Crime & Passion

by Chantel Rhondeau

  “Shhhh...it’s okay, sweetheart. You couldn’t have known.”

  He clung to her, crying like he’d never cried before, taking comfort in her quiet strength. When he was able to pull himself together he let go of her, utterly spent.

  She handed him a napkin so he could blow his nose. “That doesn’t make you a murderer. You do know that, right?”

  “I did what we are trained to do. The kid pointed the object at my partner and made a threat. I fired two rounds. I never even hesitated.” He closed his eyes against the waves of emotion that threatened to take over again. “They both hit his chest. When he went down, I ran over and kicked the phone out of his hand. That’s when I realized it wasn’t a gun.”

  “I can’t imagine how that must have felt.”

  “I tried to stop the bleeding. I tried so hard. I remember screaming at my partner to get help, knowing it wouldn’t arrive in time.” He covered his eyes with his hand, wishing that could block the picture in his mind. “Benny told me his name and said he was sorry.”

  Benny coughed, and blood leaked out the corner of his mouth. ‘I didn’t mean no harm. Tell my ma I love her.’

  Donovan pressed his hands harder into the wounds. ‘No, damn it. You’re going to tell her yourself, Benny. Stay with me.’

  ‘I’m scared.’ The boy coughed again, more blood bubbling from his lungs. ‘Am I’m goin’ to hell?’

  ‘No, Benny. You’re not going to hell. There’s a special heaven for kids.’

  ‘Good.’ Benny’s body shook and his breathing made a bubbling noise. Donovan knew the kid was drowning in his own blood, but he didn’t know how to stop it.

  Benny took one more shuddering breath and his eyes glazed over.

  Donovan leaned back, his hands falling away from the wounds. He closed Benny’s eyes, unable to handle the look of accusation in them. He leaned down to whisper in the kid’s ear. ‘When you get to that special heaven, tell Madison I said hi.’

  “He died before help arrived,” he finished out loud, looking once again at Madeline. “So, you see, it was my fault. Just like it’s my fault Maria’s dead.”

  Madeline shook her head. “You stop that right now, Donovan. You didn’t murder Maria anymore than you murdered that kid. You did what you were trained to do back in LA, and this morning you had no way of knowing what would happen.”

  “You know what the funny thing is?” he asked. “I left LA after that because I couldn’t handle seeing that level of crime anymore. I wanted to work where the biggest problem I’d face would be kids stealing cigarettes from the grocery store.” He laughed bitterly. “And then this happens, and everyone thinks I’m the killer.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Not everyone.”

  “Thanks for that.”

  Madeline leaned over and kissed him, lingering against his mouth just long enough to make him regret bringing up this story and pulling their mood down. Sex had always been a fix-all for him, and he could sure use some of that particular treatment now.

  Donovan pulled away from her and stood, helping her to her feet. He gently tugged on her arm, leading her to the bedroom.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Madeline took a few steps forward before stopping. “Hold up there, buddy. Where do you think you’re going?”

  Donovan turned to look at her, and the obvious passion in his eyes raised her pulse rate.

  “I changed my mind about taking things slow.” His voice emerged as a growl, chipping away at her willpower.

  She held her breath for a moment, trying to decide what to do. Finally, she shook her head. “Exchanging one memory doesn’t mean we know each other. I think you were right before. We need to be friends first.”

  “Using my own arguments against me, are you?”

  She caressed his face with her free hand. “I’m really starting to like you, Donovan, and that scares me.”

  “You don’t need to be afraid.”

  “I can’t help it.”

  He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “I just don’t want to think about all this misery anymore. I need some happiness.”

  “I’m sorry things have been so hard today.” Her heart ached for him. She was sure Donovan had other horrible memories. The life of a police officer did open one up for bad experiences.

  “Well, if you won’t let us do what I want to,” Donovan said, backing away from her, “what should we do? I need a distraction.”

  Knowing he desired her, not Suzie, felt wonderful, but she needed a different way to keep him busy or she might give in to his wishes. “We could see a movie. Want me to check what’s playing?”

