Craving Vengeance (3 page)

Spinelli grabbed the list and stuffed it into
his jacket pocket. He and Walker headed back to the precinct. They
hoped to have some news from the pathologist about Mike Carter,
their first cupid. With two murdered cupids, they were sure Bethany
would be directed to make the cupid case her priority.

They also hoped to have some news from Marsh.
Perhaps he found something useful about Mike Carter as well.

Spinelli shrugged out of his coat and flung
it across the back of his chair. He walked up to Marsh’s desk and
looked over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. Walker did
the same. Marsh pointed at the printout of Carter’s bank record.
“Look here. His account showed a decent balance for a middle income
wage earner six months ago before he lost his job at the brokerage
firm.” Marsh skimmed his finger down the printout. “Then here, by
month three of being unemployed, he blew through most of his
savings.” He slid his finger further down the page. “By month four
there was pretty much nothing left, and that’s about when he moved
in with his sister. There wasn’t any account activity from then
until about a week ago.” Marsh tapped his finger on the last
deposit line. “Look at this, a $2,000 cash deposit all of a
sudden.”

“Where did that come from?” Walker asked.

“Good question. We can ask his sister if she
knows anything about it when we go over there.”

As they drove to Cindy Carter’s house,
Spinelli and Walker got Marsh up to speed on what little they knew
about their second cupid, Tony Rosso. They decided they should pay
visits to some of Rosso’s acquaintances after they finished at the
Carter house.

Spinelli dialed the ME. He thought it would
be better to go through Debra rather than talk to Bethany directly.
Bethany could sure hold a grudge. He feared even looking at her; he
was certain her dagger shooting eyes would slice him into
pieces.

Debra answered her cell on the second ring,
“Hello.”

“Hey, Debra, Spinelli here. Did you get
Bethany’s report on Mike Carter yet?”

“Not yet. I just got back. I’ll head down
there now and tell her what we found with our latest cupid. I’ll
see what she’s found. I’ll call you as soon as I know
anything.”

“Thanks.” Spinelli disconnected the call.

Walker parked in Cindy Carter’s driveway. She
greeted them at the door. Her eyes were even redder and more
swollen than when they’d seen her earlier. She invited them in and
showed them to Mike’s room. It was a small space. The bed was
pushed up against the far wall. A nightstand covered with books and
magazines, a reading light, and a TV remote stood next to the bed.
Across from the foot of the bed was a chest of drawers. A small
flat panel TV sat on top of it along with a jewelry box. Next to
the chest was a small desk with a couple of drawers. His laptop sat
at the center of the desk. Papers, envelopes, and pens cluttered
the top as well.

The three of them and Cindy nearly filled the
remainder of the room.

Cindy blotted her eyes with a tissue and
cleared her throat. “As you can see, my house is small. There
wasn’t much room for Mike’s stuff when he moved in so he rented a
storage unit. All that’s here are the necessities.” Spinelli
stepped toward the desk and then shot her a glance over his
shoulder. “Would you mind if we took a look around?” They’d
probably need to comb through the storage unit as well at some
point.

Cindy nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll be in the
kitchen if you need me.”

They went through Mike’s meager belongings.
They didn’t find much in his desk either, just a few past due
notices and some employment rejection letters. Mixed among the
paperwork was an envelope with a Milwaukee County pre-stamped
return address. It had already been opened and the contents
removed. He glanced at the return address again just to verify its
origin. At a fast glance it was easy to confuse the county and city
pre-stamped envelopes. Definitely county. Curiosity nearly killed
him. He set the envelope down and thumbed through the stack of
papers again, looking for anything on county letterhead. Nothing
surfaced. What had the county mailed to him? Spinelli couldn’t seem
to clear his mind of the empty envelope. He flipped through the
papers again. All the paper shuffling released a familiar scent.
Where was that aroma coming from? Spinelli inhaled deeply. The
envelope? He picked it up again, held it under his nose, and
inhaled. The aroma was strong. It was as if someone intentionally
sprayed the envelope with perfume—not just any perfume but a
familiar scent to him as well.

Walker craned his neck around Spinelli’s
shoulder. “What are you doing?”

