ears and recognized it as a nervous habit.
“He was killed when I was twelve.”
“I’m sorry. Was he an FBI agent, too?”
She stopped and stood up straight, pretending to stretch, only he knew it was to buy time. It was easy to see the subject of her father brought back memories.
“No, a firefighter. He died a hero. I guess you and I have that in common.” She smiled up at him. “Except your father managed to stay alive.”
“Just remember, my father had a lot of help.”
She searched his eyes, and this time he quickly looked away before she saw something he wasn’t ready to reveal.
“You don’t think he had something to do with Jeffreys being framed, do you?”
He felt her watching him. He purposely came up beside her to view the computer screen, making it impossible for her to examine his eyes.
“He gained the most from Jeffreys’ capture. I don’t know what I believe.”
“Here it is,” she said, watching the screen fill with what looked like newspaper articles.
“What is this?” He leaned forward. “The Wood River Gazette, November 1989. Where is Wood River?”
“Maine.” She poked at the scroll button, scanning the headlines. Then she stopped and pointed to one.
“’Boy’s Mutilated Body Found Near River.’ This sounds familiar.” He started reading the article that stretched over three columns of the front page.
“Guess who was a junior pastor at Wood River’s St. Mary’s Catholic Church?”
He stopped, looked back at her and rubbed his jaw. “You still don’t have any evidence. It’s all circumstantial. Why didn’t this case come up during Jeffreys’ trial?”
“There was no need. From what I’ve been able to find, a transient working at St. Mary’s Church took the blame.”
“Or maybe he did it.” He hated where this was leading. “How did you find out about it?”
“Just a hunch. When I talked to Father Francis this morning, he told me Father Keller had