TRACE - CSI Reilly Steel #5 (Forensic novel Police Procedural Series) by Casey Hill Page B

was fine to do so, since Burke hadn’t actually been charged with anything.
    ‘I see you brought the arsenal with you this time, boys,’ says Burke, eyeing Reilly. ‘You couldn’t do this all by yourselves? Had to bring the little lady in with you? I’m more likely to end up coming on to her than confessing to her.’
    Reilly didn't react. None of them did. But each one of them knew that this would be a hard interview. Hard for Burke that was.
    ‘How long were you having intercourse with Ms Armstrong?’ she asked.
    ‘You interested in all the gory details, love?’ asks Burke. ‘Want to see what you’re missing?’
    ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like a solicitor?’ Chris asked. ‘Without representation of any kind, I have the feeling you are going to sink like a stone, Mr Burke.’
    ‘Don’t need a lawyer,’ Burke scoffed. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’
    ‘Well, the evidence might suggest otherwise. Answer our questions please.’
    ‘How long was I with Jen? How long is a piece of string? Every time I tried to call it off she was begging or more.’ Burke leaned back in his chair, hands in his pockets so the fabric of his pants stretched tight across his crotch. Reilly felt a sudden nausea creep up. This guy was a creep.
    ‘Were you aware your wife knew about the relationship?’ asked Kennedy.
    He shrugged. ‘I didn’t care if she was. If Helena’s aware of something, it’s only between 6am and 10am, before she’s doped to the gills.’
    Already Reilly was frustrated. This interview wasn’t going as planned. Burke was not going to give them anything except more smart answers.
    ‘Why did you engage Ms Armstrong’s services in the first place? Why did you need someone in PR?’ probed Chris.
    ‘Restaurant stuff. We were growing, needed a bigger profile.’
    ‘From what I gather, Ms Armstrong didn’t deal with small time things like that. She was more about damage control, which leads me to believe that you had some kind of trouble.’
    ‘Believe what you want.’
    Burke was still leaning back in his chair when Chris’s palm hit the table top between them. ‘Give me some straight answers and I might be able to,’ he said shortly. ‘Keep messing me around and you’ll end up with a murder charge hanging over your head. See what that does for business.’
    Burke swallowed, and brought his chair down on all four legs. ‘We had some problems,’ he admitted, sounding less cocky now. ‘We hired her to smooth over some bad press we were getting. My ex-business partner had … unpleasant connections and we were accused of muscling out any competition. There had been a few incidents. For the record, I wasn’t involved with any of that. My partner and I went separate ways and I cleaned the place up, made it what it is today. I couldn’t have done it without Jenny’s help.’
    ‘When did your relationship change from business to more romantic in nature?’ asked Chris.
    ‘Pretty soon after we met. She had no qualms about mixing business with pleasure. She was hard-line, knew how to get the job done. In all respects,’ he said, with a return of his smirk towards Reilly. ‘I make no bones about liking an attractive woman.’
    ‘Were you serious about your relationship with Jennifer?’ Chris asked, trying to keep him on topic. ‘Did you plan to leave your wife for her?’
    Burke became serious. ‘I couldn’t leave Helena. We have shared business interests. I told Jen that from the start. At first she was fine with it, but then…it wasn’t just a fling,’ he spat. ‘We loved each other.’
    ‘Were you still seeing each other at the time of her death?’
    ‘How could I be seeing her when she bloody well wouldn’t let me? Wouldn’t have a thing to do with me? Seeing all these other men and letting me know about it, too. It broke my heart.’ His voiced cracked, an intimate sound that surprised them all. ‘If we were still together then she wouldn’t be dead. She’d still be here and