Spinelli held the envelope in front of
Walker. “Smell this.”

Walker inhaled and shrugged.

“It’s an envelope from the county.”

“So?”

“Don’t you find it strange a government
envelope smells of perfume?” Spinelli asked.

“I guess.”

Spinelli shifted, and held the envelope out
to Marsh.

Marsh took a whiff. He didn’t seem nearly as
enthralled as Spinelli.

“It smells familiar to me, but I can’t quite
place it. Help me out, guys,” Spinelli said as he sniffed at the
envelope again. A hint of unease coiled in the pit of his
stomach.

Walker and Marsh both shook their heads
dismissively.

Marsh flipped open the laptop. It required a
password to login. He looked as Spinelli. “It may take me a while
crack this. Why don’t you see if she’ll let us take it back to the
precinct?”

Spinelli nodded. Marsh was somewhat of a
technology wizard, which was part of the reason Spinelli was glad
when Marsh had been assigned to his team several months ago when
his own partner, Mad Dog Maxwell, had retired. Spinelli had worked
with Mad Dog for over six years. He really missed Maxwell, the
mentor who taught him everything he needed to know about being a
great homicide detective. But now Spinelli had his own team, Walker
and Marsh, and things were working out better than anyone had
thought they would. Spinelli was the intuitive one, Walker the
analytical and politically correct one, and Marsh the technology
wizard. There wasn’t a case the three of them couldn’t solve. But
this case was moving fast, and they needed to get a handle on it
before they wound up with another dead cupid on their hands.

They left Cindy’s house and headed over to
Tony Rosso’s downtown apartment located on the lakeshore in a high
rise. The building was home to mostly upper middleclass tenants.
Tony lived alone. Spinelli thought it odd that a single income
bartender could afford such a place. It didn’t make sense.
What
was Tony into, beside bartending?

The super let them in, and they milled around
the apartment. Tony had good tastes. Large over-sized leather
furniture filled the living room and faced a 60-inch flat panel TV.
His marble-topped end tables were lined with bronze Roman warrior
statues. A laptop sat on the center of the cocktail table. They’d
take that back to the precinct and search its contents for anything
that may lead them to the killer.

A glass case stood in the corner of the room.
It was filled with swords. Spinelli didn’t know much about swords,
but he guessed they were expensive. They were displayed in
velvet-lined holders and looked old.

A large aquarium lined the opposite side of
the living room. It had to be at least a fifty-gallon tank.
Spinelli watched Marsh as he eyed the bright colored fish. A few
different species swam about. Marsh pointed at a bright blue fish
trimmed in gold. “This is a Dwarf Angelfish. It would take about
two weeks of my take-home pay to buy just one of these Resplendent
Angelfish, and this bartender has at least four in this tank.
Something isn’t right here.”

They snooped about the rest of Rosso’s
apartment. He had a lot of clothes and shoes, the expensive kind,
not the kind one wears to bartend. Several thick gold chains hung
on hooks just inside his walk-in closet. “If I didn’t know any
better, I’d bet that Mr. Rosso is a kept man,” Walker joked.

Spinelli didn’t laugh. Judging from what he
was seeing, that statement just might be true.

Chapter Four

Shannon sat in her
office perusing paperwork, incapable of any coherent thoughts. She
pressed her fingers to her lips. They still tingled from Spinelli’s
early morning kiss. Though they’d been dating for over two months
already, his kisses still had that effect on her.

She glanced at the photo of herself and
Spinelli that sat on the corner of her desk. She picked it up and
pulled it closer. The photo was taken last Christmas while they
were working at the mall. Spinelli was wearing his Santa outfit and
sitting in the plush red velvet chair in the Santa Village. Shannon
stood behind him wearing her little red Santa helper dress trimmed
with white fur.

She’d never forget the first day he played
Santa Claus. The horrified look on his face was priceless as he
studied the endless line of children waiting to see him. She
giggled. He was like a fish out of water.

They’d met when he’d been reassigned from the
Homicide Division to the Social Services Department to assist her
with child recovery and placement for the holiday season. Both
departments were short staffed, and neither of them accepted the
assignment willingly.

