Read Online The Fire Still Burns by Crystal-Rain Love - Free Book Online

guess you do.  It's a real bitch, Brynn.  Why'd you come back to it?  I'd have stayed gone.”
    “Why have you stayed here if the false accusation is getting to you so badly?”  Brynn chose to ignore his remark.  She didn't think he meant any harm from it, though his reminder had still cut deep.
    Chuck laughed.  “If I left now, the whole town would convict me without a trial, just like they did you.  You should have stayed, Brynn.  You just made yourself look worse.”
    “We're not discussing me.”  She tightened her hands into fists.
    Chuck raised his hands in the air in mock surrender.  “Fine.  We're discussing me and Zeke and what went down.  Fire away with the questions.”
    She let out a breath and sat back.  “What was the fight about?”
    “What were all fights with Zeke usually about?  Women.”
    “He stole a girl from you?”
    “It wasn't about that, Brynn.  It was what he did to her.”  Chuck's gaze swerved to the right and hardened as he reached for his beer.  “Looks like sharing time is over for the night.”
    Brynn turned to see what made Chuck stop talking.  Adam was nearly upon them, his face almost as red as Chuck's, his lethal expression not the least inviting.
    “I thought we were working this case together?” he snapped, stopping by the booth to loom over its two occupants.
    Brynn gulped, sneaked a glance at Chuck.  The man's hand was wrapped tightly around the long neck of his beer bottle, no doubt either pretending the bottle was Adam, or thinking about busting Adam over the head with it.  “You've already interviewed the suspects, Adam.  I'll meet you outside when I'm through here.”
    Adam scoffed.  “The hell you will.  I've already interviewed this creep and heard all his lies.”
    “If you can't handle the truth,” Chuck cut in before Brynn could respond, “maybe you ought to do what the little lady says and step outside for a spell.”
    Adam moved toward Chuck, and Brynn jumped from the booth to prevent the two from sparring.  Grabbing a fistful of Adam’s T-shirt, she managed to pull him away from the booth before he could land his fists upside Chuck Davis's head.
    “Cool down,” she growled, keeping her voice low so the onlookers couldn't overhear.  It hadn't slipped her attention that several of the bar's patrons had stopped what they were doing to watch the scene unfold before them.
    “Look, I know this case is hitting you close to home and you don't want to believe anything bad about your brother, but this man argued with Zeke shortly before his murder.  He could have very valuable information, information which could lead us to your brother's killer.  Don't you want that?”
    Adam let out a frustrated sigh.  “Of course I do.”
    “Then stop harassing Chuck Davis.  Just because you want the killer captured, it doesn't mean you can just accuse anybody.  There is no proof Chuck did it.  I'm not saying he didn't…” she quickly added when Adam started to protest, “…but we need evidence.  Just give me a chance to see what I can get out of him…alone.”
    Adam delivered one last heated glare to Chuck before nodding his head.  “You get your way this time, Brynn, but only because I know I can't look at him longer than five minutes without wiping the floor with his smug face.  I'll be outside.” 
    “That went well,” Chuck deadpanned as Brynn returned to the booth.  They both watched in silence as Adam strolled out of the bar, his fists clenched at his sides, neither of them willing to resume their conversation until he was gone.
    “It went a lot better than I expected, no bloodshed.”  Brynn twisted around to face her interviewee again.  “Before we were interrupted, you were saying something about what Zeke did to your girlfriend.”
    “Rachel wasn't my girlfriend.”  He shook his head.  “I may be a womanizer, Brynn, which is why you probably keep looking at me like I'm something you'd find on the bottom of your