Read Online Faces of Evil [4] Rage by Debra Webb - Free Book Online

creased into a deep frown. “Am I a suspect, Chief?”
    Jess laughed. “You know the answer to that, Sergeant. Until I clear them, everyone who was a part of Gabrielle Grayson’s life is a suspect. Including you and her husband.”
    He jerked his head in acknowledgment. “Yeah.” He heaved a big breath. “I know the drill. It just feels weird being on this side of the table.”
    She definitely understood. Not so long ago she had been on the wrong side of an interview. Eric Spears, the Player, had tried and succeeded in destroying her career at the bureau. But she had bounced back. Funny, she hadn’t expected a journey to her past to turn into her future.
    “Chief Waters didn’t see me as up to the job after my accident,” Riley explained. “I was in an automobile accident. Left me with a limp, but I’m as good as I ever was.”
    “So you had to prove yourself to Waters,” she suggested.
    He nodded. “Ticked me off at first, but I got over it. Leaving the precinct wasn’t a problem but losing Larry Grayson as a partner was out of the question.”
    “Did you and your wife spend a lot of time with the lieutenant and his wife?”
    “Yes, ma’am. My Sarah and Gabrielle are… were best friends. We were just there for a cookout yesterday before Larry and I went on shift with the GTF.”
    “You’ve been supporting the GTF longer than Lieutenant Grayson. Was that a financial decision, Sergeant?” The man didn’t have finances nearly as solid as his partner’s. Then again, he was younger and hadn’t inherited a tidy sum from his rich uncle either.
    “At first it was purely a financial decision. I got two kids, Chief, and a wife who’s a stay-at-home mom. The extra money came in handy. But when I saw what an impact Captain Allen’s people are having on the gang situation I would’ve kept doing it regardless of the money.”
    “Can you tell me if Lieutenant Grayson and his wife were having any sort of trouble? Sometimes parenthood throws a kink in the best marriages.”
    Riley took some time before answering. “I’ve been a part of their lives since they met and married. They never fought, at least not publicly. And they seemed genuinely in love. But she was lonely, I guess, like most of the wives. And bored maybe. She had a high-octane career as a nurse before and I think she felt a little sad that she’d given it all up. Sarah went through the same thing after our first was born. Otherwise, Larry and Gabrielle were the perfect couple.”
    Jess could sympathize. She couldn’t imagine her life without her career. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing, but it was what it was. “No marital issues at all, huh?”
    “If there were any, I didn’t know about them and I probably spent more time with the family than any other person on the planet.”
    “Did your wife know Gabrielle when she was a nurse?”
    “Oh yeah. They worked together for a couple of years. They knew and respected each other. My wife introduced Gabrielle and Larry at a cookout at our house.”
    “Wasn’t Grayson still married to Sylvia when he met Gabrielle?”
    “That would be an affirmative.” Riley whistled a long, low sound. “Now that was hairy.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “Sylvia Baron wanted a husband just so no one could call her an old maid. That Larry was a decorated cop—a hero—made him suitable, I guess. She was never home and she refused to have children.” He shrugged. “To be honest, she’s one of those women who’s self-sufficient. She doesn’t need a man for money or anything else.”
    “You mean, she’s independent and ambitious?” Jess shouldn’t have taken offense, but she did.
    Riley hesitated but then nodded. “Guess so. No offense intended to independent, ambitious women. She’s just a little cold-hearted. I guess you have to know her.”
    “Maybe so.” That was the thing with Southern men. If a woman was ambitious and independent and had no desire to breed she was cold-hearted and