Read Online Insatiable Desire by Rita Herron - Free Book Online Page B

and set it on the desk. “I’m so sorry, Mama, but you have to listen to me. It’s true about Tracy. Someone killed her.”
    Eyes wild, Eloise jerked Ronnie by the collar and shook him. “What kind of mean-hearted joke are you trying to pull? My Tracy is coming back. She just moved out, but she’ll be here for dinner later on. She promised.”
    She released him, whirled around, wiped her hands on her apron, and turned back to the scarred counter. “I’m making her favorite, country fried chicken. And I just popped a peach cobbler in the oven. Why don’t you get the ice cream churn and we’ll make some homemade ice cream to go with it.” She threw a quick glance over her shoulder. “You can stay if you want, Clarissa. I always cook plenty.”
    “Mama,” Ronnie said in a fragile voice. “Mama, I’m not trying to be mean or playing a joke . . .” His voice cracked and tears rolled down his cheeks. “I saw her, Mama, she’s dead . . .”
    Eloise shook her head in denial, pain and shock glazing her eyes, eyes the same color as her daughter’s. Clarissa would never forget the way they’d looked in death, wide and staring.
    And all that blood . . .
    She banished the images. Had to help this woman cope with the truth.
    Eloise poured oil in a cast-iron skillet, turned on the stove to heat the pan, then hastily scooped flour into a bowl. She reached for a chicken breast to dip it in egg, but Clarissa flipped off the heat and cradled the woman’s hands in her own. Eloise’s body tensed, her fine bones cracking with tension.
    “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Canton,” Clarissa said softly. “But it’s true. Ronnie and I just came from seeing Tracy. Sheriff Waller is with her now.”
    “No, no . . . Please stop this, Clarissa.” The older woman trembled with the realization that she had to face reality, a reality that was every parent’s worst nightmare.
    Clarissa simply waited, allowing her the time she needed to accept the truth.
    “I can’t lose my baby,” Eloise cried. “I gave life to her; she can’t be gone.”
    “I wish it wasn’t true,” Clarissa said, giving Ronnie a compassionate look as he dropped into the straight chair at the table and lowered his head into his hands again.
    “The sheriff is going to stop by later,” Clarissa said. “He’ll need to talk to you, Eloise. And once the coroner finishes, he’ll send Tracy to the funeral parlor; then you can see her.”
    “The ME?” Her voice broke, sounded distant. “You can’t let them cut up my baby.”
    Clarissa swallowed. “Eloise, I’m sorry, but Tracy was murdered. An autopsy will help find her killer and put him away.”
    Eloise’s eyes dulled as reality interceded, and her legs buckled. Clarissa caught her just before her bony knees hit the wood floor. Panicked, Ronnie lunged up and helped Clarissa carry her to the sofa, where she curled into a fetal ball, her horror palpable as her anguished sobs echoed through the room.
    Vincent’s agitation with the deputy intensified as the hour wore on. He didn’t care what the homeboy thought—he hadn’t chosen to come to this podunk town and join this case, but he would damn well find the sadistic animal who’d carved up the Canton girl and played in her blood.
    Irrational jealousy snaked through him though as he remembered the possessive streak Bluster had for Cla-rissa, but he shoved it away. Vincent didn’t do jealousy. Didn’t allow himself to care about a woman enough to let her relationships with other men bother him.
    He couldn’t care about Clarissa, either.
    “You ready?” Sheriff Waller heaved a breath, his belly shaking with the effort. “CSU is finishing up.”
    Vincent nodded. “I guess we’ve done all we can here. The forensics team had better be thorough.”
    “We’re not backward like you guys from the FBI think, if that’s what you mean. We have a decent unit,” Waller said with a scowl.
    Apparently Bluster was right. Folks were sensitive around here. But