Page 30 (1/2)

Chapter 1

The guy in the bed had enjoyed killer sex

Detective Todd Brooks stared down at the naked uy’s hands were tied to the bed frame with a thick, white rope His ars sprawled across the ht, but there was no sign of the condom, or of the person who’d bound the man

Poor dead bastard

“So voice came from his partner, Colin Gyth

Todd grunted and let his gaze drift over the bed Yeah, Colin was right So their crime scene Maybe the forensics unit would be able to findto hold his breath

His eyes narrowed as he studied the slight impression that marred the sheets on the left side of the body, an impression that could have been the outline of a woman

But whoever the e

“Heart attack?” Colinnear the foot of the bed

A possibility The guy looked fit enough He was muscled, appeared to be in his late thirties, but, yeah, he could’ve had a heart attack The sex could have gotten a little too wild, the bondage game too intense

It could have happened that way

Could have

They’d been called to the dingy hotel less than an hour ago A irl, had discovered the body There was no ID in the roos—even the poor assle’s clothes were gone

The desk clerk had hiinal, and not particularly helpful in this situation

At least the clerk had uy A blonde Long, curly hair Tall

Great brsts

It would have been too limpsed her face

Where was the wouy had picked up for the night? A street-s hi in secret while her husband was none the wiser When her lover had expired, she could have freaked

Yeah, those ideas were definite options

Or rather, they would have been great options, if this hadn’t been the third dead, naked male that he and his partner had found tied up like this in just over a month

Rubbing his eyes, Todd said, “We’re going to need a dah autopsy on this one” Because coincidences like this, they just didn’t happen Not ever

He couldn’t overlook the possibility any on the streets of Atlanta Or that the killer ht be one of the rarest breeds—a female serial

“How the fk is she doing this?” He asked softly Had to be drugs So the killer slipped into the men’s drinks A little concoction that made their hearts beat too fast Orthe autopsy and supervising the tox screen”

He glanced up and found Colin watching him with those eerie blue eyes of his Tension had been heavy between him and Colin for a while now, and Todd knew part of the proble from his end of the partnership—but, dah his just hadn’t been the sa Colin’s girlfriend in a murder case

Jesus Couldn’t a guy ever screw up and just be forgiven? Did Colin want him to bleed? “Uh, Colin?”

Of course, there was the other problehts after the close of the Night Butcher case, his body soaked in a cold sweat of fear—