Craving Vengeance by Valerie J. Clarizio Page A

like the next step.” She glanced at Spinelli. “Right
before he left for Nicaragua I broke it off, but he obviously
didn’t take me seriously.”
    Shannon paused, closed her eyes, and sucked
in a weighty breath.
    She opened her eyes and continued. “After a
while of not dating, everyone seems to want to set you up. Uncle
Bernie set me up with Tony Rosso a few months after Joshua left. We
only went out three or four times. Tony was nice enough but not my
type. A few months or so after that a friend of mine set me up with
Chad Williams. We only went out twice. I guess I wasn’t his
type.”
    “Were there any others?” Walker asked.
    Shannon shifted her gaze to Spinelli then
back to Walker. “Just Nick.”
    All eyes shifted to Spinelli.
    “How ya feeling there, pal?” Marsh teased. He
had no couth at times.
    “Not funny! You’re such an asshole!”
    Silence filled the room. They all shifted
their gazes back and forth.
    Adrenaline rushed through Spinelli’s veins.
Was someone going to try to kill him today? Could he have been
poisoned? Reality punched him in the gut, knocking the wind right
out of him. Sweat beaded on his temples. His sweaty hands hadn’t
stopped shaking since he entered the precinct with Shannon. Was it
just nerves or something more? His pulse pounded in his ears. Would
this be the last time he’d hear his own pulse or the sweet sound of
Shannon’s soft feminine voice singing in his ears. He inhaled. The
aroma of bitter coffee and stale pastries wafted through his
nostrils but was quickly replaced by the pleasant refreshing scent
of a fresh spring morning; Shannon’s tantalizing scent. Would this
be the last time he’d smell the confines of the precinct or her
glorious heavenly scent? Would he ever get the opportunity to taste
her sweet flavor again or feel her soft milky white skin under his
fingertips? Confusion filled every cell in his body.
    “Nick,” Shannon whispered as she rose to her
feet and stepped toward him.
    He zoned in on her big green eyes. She looked
concerned. He lifted his hand and stepped back. The hint of hurt
that darkened her eyes pierced his heart.
    He knew he needed to pull it together or
else. He didn’t want to think of the ‘or else,’ but it consumed his
mind anyway.

Chapter Twelve
     
    Spinelli and Walker
questioned Shannon over and over in regard to who would possibly
want to set her up. It didn’t look good for her. In fact, if she
hadn’t spent the night at Spinelli’s, she would have looked guilty
as sin.
    Bethany and Debra provided no news about the
murders. All they’d confirmed thus far was that all four men had
been poisoned with cyanide.
    Spinelli’s stomach growled reminding him and
everyone else in a half-mile radius he hadn’t eaten all day. He
eyed the chocolates on his desk. No time now.
    He looked over Marsh’s shoulder as he sifted
through the financial records of today’s victims.
    Walker was busy Googling cyanide. “I doubt
you’ve been poisoned, Spinelli. It says here cyanide induces
fatality in seconds following ingestion, especially on an empty
stomach. On a full stomach it could take up to four hours. Good
thing you haven’t eaten all day. You never know what could be in
your food.”
    Spinelli rolled his eyes. “Yeah, good thing.
Where in the hell does someone get cyanide anyhow?”
    Walker looked back at his computer screen.
“It says here that after ingestion, certain chemicals can be
changed by the body into cyanide. Products like old artificial nail
polish remover or some chemicals found in old solvents and plastics
manufacturing solutions contain such, but supposedly they’ve been
removed from the market. Walker shook his head. “Who are we
kidding? They probably got it right off of eBay in ready form.”
    “Is there anything there about quantity
needed to ensure fatality?” Spinelli asked.
    Walker nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t
know...well...it’s hard to tell. I’m looking at some pathologist’s
blog, and