  “That depends.”

  “On what?”

  He grinned. “Are you going to make me watch a chick flick?”

  “Mmmm...maybe.”

  “Do I at least get to keep my arm around your shoulders the entire time?” He raised his eyebrows up and down. “I can do that cheesy stretch move if you want me to.”

  “Most definitely.” She laughed. “We could also reach for the popcorn at the same time, if you’re too afraid to just hold my hand.”

  “In that case, you can choose what we watch. I doubt I’ll spend much time looking at the screen with you next to me.”

  Madeline couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face as she walked into her bedroom and sat at her desk. She shook the mouse on her computer to wake it up. “I’ll pick something we’ll both enjoy,” she told Donovan, who followed her in and sat on the end of the bed.

  He jumped up and down experimentally on the mattress. “I really think we could save some money and be entertained right here...bouncing.”

  A tingle of excitement passed through her. Down girl. You’re not bouncing with him tonight. “Donovan, you’re making this hard for me.”

  He laughed. “No, Maddie. I assure you, you’re making it hard for me.”

  “You’re terrible. Making a girl blush so—”

  Loud pounding on the front door interrupted her words.

  “Who could that be?” She stood up, thoughts of flirting forgotten. Maybe a police officer decided to check on her earlier than usual.

  Donovan caught her at the bedroom door. “Stay here. I’ll go see.”

  Something in the timbre of his voice caught at Madeline, igniting a jolt of fear in her stomach. “Are you worried about something?”

  “Do you know the theory going around about why Maria was killed?”

  She nodded. “It was supposed to be me. So you think the killer decided to knock on my door? That’s stupid. With my nosy neighbors, he’d be caught in no time.”

  The person pounded again.

  Her heart rate jumped up a notch, and she met Donovan’s eyes. “He wouldn’t, would he?”

  “Don’t worry.” Donovan pressed a fierce kiss against her mouth. “I won’t let him have you.”

  ***

  Madeline had an irritating habit of not listening to him. He sighed as she walked into the living room, despite what he asked her to do. He’d have to be content that she stopped to stand near the couch and didn’t follow him down the short hallway to the door.

  Donovan looked through the peephole. He didn’t know if he should be relieved when he saw Brice and Eric standing on the other side or not. Brice looked grim, Eric anxious.

  He unlatched the security lock and twisted the deadbolt, opening the door. “Gentlemen?”

  “Can we come in, Donovan?” Brice asked.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Brice shook his head. “I don’t want to do this in the hallway.”

  “Don’t want to do what in the hallway?” Donovan met Brice’s grim stare. He nodded when Brice’s lips formed a thinner line and the man shook his head. “I see.”

  He stepped back, allowing them to walk in past him before shutting the door. He wondered what they found.

  “What’s going on?” Madeline demanded before anyone could speak.

  Donovan crossed the floor and put his ar
m around her, kissing her cheek. “I don’t think we’re going to see that movie today, darling.”

  Brice raised an eyebrow. “You knew what we’d find then? I thought you were innocent.”

  “I am innocent,” Donovan replied. “But I was stupid to think there wouldn’t be more evidence planted against me. What did you find?”

  Eric exchanged a long look with Brice. “Maybe we should let you talk to Chief,” Eric said, shrugging.

  “Damn it. Don’t give me that shit. You’re the new guy around here, but that’s not how it works. You guys need to tell me what you found.” Donovan turned back to Brice, aware of the way Madeline clung to his waist, as though she would refuse to let him go. “What am I facing?”

  “The rope was in the back of your police cruiser,” Brice said.

  “That’s ridiculous,” Madeline protested. “He hasn’t even been driving that for a few days. Eric has been.”

  Eric folded his arms and glared at her. “Are you accusing me, Madeline? Really?”

  She shook her head. “No, of course not. I’m just saying you can’t prove that rope is Donovan’s.”

  “Must’ve been planted.” Donovan squeezed her tighter to him.

  “That’s getting harder to believe,” Brice said. “First off, we know you fought with Frank Johnson.”

