Read Devils Among Us (Devin Dushane Series Book 1) for Free Online Page B

mother
that he just couldn’t stand to look at Devin day in and day out and be reminded
of his dead sister. Knowing it had been the alcohol talking didn’t remove the
sting.
    After a moment Henry seamed to regain himself. “I am so
sorry, it’s just that you look so...I was just…you look like someone I used to
know,” he finished quietly. “Are you the new tenant?” He repeated his earlier
question looking hopeful of moving the conversation along.
    Devin tended to alienate people because she was distant and
gruff, but she didn’t want to start that just ten minutes after arriving in
Fenton, so she smiled again, trying to act as if nothing was amiss with his
behavior. “Sort of. My Father actually owns the house, and I’m going to be
staying here for a few months.”
    “You’re Bobby’s daughter.”
    It was a statement not a question, but Devin answered it
anyway. “Yes, I’m Devin Dushane.” She put out her hand for him to shake. “And
you are?”
    “Henry Maddox.” He gave a crooked grin that she imagined had
made many ladies swoon over the years as he took her hand. “I was your Dad’s
neighbor when we were kids, and I guess I’ll be your neighbor now.” He inclined
his head towards the house he had just come from.
    Devin saw him glance at her left hand. “Dushane?” he asked,
“Is that your mother’s name?”
    She grinned as she settled her sunglasses on top of her
head. “It was my husband’s name. We’re divorced, but I thought it had a nice
ring to it.”
    “Oh.” Henry looked on the brink of mortification at
committing yet another social faux pas as he quickly changed the subject. “Well,
being Bobby’s girl definitely explains the car. It looks like one of his. She’s
a real beauty.” Henry ran his hand tenderly down the fender of the Mustang.
    “Talking about cars was pretty much the only language he was
comfortable communicating in when I was a kid. So I would hang out in his
garage after school, and we rebuilt this Mustang together. He gave it to me
when I graduated high school.” Devin’s tone had become wishful as she reminisced.
Even though their time together had been sporadic while building the car, there
were times she had seen him every day for a week. She hadn’t seen her father
for more than a few minutes at a time since those lessons in the garage years
ago.
    She fished a set of keys out of the pocket of her shorts. “I
was hoping to run into you, Henry. Dad said you might be able to help me out.”
Devin saw him glance around the yard and knew she was going to catch him off
guard again, but she plunged ahead anyway. “I’m a detective with the Richmond
PD, and I’m using my time here to investigate the murder of Laney Bennett.”
    She had definitely caught him off guard. All of the color
drained out of his face, and his easy smile faded. “They’ve tried to pin
Laney’s murder on me for more than thirty years.” His voice was as rough as
crushed gravel as it ground out of his clenched jaw. “I loved her and could never
have hurt her. I would’ve thought your father, of all people, knew that.” Henry
spun around and started back towards his house, seething with anger, but he
froze at Devin’s next words.
    “He does know that.” Her voice was soft and warm, “I’m here
to find out who actually killed her, not to speculate.” Devin studied the ring
of keys, trying to pick out the correct one for the front door. She was as
nonchalant as if they were discussing the weather.
    Henry studied her for a moment before he spoke, as if trying
to decide if she was a figment of his imagination. He spoke ever so softly.
“Who do you think killed her?”
    “That I don’t know. Yet. Dad always said they never
investigated the right people, and from my research so far, it looks like they
finally just made up an excuse for her death and tucked it away in a cold-case
file. I believe there has to be a trail somewhere.”
    From the very beginning the detectives from