Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
She made a slow walk around the parking lot, keeping her eyes peeled for anything out of place, but also allowing her heart rate to return to normal and her stomach to settle. She needed to regroup and get hold of her nervous system for a few minutes before she could begin attempting to analyze what might have happened in that upstairs room.
Thankfully she’d known better than to eat anything before answering this call. Once her equilibrium was mostly back to normal, she headed toward the motel and then took a few minutes to walk along the bottom corridor, peering into the rooms that had curtains open and trying a few door handles and finding them all locked.
She walked around the front office, noting a sign in the window that said LOT FOR SALE and had a phone number listed. She took a photo of it and continued around the corner just as she heard a car pulling into the lot behind her. The uniforms were here to relieve Sullivan.
The space behind the motel was a weedy plot of nothing. It wasn’t even strewn with garbage, which told her that this motel, in general, probably wasn’t well used by vagrants, at least not yet. Even so, she took a few minutes to wander around, looking for anything on the ground that might tell her a person or people had been there, but didn’t find a thing. The crunch of the gravel beneath her feet further served to calm her nerves. Good, that’s good. You’ve got this. And now that she’d had a moment to process the initial shock and horror of the scene, she could go back and at least pretend to be the professional she was supposed to be.
Lennon turned and ran solidly into a hard wall of man, then let out a surprised squeak. She jerked back, and hands gripped her elbows, steadying her. “Shit, sorry,” she breathed.
His grip tightened as though she might still topple over. “Whoa. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She shook her arms, and his hands dropped before she stepped away. The stranger peering down at her was tall and good looking and had these eyes that took her aback as much as had her head smacking into his broad shoulder. Bedroom eyes. The thought took her further off balance because she couldn’t remember ever once using that phrase, but also because he was looking at her like he was trying to read her mind, and she certainly didn’t want him to be privy to her first impression.
And there went her equilibrium, right out the door.
“Sir, this is a crime scene. I’m going to have to ask you to leave immediately.” Her tone was a tad harsh, but he’d surprised her. She hadn’t expected a civilian to interrupt her brief respite from death’s gruesomeness.
“I know it’s a crime scene,” he said. He looked off behind her at the weedy lot, his gaze flickering around and then back to her in a way that made her think he knew she’d been basically hiding. “Are you Inspector Lennon Gray?”
Hearing him use her name caused a small jerk of her head. “Yes. Who are you?”
His heavy gaze met hers, slight breeze rustling his dark wavy hair. “I’m Agent Ambrose Mars. I’m with the FBI, and I’m your new partner.”
CHAPTER THREE
New partner? FBI? She hadn’t been told the feds were getting involved in these cases. “When did this get decided? And why?”
He’d unclipped the badge he had hanging on his pocket and now held it up to her as though she were a suspect who’d demanded identification. “Just yesterday. You were off. Which, ah, you probably know.” He gave her a fleeting boyish smile. “Anyway, Lieutenant Byrd called thirty minutes ago and informed me about this call. I didn’t expect there to be another scene this soon.”
“No, neither did I.”
“Same pills? Same victim description?” He looked over his shoulder to the second floor, where police activity was increasing, and then turned back to her.
“Yes,” she said. “Was the bureau sent all available details regarding the two previous cases?”
“Yeah. I looked over the basics but haven’t had a chance to read them in depth.”
“Okay. Come on,” Lennon said, moving around him and heading for the stairs. Whoever this Ambrose Mars was, he was temporary as far as she was personally concerned. She’d speak to Lieutenant Byrd the minute she got back to the station and shake the guy. She’d been told she was going to get paired up with someone else as soon as possible, but she’d expected it would be one of the other inspectors she already felt comfortable with. She had no desire whatsoever to work with some stranger over others she already knew had her back, and was annoyed she hadn’t received a heads-up. As if she needed one more thing to make her feel less than competent. But regardless, if the FBI had sent him here and he was going to work this particular case, he’d need to see the scene before anything else. And maybe Teresa had some information by now too.