Kelly Jamieson How (html) (book club recommendations .txt) 📖

Trey rolled away to drop the condominto the wastebasket, then rolled back to look at Marli, all sexy and naked andtousled. "Come on," he said, taking her hands and pulling her to herfeet. He drew back the covers, and she crawled between them. He slid in, too,and pulled her against his chest.

"So what happens now?" shewhispered.

"We go to sleep." But hewas afraid that wasn't what she meant.

"No, I mean to us."

He tried to come up with the wordsto tell her without hurting her, but he wasn't very good at that kind of stuff."There is no us."

She immediately looked down,shuttering her eyes from him. She plucked at the white sheet wrapped aroundthem. "I know." She lifted those beautiful eyes and pinned him withher gaze.

"Will you at least tell me whathappened to you, Trey? Before we go back to our own lives. If nothing else, itreally does help sometimes to talk about it. It hurts me to know you'rehurting. Maybe I can help."

He looked at her long, his heartthudding in his chest. He wanted to. He owed it to her, and she was right. Heneeded to talk. He'd been to see that counselor the bureau had sent him to, butit had been too soon, and he'd been resistant to having his head shrunk.

He reached behind him and proppedthe pillows up so he was sitting. She snuggled against him, all warm and naked,sliding one leg across his thighs.

God, where to start. "Aboutseven months ago, my wife told me she was pregnant."

Marli tensed and started to drawaway from him. He held on to her as she tipped her head to look up at him. Heswallowed at the stunned hurt on her face.

"You have a wife and achild?"

Chapter21

Seven months earlier

San Diego, California

"Hey, guess what?"

Trey's partner, Bill, looked up."What?" he asked, a donut halfway to his mouth.

Trey grinned. "Lisa's pregnant.We're gonna have a baby."

Bill's mouth dropped open, then hisface split into a huge grin. He dropped the donut, jumped out of his chair andwent over to slap Trey on the back.

"That's fantastic!" hesaid. "Congratulations!" Happily married, with two children, Bill wasthe kind of guy who thought everyone should be married with children."When is she due?"

"August," Trey said. Herubbed his face, but smiled. "It was a bit of a surprise, but what thehell." Little by little, he was getting used to the idea of being afather. He pictured himself with a son, playing baseball, taking him to Padresgames. Or maybe a little girl. He wasn't sure what he'd do with a girl, but,hey, maybe she'd play baseball, too. He grinned.

"I never thought I'd see theday," Bill said. "Wasn't sure you had it in you."

"Screw off." Trey grinned."Come on, we've got work to do. I'm off to Brawley today."

They'd been immersed in the SheldonBarnes case for weeks, desperate to find this guy before he killed again. Treyhad gathered so much information on Barnes he felt as if he knew him betterthan he knew his own brother. They didn't technically call it profiling sincethey were field agents, not profilers, but that's what he was doing. He wantedto know what made this guy tick, what gave him an adrenaline rush, because Treysure got a rush from figuring out what went on in a psychopathic, narcissisticmurderer's mind.

In Brawley, he met Sheldon's mother,Wanda Barnes, a thin, tired-looking woman. Her hair was faded, but he couldtell it had once been a pale gold blonde, just like the three women victims.

"He called me the otherday," she told Trey nervously. "For some reason he wanted to know ifI knew where his ex-wife is."

"Sheldon was married?"

Wanda nodded. "Her name isTeresa. Teresa White. They got married when they were only seventeen. She was amousy little thing--her father had just died and her mother was falling apart.I think she thought Sheldon would look after her." She gave a sharp,mirthless laugh. "Guess she found out pretty quick that wasn't gonnahappen, because she just up and disappeared one day."

"Where'd she go?"

Wanda shrugged. "I never knew.Never cared. But after Sheldon called, I went and paid a visit to her ma."She scowled. "That woman's a mess. Hammered all the time. But she saysTeresa's living in El Paso. And..." She hesitated.

"What?" Trey probedgently. He met Wanda's eyes with reassurance.

"Debbie White says Teresa hastwo kids. Eleven-year-old twins." She frowned. "Teresa's married tosomeone else, but it was eleven years ago she was married to Sheldon."

"You think the kids arehis?"

Wanda shrugged, still frowning."Jesus, I don't know. But if they are, Sheldon deserves to know aboutit."

"Did you tell him?"

Wanda shook her head. "I don'tknow how to get hold of him."

"Are you going to tell him? Ifhe calls?"

Wanda's mouth twisted. "You'rejust full of questions, aren't you? Hell, I don't know if I'll ever hear fromhim again."

"You will," Trey saidconfidently. "You will."

Trey went next to visit Sheldon'solder brother Peter in the nearby state penitentiary, then talked to cousinsand other relatives in the Imperial Valley area and found out Sheldon hadoccasionally shown up looking for money or a place to stay. He traveled to ElPaso to talk to Sheldon's ex-wife as well. The two boys had never met their father,their mother having fled her relationship with Sheldon when she was pregnant.She'd never known if Sheldon knew about the boys, but figured he didn't, sincehe'd never showed up looking for them. She, too, hadn't seen him since then,and had been horrified about the news stories she'd been seeing on television.Horrified and frightened.

"You need to know his motherwill probably tell him about his sons," he cautioned her. "There's noreason to think he'd come here, or that he'd have any intention of harming you.But..." He couldn't help but eye her flaxen hair.

Trey had decided to drive all theway back to San Diego that night, rather than stay