Mending Hearts (The American Soldier Collection 11)

“It’s not what you think. It doesn’t belong to some guy. It’s…I’ve had it forever.” She hugged herself.

Gabe reached out and touched the shirt.

“Who’s is it?” he asked.

“Yeah, who the fuck owns that shirt?” Gator demanded to know.

“You,” she said to Gabe, holding his gaze.

He stared at her as his mind tried to process her statement, and it hit him.

“So this is that special thing that you sleep with? My military shirt from before I left for Iraq?”

She gulped and looked from Gator back to Gabe.

“Yes.”

He reached out and cupped her cheeks.

“Damn, baby, I’m going to make up for all the pain I caused you. I swear to you, baby. I swear.” He kissed her softly, and she hugged him.

“I guess I’ll let this slide. Considering,” Gator told her.

She pulled back from Gabe and reached out for Gator’s hand. She pulled him closer.

“Shut up, Gator, and just kiss me.”

Gabe chuckled, and Gator did as Alana said and kissed her. They weren’t leaving her tonight. They were staying.

* * * *

Gunner stood outside of the motel room where the crime scene was located. He popped a piece of gum into his mouth, trying to get the taste of death out of his mouth. He looked at Jim and Teddy.

“This is the second fucking dead body, and the wounds, the damage to her, is too similar to that other girl found murdered two weeks ago,” Jim said to Gunner.

The coroner was there, the forensic team was finishing up, and Gunner was angry.

“We have to find this sick fuck. I told that forensics team to be extra thorough. The perpetrator has to fuck up somewhere. He did all this damage to that beautiful young woman, and no one heard a fucking thing?”

“It’s crazy, but this side of the motel was vacant. It was a weeknight, not the weekend. This motel is almost always booked up Friday to Sunday,” Teddy said as he looked at his notes.

“The guy at the front desk doesn’t have any info on the person who paid for this room?” Teddy asked Gunner.

“No. The person secured it over the phone and paid cash. He deposited it into the outside mailbox by the office.”

“So it was a man?” Jim said.

“That’s pretty obvious by the damage done to that girl. But yes, the manager said the person on the phone who booked the room was a man,” Gunner told him.

“We have the deputies casing the place and trying to question people. But considering this is a motel, and it seems people aren’t willing to even speak to the police, we may have a dead end here,” Jim said.

“Yeah, I saw that coming. The manager said that people rent the rooms by the hour too. He doesn’t even have enough time to clean them in between, and the people who come here don’t care.”

“That’s fucking disgusting,” Teddy replied.

“Tell me about it. Someone must have seen something. I asked the manager to compile a list of all his guests over the last forty-eight hours. We’ll start there,” Gunner told them.

“We’ll take part of the list, too, and apply the pressure. You’re right, Gunner. Someone had to have seen this guy and that girl come here last night. Tough shit if they were cheating on someone or just fucking around. This is the second young woman to be murdered around Salvation. That just isn’t acceptable,” Teddy said.