Read Online The Shelter of His Arms (Harlequin Heartwarming) by Dawn Stewardson - Free Book Online

Espizito just yanked me off the Parker case.”
    “He what?”
    Quickly, Travis filled in the details.
    Once he was done, Hank sat looking lost in thought. Finally, he said, “You know, buddy, you’re not going to like me telling you this, but maybe it’s for the best.”
    “Why?”
    “Because, since the first moment you laid eyes on Celeste Langley... But we’ve already been over that. Besides, there’s something new.
    “Remember the other night? When we were talking about the coincidence of her mother and brother dying within such a brief time span? I said I wanted to know whether she had anything to gain from their deaths.”
    Travis nodded, aware of the icy numbness at the base of his spine.
    “Well, she did. While you were visiting Reese I went over to probate. Had a look at Adele Langley’s will.”
    “And?”
    “And, first off, she seems to have left a pretty substantial estate. Which she bequeathed entirely to her two children—half to Parker, half to Celeste.”
    “Nothing surprising about that.”
    “No. But there’s a survivor clause. If either beneficiary fails to survive the mother by ninety days, the entire estate goes to the remaining one. And Parker was murdered just short of the ninety days.”
    “That doesn’t mean Celeste killed him,” Travis said, trying to ignore the numbness creeping up his backbone.
    “No,” Hank agreed slowly. “But the will would have been read shortly after Adele Langley’s death. So even if Celeste didn’t know the terms until then, there’s been a lot of time for her to think about... Well, you know what I’m saying.”
    In the three years he’d worked with Hank, Travis had rarely been angry with him. Right now, though, he was so mad the only smart thing to do was keep his mouth shut.
    Leaning forward, Hank clasped his hands on the table between them. “Buddy, I know you don’t want to believe she did it, but so far she’s our only real suspect and—”
    “Exactly,” he interrupted as calmly as he could. “ So far. The investigation’s barely under way. We haven’t looked an inch beyond her. And what would her motive have been? You really figure that when she’s already getting half of a ‘substantial estate’ she’d kill her own brother for the other half? Exactly how much are we talking, anyway?”
    “Impossible to tell, just from the will. It’s written in terms of assets, not amounts. But, among other things, it mentions a stock portfolio and investment certificates. So it could be fairly serious money.”
    “Even so, do you really think she’d murder her brother to get her hands on his share? Did you honestly read her that way?”
    Hank shrugged. “What you see isn’t always what you get. Could be she’s greedy. Or in debt up to her eyeballs. I doubt editors make bags of money, and she had some awfully nice stuff in her apartment.”
    “Which could well have been her mother’s. If the woman left a substantial estate, it’s only logical that she had nice stuff. Hank, you’re reaching so far on this...”
    “Maybe I am,” he said quietly. “Or maybe she had a motive other than money.”
    “Or maybe someone else killed Parker. Someone with a motive that had nothing to do with Adele Langley’s will. Let’s not forget that possibility, huh?”
    “I’m not. I’m only... Look, Travis, I’d never say a negative word about you. That’s a given, right? I’d never have gone to Espizito and told him I figured you might be less than objective on this one. But, as I said, maybe his yanking you is for the best. So why don’t you just roll with it.”
    Travis exhaled slowly. His partner obviously didn’t want to go to bat for him with the lieutenant. Which meant there was no way in the world he’d get back on the case.
    “Why not take off somewhere for a couple of weeks,” Hank suggested. “Go lie on a beach down south and completely forget about the job.”
    Even though he stopped there, Travis knew he was dying to add And