Page 28 of Craving Vengeance
“Nick, it’s getting late, and I’d like to go home soon. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?” Shannon asked, annoyance oozing through her words.
Walker and Marsh busied themselves. No moral support from them.
Spinelli plucked a photo of Dr. Joshua Meyers from a manila folder on his desk and held it up for Shannon to see. “Do you know this man?” Shannon leaned forward and glanced at the picture. She shifted her gaze to meet his. Her eyes watered, and she nodded. Spinelli wondered if her eyes watered because she’d been busted, or because she knew what had happened to Meyers today.
Spinelli lowered his shaky hand. His nerves were shot. “When was the last time you saw him?”
Shannon chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. She released it and blew out a sigh. “This afternoon. I last saw him this afternoon.”
“What time?”
“I dropped him off at his hotel shortly before 2:00.” Her confused gaze stayed on him.
He feared the answer to the next question, but he had to ask it anyhow. He knew she’d tell the truth. She was simply incapable of lying. “How do you know him?”
She shifted her gaze to the floor. “We were once engaged,” she replied in a whisper. “But until today, I hadn’t seen him for a couple of years.”
Spinelli leaned forward. “Did you ever think to tell me you’re engaged?”
“I’m not engaged now. I said I was once engaged,” Shannon snapped back as she met his gaze again.
“That’s not exactly how he put it.”
Shannon shot him a frown. “What do you mean? When did you talk to Joshua?”
“I didn’t talk to him. I heard him say it to you in the hall.” Her green-eyed gaze widened.
Spinelli leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I believe the words I heard were ‘Aren’t you happy to see your fiancé?’”
“You heard that?”
Spinelli cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, do you want me to repeat what I saw right before I heard that, too?”
She lowered her gaze then looked up at him through her long lashes. “It’s not what it looked like, and I tried to talk to you about it when I came down here earlier this afternoon but you blew me off and didn’t give me a chance.”
“What’s to explain? Everything seemed pretty clear when his tongue was in your mouth.”
Spinelli sprang to his feet and stepped back. He didn’t like the intensity of the surge of jealousy flowing through his veins. He didn’t like the fact that she could wind him up like this. A couple of months ago, his life was a lot less complicated. If only he could turn back the hands of time.
Shannon rose to her feet as well. “I can’t believe you’d think I’d...” She glanced about the precinct. “Do we have to talk about this here?”
Her gaze shifted to the crime board to Spinelli’s immediate left. She squinted. Her eyes went wide, and what little color she had in her pale cheeks disappeared. She was whiter than the toga he’d been wearing earlier.
Spinelli realized what she’d seen. Pictures of the dead cupids were on the board. Her gaze was fixed on Joshua. She gasped. Her lips quivered, and tears rolled down her cheeks. Spinelli quickly stepped around the desk and pulled her to him. He couldn’t help himself. He hated it when she cried. He knew her knees were weak. He supported her in his arms where she always seemed to fit perfectly. After a moment, he urged her to sit.
Shannon sat quietly, staring forward as if trying to gather her thoughts. She swiped her hands across her moist cheeks.
Walker appeared and handed her a box of tissues and a bottle of water. Marsh stood at his side. Spinelli sat at his desk.
Shannon looked up at Walker. “What happened to Joshua?”
Walker pulled up a chair. “We received a call today at about 4:00 p.m. regarding the deceased. He checked in at the Hyatt and ordered room service. A hotel employee found him when she delivered his order. We have reason to believe he was poisoned.”
Shannon threw her hand over her mouth. Her gaze stayed fixed on Walker. “Shannon, we know Dr. Meyers was upstairs with you at about 1:00 and that you left together. Where did you go when you left here?”
She shifted her gaze to Spinelli and lowered her hand. “I took him to the Hyatt. He had taken a cab directly here from the airport. He thought he’d just stay with me, but I told him he couldn’t because...because I was seeing someone, so I dropped him off at the Hyatt.”
“So you went right from here to the Hyatt and didn’t stop anywhere else?” Walker asked drawing Shannon’s gaze back to him.
