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holster were gone. The testosterone level in the room was suddenly off the
charts.
She went into full deer-in-the-headlights mode. Was letting Zack answer the
door a good idea or a really bad one?
Then her head miraculously cleared and she suddenly felt extremely cheerful.
Letting Zack answer the door was an excellent notion.
She turned and went back into the bathroom.
 Thank you, she called over her shoulder.  I ll just be a minute.
She closed the door, whirled around and pressed her ear to the panel.
The door opened in the outer room.
 Sorry, Bradley said, startled.  Wrong room. Could have sworn the guy at the
front desk said number six.
 Looking for someone? Zack asked a little too helpfully.
 A woman. Must be the door across the hall.
 There s a woman in this room, Zack assured him.  Raine s in the bathroom at
the moment, about to take a shower. We just got up.
 Raine Tallentyre? Bradley was uncharacteristically flustered.  She s here?
 Right, Zack said.  I ll tell you what, why don t you go back downstairs?
I ll let Raine know you re here. If she wants to talk to you, she ll meet you
in the lobby after she gets out of the shower.
 Listen, I don t know who the hell you are, but I can tell something s wrong
here. I m Bradley Mitchell with the 
 Oriana PD. I know. Nice badge, by the way.
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 I want to speak to Raine, Bradley said.  Now.
Raine winced. Bradley was using his hard cop voice. That was not good.
 Is this police business or personal? Zack asked, politely curious.
 This is official business.
 In that case, maybe she should talk to her lawyer first.
 That s enough, I m coming in.
 I don t think so. Zack s voice was suddenly ice cold.
 I don t know who the hell you are, Bradley growled,  but as far as I m
concerned, I ve got probable cause to think you may have harmed Raine
Tallentyre. Get out of my way.
So much for her little moment of feminine revenge. The adrenaline and
testosterone in the other room had reached toxic levels. It was time to
intervene.
With a tiny sigh of regret because she had just begun to enjoy herself, she
opened the bathroom door and put her head around it.
 Bradley, she said brightly.  I thought I heard your voice. What are you
doing here in Shelbyville?
Bradley looked past Zack, staring at her. Confusion and anger tightened his
photogenic features. He looked like a homicide cop off a television series:
hard-eyed and square-jawed. His dark hair was just long enough to touch the
back of his collar. This morning he was dressed in jeans, an open-throated
shirt and a slouchy sports jacket.
 What the hell is going on, Raine? he asked. He seemed mesmerized by the
sight of her in her robe.  Are you okay?
 I m fine, she assured him. She folded her arms and lounged in the doorway,
going for total nonchalance.  What are you doing here?
 I got a call from the local chief. Bradley frowned.  Guy named Langdon. He
told me that you and some real estate agent found one of the Bonfire Killer s
victims in your aunt s basement. That right?
 Yes. I gave the chief your number as a reference. I thought that would be the
easiest way of staying off the list of suspects. Do you mind if we talk about
this later? I m headed into the shower.
Bradley flicked a suspicious glance at Zack.  Who s he?
 A friend, she said. She couldn t resist giving him her special smile.
 Good friend, Zack corrected helpfully.  The name s Jones. Zack Jones. By the
way, does it piss you off when she smiles at you like that? It sure pisses me
off when she does it to me.
Bradley rounded on him, looking ready to explode.
 Please go downstairs, Bradley, Raine said quickly.  I ll be down in twenty
minutes.
Bradley s face tightened further but it was obvious he was out of practical
options.
 Twenty minutes, he said.
 Or thereabouts, she said sweetly.
Without another word, he turned and stalked off toward the staircase. Zack
closed the door very gently behind him and looked at her.
 I m guessing the two of you did more than just find a few bodies and track
down some killers together, he said without inflection.
 Not a great deal more, she said, choosing her words with exacting care.  My
fault.
 What went wrong?
 I m what went wrong. Bradley and I had a nice little friendship thing going
on. I made the mistake of thinking it had the potential to blossom into
something else. She paused.  He knew about the voices, you see.
Zack nodded, comprehending immediately.  So you figured he was okay with your
psychic side?
 One night after a case I invited him to my place. I had a bottle of wine
waiting. A little chocolate fondue. A fire. Not to put too fine a point on it,
I tried to seduce him.
 I sense a bad outcome here.
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She flushed.  It was extremely awkward for both of us. In the end he finally
had to tell me the truth.
 Which was?
 That the thought of making love to a woman who hears voices really creeped
him out.
 What do you know? Zack shrugged.  Gets me hot.
Nonplussed, she just stared at him.
 Go figure, she finally managed.
He gave her a quick, wicked grin.  Yeah. Go figure. So where do things stand
with you two now?
 Nowhere. The debacle in my condo happened last month, shortly before Aunt
Vella died. I m surprised to see Bradley here today. I thought, given our
mutual embarrassment, that he would want to avoid me just as much as I want to
avoid him.
 What about your working relationship?
 It would be extremely difficult to go back to being just friends or
colleagues after what happened. At least it would be for me. I was humiliated
beyond belief.
 Not to mention hurt?
She winced.  Okay, I ll admit that being told I gave him the creeps was a
little hard on the ego.
 Wonder why he drove up here today? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]