Cat's Paw (Veritas Book 1) by Chandler Steele

Author:Chandler Steele [Steele, Chandler]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SteeleRomance
Published: 2016-06-09T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Sarah Redburn lived a few blocks from the Starbucks on Magazine Street in the Garden District, the old-money part of New Orleans. Morgan had insisted they stop for coffee and something to eat before they interviewed Sarah’s roommate. Alex had not objected.

Across from him, Morgan demolished a generous slice of iced lemon cake, as if she hadn’t eaten all day. A heavily doctored cup of coffee sat nearby. She’d yet to say anything other than placing the order, which made him feel like even more of a jerk. Especially given how things had been between them this morning.

He shifted in his seat, the part of him that had a one-track mind recalling her soft skin, her firm breasts, how ready she had been for him. Everything had changed between them at the hospital. Now Alex sipped his coffee, watching her skillfully avoid conversation through food. He had no idea how to take it all back, how to regain the camaraderie they’d once shared.

I was a bastard. It hadn’t been right for him to spew all that venom about his attorney at her. It wasn’t her fault; she hadn’t even known the man. And she was right, Clifton had had a wife, one who had no doubt been devastated by his death. To rejoice in the man’s suicide was just cruel.

At the time, Alex had been too upset to realize that there was more going on than just an incompetent attorney. Years of thinking through every minute detail of the trial had revealed the truth: someone, probably Buryshkin, must have pulled Clifton’s strings to get Alex put away.

To keep from making things worse between him and Morgan, Alex stared out the window instead. The Garden District was upscale, with expensive homes and fancy restaurants, the kind of area where you settled down and raised your kids. He wasn’t likely to remarry, not after his first marriage’s spectacular failure. He’d been a sucker, like most guys, buying into the whole happily-ever-after bullshit they sold you along with the diamond engagement ring.

All those years in the joint had changed him on a fundamental level. The old Alex was dead, and he didn’t like the new one very much.

“You’re looking really serious. What are you thinking about?” Morgan asked.

Her question jarred him; he hadn’t expected her to reinitiate conversation. He answered without thinking. “That I’m more like Buryshkin or his thugs than like the rest of these people.”

“Why?”

He gestured to the street outside. “Tell me what you see.”

Morgan checked out the scene, then turned back to him. “Big houses, lawns so perfect they look artificial. The people seem pretty happy. Why?”

“The houses and the people? They scream ‘opportunity’ to me.”

“I don’t understand,” she replied, looking puzzled.

“When I was with the DEA, my boss told me I had to think like a criminal. It was always hard for me.”

“Because you’re not a predator.”

“I am now. I lived with them, ate with them, showered with them. Day after day, I hung with car thieves, robbers, rapists, pedophiles, and murderers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.