Read Online Deserves to Die by Lisa Jackson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lisa Jackson
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officer.
“What?” Hattie Grayson dropped the jar of jam she’d been holding. The small container shattered on her kitchen floor, shards of glass flying, sticky strawberry jam spraying in thick clumps. “No. Not Dan. Not Dan!”
She stared into the tortured gaze of Dan’s brother Cade, who had just driven over to give her the news that cracked her world in two. Disregarding the spilled jam and shards of glass, she fell into his arms. Tears welled and she felt as if they’d started in the center of her soul. She’d known Dan all her life, been married to Bart, one of his brothers, and had half-fancied herself in love with him before reuniting with Cade. The Grayson brothers—all four of them, including Big Zed—had been the center of her universe.
Now two of the brothers were gone. Bart’s death had been ruled a suicide, though she was certain that he’d been killed. Dan had been murdered by a maniac as well, someone he should never have trusted.
“I don’t want to believe it.”
“Me neither.”
“The bastard who did this—”
“Will pay.”
That much was true. Dan’s assailant was already captured and behind bars, fighting his own injuries.
Still, the rage at the man who’d snatched Dan’s life away burned deep. “I hope he rots in hell.”
Cade’s strong arms folded her tight against him. “I know.”
Thank God he didn’t say “it will be all right” or any other platitude, because deep in Hattie’s heart, she knew that it would never be. With Dan Grayson’s easygoing strides no longer walking the earth, the planet would be an emptier, colder place. He’d been so good to her, to her twin daughters, to everyone in Grizzly Falls. At least she had time to pull herself together before she told her girls. Mallory and McKenzie would be as devastated as she was. A coldness settled over her and she shivered in Cade’s embrace.
“First Bart, now Dan,” she whispered, drinking in the smell of the man holding her so close. The scents of leather and horses clung to him and filled her nostrils. “I don’t want to believe this, Cade. I just . . . I just can’t. There’s got to be a mistake.”
“I wish, darlin’,” he said, his own voice rough, his warm breath ruffling her hair. His jaw was scratchy with beard-stubble, his eyes a deep, somber gray, all of the carefree, bad-boy attitude gone. He squeezed her a little more tightly and his voice cracked as he said, “God, don’t I wish.”
The hospital was remarkably calm, Alvarez thought, almost as if the whole world surrounding Grizzly Falls hadn’t changed drastically with the passing of Sheriff Dan Grayson. Yes, there was a news camera crew outside. Nia Del Ray, a reporter for KMJC, was standing near the sign at the entrance of Northern General Hospital, snow catching on her short black hair as she was probably reporting on Grayson’s demise, unless some other story had trumped his, which Alvarez doubted.
Inside the wide hallways, the floors gleamed under bright lights, conversation hummed, and people went about their work as if nothing monumental had just gone down within the hospital’s walls. Near a placard that listed those who had donated to the hospital, she and Pescoli stepped around a woman with a cast on her leg, being wheeled down the hallway by the orderly, after which they nearly ran into an elderly man who had suddenly stopped for no apparent reason.
“Sorry,” he apologized, blinking as if he’d been in a daze.
They moved past him to the elevators. “You know what this means, don’t you?” Pescoli said, slapping the call button just as the doors to one of the cars opened and a group of three women emerged.
“Tell me.” Alvarez walked into the car.
Once they were inside and the elevator doors had whispered shut, Pescoli pounded her fist on the button for the second floor. “That the son of a bitch who took down Grayson just lost his GET OUT OF JAIL card forever. No more attempted in the
“What?” Hattie Grayson dropped the jar of jam she’d been holding. The small container shattered on her kitchen floor, shards of glass flying, sticky strawberry jam spraying in thick clumps. “No. Not Dan. Not Dan!”
She stared into the tortured gaze of Dan’s brother Cade, who had just driven over to give her the news that cracked her world in two. Disregarding the spilled jam and shards of glass, she fell into his arms. Tears welled and she felt as if they’d started in the center of her soul. She’d known Dan all her life, been married to Bart, one of his brothers, and had half-fancied herself in love with him before reuniting with Cade. The Grayson brothers—all four of them, including Big Zed—had been the center of her universe.
Now two of the brothers were gone. Bart’s death had been ruled a suicide, though she was certain that he’d been killed. Dan had been murdered by a maniac as well, someone he should never have trusted.
“I don’t want to believe it.”
“Me neither.”
“The bastard who did this—”
“Will pay.”
That much was true. Dan’s assailant was already captured and behind bars, fighting his own injuries.
Still, the rage at the man who’d snatched Dan’s life away burned deep. “I hope he rots in hell.”
Cade’s strong arms folded her tight against him. “I know.”
Thank God he didn’t say “it will be all right” or any other platitude, because deep in Hattie’s heart, she knew that it would never be. With Dan Grayson’s easygoing strides no longer walking the earth, the planet would be an emptier, colder place. He’d been so good to her, to her twin daughters, to everyone in Grizzly Falls. At least she had time to pull herself together before she told her girls. Mallory and McKenzie would be as devastated as she was. A coldness settled over her and she shivered in Cade’s embrace.
“First Bart, now Dan,” she whispered, drinking in the smell of the man holding her so close. The scents of leather and horses clung to him and filled her nostrils. “I don’t want to believe this, Cade. I just . . . I just can’t. There’s got to be a mistake.”
“I wish, darlin’,” he said, his own voice rough, his warm breath ruffling her hair. His jaw was scratchy with beard-stubble, his eyes a deep, somber gray, all of the carefree, bad-boy attitude gone. He squeezed her a little more tightly and his voice cracked as he said, “God, don’t I wish.”
The hospital was remarkably calm, Alvarez thought, almost as if the whole world surrounding Grizzly Falls hadn’t changed drastically with the passing of Sheriff Dan Grayson. Yes, there was a news camera crew outside. Nia Del Ray, a reporter for KMJC, was standing near the sign at the entrance of Northern General Hospital, snow catching on her short black hair as she was probably reporting on Grayson’s demise, unless some other story had trumped his, which Alvarez doubted.
Inside the wide hallways, the floors gleamed under bright lights, conversation hummed, and people went about their work as if nothing monumental had just gone down within the hospital’s walls. Near a placard that listed those who had donated to the hospital, she and Pescoli stepped around a woman with a cast on her leg, being wheeled down the hallway by the orderly, after which they nearly ran into an elderly man who had suddenly stopped for no apparent reason.
“Sorry,” he apologized, blinking as if he’d been in a daze.
They moved past him to the elevators. “You know what this means, don’t you?” Pescoli said, slapping the call button just as the doors to one of the cars opened and a group of three women emerged.
“Tell me.” Alvarez walked into the car.
Once they were inside and the elevator doors had whispered shut, Pescoli pounded her fist on the button for the second floor. “That the son of a bitch who took down Grayson just lost his GET OUT OF JAIL card forever. No more attempted in the
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