Page 21 of Sinful Promise
“So…” I reach forward and finger the buttons of his shirt. It looks sexy wrapped around his chest, and hugs him in ways I enjoy doing myself at night. “If I banged a pimp?”
He snorts. “Pimp’s dead, you’re in trouble, and I die from a broken heart.” Leaning in stunningly fast, he smacks a kiss to my lips and steals the breath from my lungs. “I need you to take care of my heart, Mayet. I gave it to you wrapped in a pretty box, and it hangs from the chain around your neck. I’d like for you to keep it safe, just as I’ll do with yours.”
Damn him and his sweet talk. His pure heart, and his ability to hand another human such a precious commodity with wild abandon.
He’s been this way from the moment we met—always ahead of me,neverafraid to love.
“I won’t sleep with a pimp,” I sigh. “I promise.” Stepping up to my toes, I lay a gentle kiss on his jaw and luxuriate in the way he exhales relief.
This isn’t me: kissing in public.Kissing on a crime scene!But Archer Malone is nothing if not generous with his affections. I guess it was inevitable that, over time, his influence would rub off on me.
“Oh, and we’re having dinner with the mayor this Saturday.”
“What?” He pulls back, like my words are a jab to his ribs. “How the hell did that happen?”
“Under duress.” My lips curl into a sneer.
Turning back toward our scene, we walk side by side and study the street surrounding us. The overgrown trees on one side, and the garden and sidewalk on the other. The houses several hundred feet along the road, but none right here, overlooking our scene.
“He was pushy, Archer. And crankier than usual. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“Sounds like a lawyer to me.” He flashes a wicked grin and comes to a stop near our John Doe. “Lawrence had better serve something good to eat, or I’m gonna be pissed about spending my night off there.”
“Oh, you told him about the party?” Kneeling by the body, Aubree continues toclick-click-clickand document. “I wish I got an invitation. It would be so much fun.”
“You can go as my proxy,” I offer. “Tell the mayor I got a nasty case of the runs or something.”
“Charming,” Archer flattens his lips. “And on the record for the rest of time.” He studies Aubree. “Did you crack the case in the last minute or two?”
“I did not,” she answers, sounding somewhat disappointed by her failure. “Did you solve Fentone’s?”
I feel Archer’s tension in the air. His rigidity. But to the outside observer, his composure remains perfect. “I did not. But his body is heading back to the George Stanley. Doctor Torres will work it till he has answers.”
Bringing his gaze to me, Archer exhales. “We have your notes on this case. I guess it’s time I get to work. I’ll go see what Fletch has learned.”
“Alright.”
I take a step back and study the tightness in Archer’s jaw as he passes. The bulge of his muscular shoulders under a slightly too-tight shirt. His hands flex on his hips. But to the outside world, he’s just a cop doing the job.
“We should do ours too,” I murmur for Aubree. “Are we ready to transport him?”
“It feels like the vigilante, right?”
“What?” My heart thunders in my chest, and adrenaline pulses in my blood. But outwardly cool, I bend over our murder bag and take out a fresh pair of gloves. “What do you mean?”
“Fentone,” she clarifies. “I know the vigilante has been quiet since, like…” She takes a moment to think. “Geez, maybe January? But the fact is, Fentone was a piece of shit.”
“The fact is,” I parrot, but with a bite in my tone, “Fentone’s dead—and the dead deserve our respect.”
“He deserves an unbiased medical examiner,” she argues easily. “But he’s not our case, and Torres isn’t here to be swayed by our opinion. Fentone killed those little girls, Minka. He was an awful human being. And now karma caught up to him.”
I push straight and stare deep into her eyes.Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!
“I’m not gonna cry about it is all I’m saying. He was released from custody because he had a bullshit alibi and we couldn’t pull his DNA from the bodies.”
“Aubr—”
“He waxed his entire freaking body just before he killed them! You know he did it.”
