LITMIR.BIZ

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on utility shelves that lined most of the walls.

       A washer and dryer stood in one corner, along with a table for folding laundry. Another corner had been walled off to make the darkroom.

       But she led him to the open area of the basement, where an entire concrete-block wall and the floor beneath it had been cleared. Only one box sat nearby, in the middle of the room on top of a broken chair.

       Mariah reached inside and pulled out one of the plates she’d bought dirt cheap at a tag sale that afternoon, when she’d borrowed Serena’s car. It was undeniably one of the ugliest china patterns she’d ever seen in her life. She handed it to John.

       He stared at it, perplexed.

       “It occurred to me this morning that you probably never give yourself the opportunity to really vent,” she explained.

       “Vent.”

       “Yes.” She took another plate from the box. “Like this.” As hard as she could, she hurled the china plate against the wall. It smashed into a thousand pieces with a resounding and quite satisfying crash.

       John laughed, but then stopped. “You’re kidding, right?”

       “No.” She gestured to the plate in his hands. “Try it.”

       He hesitated. “Don’t these belong to someone?”

       “No. Look at it, John. Have you ever eaten off something that unappetizing? It’s begging for you to break it and put it out of its misery.”

       He hefted it in his hand.

       “Just do it. It feels…liberating.” Mariah took another plate from the box and sent it smashing into the wall. “Oh, yeah!”

       John turned suddenly and, throwing the plate like a Frisbee, shattered it against the wall.

       Mariah handed him another one. “Good, huh?”

       “Yeah.”

       She took another herself. “This one’s for my father, who didn’t even ask if I wanted to spend nearly seven years of my life working eighty-hour weeks, who didn’t even try to quit smoking or lose weight after his doctor told him he was a walking heart attack waiting to happen, and who died before I could tell him that I loved him, the bastard.” The plate exploded as it hit the wall.

       John threw his, too, and reached into the box for another before she could hand him one.

       “This one’s the head of the bank officer who wouldn’t approve the Johnsons’ loan for a Foundations for Families house even when the deacons of their church offered to co-sign it, all on account of the fact that she’s a recovering alcoholic and he’s an ex-con, even though they both have good, steady jobs now, and they both volunteer all the time as sponsors for AA.”

       The two plates hit the wall almost simultaneously.

       “We only have time for one more,” Mariah said, breathing hard as she prepared to throw her last plate of the evening. “Who’s this one for, John? You call it.”

       He shook his head. “I can’t.”

       “Sure you can. It’s easy.”

       “No.” He glanced at the plate he was holding loosely in his hands. “It gets too complicated.”

       “Are you kidding? It simplifies things. You break a plate instead of someone’s face.”

       “It’s not always that easy.” He gazed searchingly into her eyes as if trying to find the words to explain. But he gave up, shaking his head. Then he swore suddenly, sharply. “This one’s for me.” He threw the plate against the wall so hard that shards of ceramic shot back at them. He moved quickly, shielding her.

       “Whoa!” Mariah said. She wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that, but he was catching on.

       “I’m sorry. God—”

       “No, that was good,” she said. “That was very good.”

       He had a tiny piece of broken plate in his hair, and she stepped toward him to pull it free.

       He smelled delicious, like faintly exotic cologne and coffee.

       “We should get going,” he murmured, but he didn’t step back, and she didn’t, either, even after the ceramic shard was gone.

       As Mariah watched, his gaze flickered to her mouth and then back to her eyes. He shook his head very slightly. “I shouldn’t kiss you.”

       “Why not?” He’d shaved, probably right before he’d come to pick her up, and his cheeks looked smooth and soft. Mariah couldn’t resist touching his face, and when she did, he closed his eyes.

       “Because I won’t want to stop,” he whispered.

       She leaned forward and brushed his lips with hers. With her heels on, she didn’t even need to stand on her toes. She kissed him again, as softly and gently as before, and he groaned, pulling her into his arms and covering her mouth with his.

       Mariah closed her eyes as he kissed her hungrily, his tongue possessively claiming her mouth, his hands claiming her body with the same proprietary familiarity.

       But just as suddenly as he’d given in to his need to kiss her, he pulled himself away, holding her at arm’s length. “You’re dangerous,” he gasped, half laughing, half groaning. “What am I going to do with you?”

       Mariah smiled.

       “No,” John said, backing even farther away. “Don’t answer that.”

       “I didn’t say anything,” she protested.

       “You didn’t have to. That wicked smile said more than enough.”

       Mariah started back up the stairs. “What wicked smile? That was just a regular smile.”

       When she reached the top of the stairs, she realized he wasn’t behind her.

       “John?” she called.

       From the basement, she heard the sound of a shattering plate.

       “Did that help?” she asked with a smile, as he came up the stairs.

       He shook his head. “No.” His expression was so somber, his eyes so bleak, all laughter gone from his face. “Mariah, I’m…I’m really sorry.”

       “Why, because you want to take some time before becoming involved? Because you’re trying to deal with a life-threatening illness? Because it’s so damn unfair and you’re mad as hell? Don’t be sorry about that.” She gazed at him. “We don’t have to go to this party. We can stay here and break some more plates.” She paused. “Or we could talk.”

       He tried to smile, but it didn’t quite cancel out the sadness in his eyes. “No, let’s do it,” he said. “I’m ready to go.” He took a deep breath. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

      Chapter Five

      SERENA WESTFORD. SHE WAS small and blond and green-eyed with a waist Miller could probably span with his hands. Her fingernails were perfectly manicured, her hair arranged in a youthful style. She was trim and lithe, dressed in a tight black dress that hugged her slender curves and showed off her flat stomach and taut derriere to their best advantage. She had sinewy muscles in her arms and legs that, along with that perfect body, told of countless hours on the Nautilus machine and the StairMaster.

       She was beautiful, with a body that most men would die for.

       But Miller knew more than most men.

       And even if she wasn’t his only suspect in a string of grisly murders, he still wouldn’t have wanted to give her more than a cursory glance.

       But she was his suspect, and even though he didn’t want to look at anyone but Mariah, he smiled into Serena’s cat green

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