  Donovan wondered if Frank’s wife finally reported that or if Eric turned him in.

  “Then,” Brice continued, “Frank received a call from you right before being killed. Perfect timing from where you were on the beach. And by Miss Scott’s own statement, it looked like a police officer’s uniform and baton.”

  Madeline gasped. “I won’t testify against him.”

  Brice shook his head. “You won’t have a choice, Miss Scott.”

  Donovan kissed Madeline’s cheek, trying to reassure her. Brice was right, though, she’d have to testify if things got that far.

  “I didn’t place that call.” Donovan wondered if Brice believed him anymore. Perhaps finding that rope was the final straw. If so, he’d have no one to help him. From the sneer on Eric’s face, it was all too clear his young partner already passed judgment as far as Donovan’s guilt.

  “I found the phone, Donovan,” Eric said. “It was in the car, right where you always keep it. How can we believe you?”

  Donovan shook his head. He had no way to prove he lost the phone, and he didn’t think his word would be enough to convince anyone. Eric finding the phone in its usual place really did make Donovan look like a liar.

  “I wish I had some way to explain this all away so I could help you out, Donovan.” Brice shook his head. “Today just made things worse. You were the last person to see Maria alive. They are still processing evidence, but I’m sure there’s DNA and fibers from you all over that crime scene.”

  Donovan thought of how affectionate Maria was this morning. Each time she hugged him was a potential to transfer his hair to her clothing. He nodded at Brice. “I’m sure there is.”

  “Brandon Feldman swears the open sign was off when he got there. By your own statement, Maria turned it on. But Brandon watched you pull out of the lot and said no one else was there.” Brice sighed and grabbed his handcuffs, holding them loosely at his side. “You checked the store. No one else was in there. Assuming we find no DNA on Maria’s body pointing to someone else, it makes you seem like the only person who could have done this.”

  Donovan eyed the handcuffs and sighed. He let go of Madeline. “Thanks for telling me what you found. I understand you have a job to do. I won’t cause any problems.”

  “What? No!” Madeline clutched his arm in her hands. “You guys missed something. There’s some other piece of evidence. You can’t arrest him.”

  The fact that Madeline so firmly believed in him warmed Donovan’s heart. It had been a long time since he had someone he could count on. “It’s okay,” he whispered in her ear. “A lawyer will argue all this for me, but we have to follow procedure right now.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “Fine.” She faced Brice. “What happens now?”

  “If Donovan wants to cooperate, we’ll do this without handcuffs,” Brice said, putting them away. “You can follow us down to the station, Miss Scott, and work on finding Donovan a lawyer. If we move quickly, we might be able to schedule his bail hearing for today, and he won’t have to spend the night in jail.”

  Donovan shuddered at the thought of spending much time locked in a cell. With their town being so small, they just had two big holding areas. That would leave him trapped with people who might take their frustration at the police department out on him. Then again, dangerous prisoners were quickly transferred to the big jail in Eureka.

  If things went wrong, Donovan might head there tomorrow.

  “Donovan Andrews,” Brice intoned in a grave voice, “I am placing you under arrest for the murders of Frank Johnson and Maria Rains. You have the right to remain silent...”

  ***

  Madeline once again sat at Donovan’s desk, Eric beside her. “Who else can I call? The only defense lawyer I know is Jeremy Rains. I highly doubt he’ll feel up to going to court today, especially not in defense of the man accused of killing his wife.” She wondered how Jeremy would manage without Maria. They had always seemed so happy together.

  “He has a partner,” Eric said. “They’re the only defense team in town. I have the number.” He pulled out his cell phone and went through the contacts, writing the number on a piece of paper when he found it. “I also know of a few in Eureka who might be willing to come here.”

  “Give me those too.”

  “Or,” Eric said, leaning back in his chair and not looking for the contacts, “you could let Donovan clean up his own mess, and just go home and relax.”

  “Sure, that’s a great plan.” Asshole.

  “Look, I’m not trying to be insensitive here.” He placed his hand over hers.

