Free Covert Exposure by Valerie J. Clarizio Page B

beautiful eyes.
    I have to ask, “What did Lesha whisper to
you?”
    Spinelli thought about Lesha’s Christmas
wish. His body quivered. Goose bumps lined his arms. He cleared his
throat. “She asked for a new mom and dad for her, and her brother
and sister then maybe Darius wouldn’t be scared and cry all the
time.” Spinelli paused. It was harder than he thought it would be
to actually say the words. “She asked for a mom like you or the new
foster mom, a mom that would love them and take care of them.” His
heartbeat quickened. Though it was only thirty degrees outside his
cheeks were on fire. His heart ached.
    Shannon placed her hand over her chest. Her
eyes swam with tears. She lifted her hand to his cheek. “Those poor
kids, they deserve so much more. No child deserves to live that
way.”
    She held his gaze. The intensity of her stare
frightened him. He knew she knew. Somehow she’d found out about his
childhood. Sweat beaded on his upper lip. His comfort level
plummeted. He needed to end this conversation. He hit the remote
start button on his key fob. The engine roared.
    Silence filled the vehicle during the drive
back to Shannon’s apartment. No matter how hard he tried, he
couldn’t clear his mind long enough to speak one sentence. When he
wasn’t thinking about Shannon, and the fact she knew his dirty
little secret, thoughts of Lesha, and her Christmas wish, consumed
him.
    He parked his truck, slid out, scooted over
to the passenger side door, and opened it for Shannon. He walked
her to the front door and watched as she keyed in the numeric pass
code. The door buzzed and Spinelli pushed it open and held it for
her to pass through. He followed her to her apartment. No sooner
did she place the key in the slot the door to the apartment across
the hall from hers opened and Mrs. Finch stepped out.
    “Good evening, dear.”
    “Hello, Mrs. Finch. How are you tonight?”
Shannon asked.
    “Oh, I’m good, good as it gets for a woman my
age,” Mrs. Finch replied as her lips rose upward into a wide smile.
She glanced over her shoulder. “Sister, come quick. Shannon’s home
and her hot smelling friend from last night is here again.”
    Spinelli caught Shannon’s eye roll, and was
unable to refrain from smiling.
    Spinelli could hear the shuffle of Mrs.
Knight’s feet seconds before she surfaced in the doorway. She
glanced up at them. “Hello, Shannon. It’s nice to see you again,
Mr. Spinelli. Please forgive my sister. She’s always been a little
nosey and loose with her tongue.”
    Mrs. Knight turned her attention to her
sister. “Come, Sister, leave the kids be and let them get on with
their evening.”
    Shannon unlocked her apartment door and
stepped through with Spinelli on her heels, he wanted in. He wanted
to spend more time with her. Shannon spun around. “Thank you for
seeing me home. I appreciate it. Have a good night.”
    Spinelli’s mind raced. He tried to think of a
way to get her to invite him in and for the first time in his life,
not one good lady-killer line presented itself. Blank, his mind
came up blank.
    “Good night, Shannon, I’ll see you in the
morning.”
    “Oh, I’ve got court in the morning so I won’t
need you until after lunch.”
    “Okay, I’ll come up to your office after
lunch then.”
    Shannon’s apartment door clicked shut. Rejection, really? Her rejection made him want her even
more.
     

 
    Chapter
Thirteen
     
    Shannon arrived at work at precisely 8:00
a.m. She flipped on the lights, deposited her briefcase on her
desk, and set her coffee mug on top of the file cabinet. She stowed
her purse in the file drawer, and then shrugged out of her coat and
hung it on the coat tree.
    As she reached over to retrieve her coffee
mug, she paused to study the photo of her three nephews. Without
conscious thought, she pressed a light kiss to the photo with the
tip of her finger. “I miss you boys,” she whispered out loud.
    Shannon pulled open the second drawer of the
file