He had no experience with children, and she
had no patience for his unconventional ways. But when Santa Claus
and an elf turned up dead, and she appeared to be next on the
killer’s list, it was Spinelli who came to the rescue. Without
hesitation, he stepped out of his comfort zone, way out, and took
on the undercover role of Santa Claus to keep an eye on her.
Spinelli caught the killer, saved the day, and in the process, he
captured her heart.

“Earth to Shannon, come in Shannon.”

Shannon shifted her gaze up to meet her boss’
eyes. “Huh?”

Anna chuckled. “Where is your mind? I’ve been
talking to you for the past thirty seconds.” Anna’s eyes shifted
down to the photo. She perched her hands on her well-rounded hips
and smiled. “You’re staring at that photo again?”

Shannon set the photo down, and Anna snatched
it up. “Crissake he’s good looking, even in the fat suit. And those
eyes. He could talk a woman into anything without saying a word.
I’ve never seen such dark, mysterious eyes. If I was twenty years
younger, single, and you weren’t dating him...well I’ll just say he
could eat crackers in my bed anytime.”

Shannon rolled her eyes. “So what do you and
Master Keith have planned for this Valentine’s Day?” Shannon asked
trying to divert the conversation away from her and Spinelli. She
still couldn’t believe they were a couple.

Anna sat. “Oh the usual, nice dinner at
Samone’s, probably the old fogey early bird special. And then
reruns of Seinfeld or the King of Queens.” Anna winked. “Maybe
after a couple of reruns the little blue pill will have kicked
in.”

The women shared a laugh. Anna’s husband,
Keith, was as nice as they came but quite a bit older than she was.
Dinner out on a work night was a big event for him.

“So what do you and Mr. Hottie have
planned?”

Shannon thought for a moment as she recalled
the intense look in Spinelli’s eyes when he’d left her this
morning. His words scrolled through her mind.
I have a special
Valentines evening planned for us.
She couldn’t wait to find
out what he meant.

“He’s taking me to dinner after I finish my
singing valentine shift for the church fundraiser. Beyond that, I
don’t know. He said he had something special planned for us.”

Anna leaned forward in her chair. “My God, do
you think he’s going to propose?”

“No...it would be too soon. Wouldn’t it?”

Anna’s smile stretched from ear to ear. “I
see the way he looks at you. He eyes you up like you’re his
favorite kind of candy, and if I didn’t know any better, your tone
just a moment ago sounded as though you wouldn’t mind if he
did.”

Shannon’s breath hitched at the thought of
Spinelli proposing. Adrenaline shot through her veins. Her head
spun. Did she want him to propose to her? Was it too soon? Good
God, she dove in head first on this one, so unlike her, but she
just couldn’t seem to help herself. She looked across her desk to
find Anna’s inquisitive eyes still fixed on her. “Jeez, Anna, I’ve
never felt like this before. I can’t say I would be disappointed if
he did.”

“Well, time will tell,” Anna commented as she
lifted herself from her chair. “I gotta get going. I’m meeting my
sister for an early lunch.”

“Okay, see ya later.”

Shannon thought about Spinelli. She wondered
if he was in the office, three stories below her, or if he was out
in the field. She liked working in the same building as he did. It
made it easy to pop in on him when she wanted to catch a glimpse of
his magnificent, dark charcoal eyes, not to mention the gorgeous
rest of him. But his eyes, those are what always caught her
attention. Under the right conditions, they could melt her in an
instant. Her breath quickened at the thought. Heat penetrated her
body as raw need sifted through her.
Good God, Shannon, get it
together. He’s not even in the room.

She fanned herself with a file folder before
she flipped it open to study its contents. She needed to prepare
for a custody hearing this afternoon. She dreaded going to the
Clarkson hearing. Lamar and Chandra Clarkson, a couple of dope
dealers, were seeking physical placement of their children, James,
age six and Katrina, age three. Their last court hearing was nearly
two months ago, and the judge denied the Clarkson’s request for
custody of their children when Lamar assaulted Shannon in the
courtroom after her testimony. She hoped the judge would deny their
request again. They weren’t going to change, and she was sure they
were probably still dealing.