  Madeline snorted and yanked her hand back. “Really? You just want me to believe Donovan is guilty and abandon him, that’s all.”

  “It’s a better theory than you pinning something on me because it was in the car I’ve been driving around a few days. You know that’s Donovan’s car for everything that counts.” Eric rubbed his hand across his forehead. “I can’t believe you did that, Madeline. What happened to the new kids in town sticking together?”

  She shook her head and fished her cell phone from her purse. It’d do no good to argue with Eric further. That wasn’t helping Donovan. She dialed the number to Jeremy Rains’ law firm and hit send.

  “Rains and Wiggins. Can I help you?” asked a female voice.

  “Hello. My name is Madeline Scott. I’m calling for a friend of mine who needs representation. I know about the tragedy in Mr. Rains’ life today, but I was hoping his partner might be in.”

  “Actually, Mr. Rains is here working. Poor thing needed a distraction. I’ll transfer you, please hold.”

  “No, wait,” Madeline yelled into the phone, panic setting in as the dull monotone on the other line alerted her to the fact she’d been placed on hold. What could she say to Jeremy? Eventually she needed to cook him a casserole and express her condolences, but she didn’t want to speak to him right now.

  “Jeremy Rains. What can I do for you?” His voice sounded broken up, as though he’d been crying right before answering the phone.

  Madeline swallowed in an effort to ease her dry throat. “Hello, Jeremy. It’s Madeline Scott.”

  “Ah, Madeline. How are you holding up, dear? You do know Maria was wild about you, don’t you? She always talked about you.”

  Madeline blinked back tears, not knowing what to say. She had met Jeremy in passing a few times, but didn’t know him nearly like she knew Maria. Yet here he was, offering sympathy to her. And if it wasn’t for her, Maria would never have been in the store that morning.

  “I’m so sorry for what happened. It should have been me.” She bit back a sob, not sure why she said that. It wasn’t lik
ely to help him with his pain.

  Jeremy laughed bitterly. “Survivor’s guilt goes all around today, huh? I’m sitting here regretting that I didn’t go into the shop with her, knowing there was a killer on the loose.” He sighed. “We’ll have to find a way to forgive ourselves. Maria wouldn’t want us playing the blame game.”

  “She was a terrific woman. This town will be lonely without her.”

  “Especially for me,” he whispered. Silence came across the line for a moment until Jeremy cleared his throat. “I feel horrible for Donovan. I’m sure he feels guilty too, even though he shouldn’t.”

  Well, she’d never get a better opening than that. “He does. It’s been a tough day for him too. I’m sure he wanted to come to you, but probably didn’t feel like he’d be welcome.”

  “He’s family,” Jeremy said firmly. “He’s always welcome. Tell him I said to stop by tonight. The girls are coming home so we can go through pictures for the obituary.” His voice cracked on the last word and he sighed. “I couldn’t face all that on my own today. There’s so much to get done before her funeral.”

  Madeline’s heart clenched upon hearing the pain in Jeremy’s voice. The man should be zonked out on Valium or something, not trying to run his business. She hated to add to his problems, but she needed to get Donovan a lawyer.

  “I don’t think Donovan will make it tonight. He’s in a bit of trouble. I actually wanted to talk to your law associate.”

  “Why?”

  Madeline met Eric’s eyes across from her. He watched her intently, a question on his face. She shook her head at him.

  “Donovan’s been arrested for Maria’s murder,” she said quietly.

  “That’s outrageous! Who’s running the investigation?”

  The anger in Jeremy’s voice eased Madeline’s anxiety somewhat. “As far as I can tell, Chief Stone is pretty much taking care of this himself. They have evidence, but I think it’s a setup.” She didn’t know if she should be telling him all this information, but she needed help, and he didn’t seem to blame Donovan. “I don’t know who to contact. If your partner’s not available, can you refer me to someone else?”

  “Look no further. I’m on my way down there right now. I’ll call in a favor with the judge to move Donovan up the list so we can get him out tonight. Don’t worry, Madeline.”