Read State's Evidence: A Beverly Mendoza Legal Thriller for Free Online

pleasurable circumstances sent
shivers up her spine.
    “Did Maxine Crawford know what hit her ?” she inquired.
    O’Dell seemed to ponder the thought. “Haven’t
really had a chance to get a statement from her yet. At this point
it looks like she’s damned lucky to be alive.”
    Grant bristled. “Yeah, right. You call
watching your husband’s head explode luck?”
    The detective’s coal eyes shot him a nasty
look. “I do when you consider the alternative.”
    Beverly felt obliged to step between the two,
as if they were about to come to blows. “Hopefully Mrs. Crawford
will be able to identify whoever did this,” she said wistfully.
    “Yeah, that would be a big help,” O’Dell said
skeptically.
    A doctor from the ER approached the
gathering. He was in his fifties, perspiring, and had sad blue
eyes. Beverly knew instinctively that he had just worked on Maxine
Crawford.
    “How is she?” O’Dell asked in
confirmation.
    Frowning, the doctor said, “Under the
circumstances, she could be a lot worse.” He sighed raggedly. “Mrs.
Crawford was raped and sodomized. Also suffered some bad bruises,
probably from trying to fight off her attacker. But...she’ll
live—”
    “Can I talk to her now?” O’Dell asked
eagerly.
    “Not tonight, I’m afraid. We’ve given Mrs.
Crawford a tranquilizer to calm her down...help her to sleep. She’s
resting now. We’ll keep her overnight to be on the safe side.”
    Grant stepped forward. “Did she say anything
about who might have done this?”
    “Not a thing,” the doctor said
unapologetically. “Sorry. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other
patients to tend to.”
    They watched as he walked away, stopping only
long enough to confer with a nurse.
    “Looks like it’s going to be a long night,”
grumbled O’Dell, scratching his pate.
    “I’m sure you’re used to it, O’Dell,” Grant
said coldly. “Isn’t that what you detectives live for?”
    “Being used to long nights and enjoying them
are two different things, Counselor .” O’Dell glared at him,
then nodded at Beverly with a softer expression. “See you
around.”
    “Bye, Joe.” She forced a tight smile at him.
After he left, Beverly turned to Grant with a hard look. “What’s
wrong with you?”
    “Nothing.” He cast his eyes downward.
    She wasn’t buying it. “Why were you so rude
to Joe?”
    “Didn’t mean to be.” Grant took a
handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose loudly. “Guess I was
just reacting—or overreacting—to all the crap that goes on in this
town.”
    “What crap is that?” She assumed it was
something other than the norm.
    “Crime, criminals, courtrooms—everything we
have to go through to deal with all of it. Makes you wonder if
we’re fighting a losing battle.”
    “Even the small victories count,” Beverly
responded. Was there more to this than he was letting on? She
decided not to press it. “I have to go,” she told him. She wanted
to get back to Jaime, reassure him that she would always love him
as her child, even if she loved a man.
    It was still too soon to tell if that man was
Grant.
    He brushed against her, causing Beverly’s
body to react unbidden.
    “I should be leaving, too. Nothing more for
me to do here.”
    At Beverly’s car—a white Subaru Impreza—Grant
kissed her softly on the lips.
    “I’m glad I have you, Bev,” he said
affectionately.
    “I feel the same way about you,” she told
him.
    Grant’s eyes crinkled. “Say hi to Jaime for
me.”
    “I will,” Beverly promised, though not sure
her son would be in any mood to receive it.
    Grant was still waving when she drove off, as
seen through the rear view mirror. She could still feel the
tantalizing taste of his lips on hers.
    Were they really meant to be together or was
this merely temporary fulfillment of their sexual and emotional
needs before they went their separate ways?
    * * *
    Grant watched Beverly’s car disappear from
sight. Already he missed being with her. And