âYouâre not weak at all,â Warrick assured her. âYouâve overpowered me.â
âBecause you let me.â
He nodded. âI donât want to hurt you.â
âYou did,â Kate said.
âNot anymore,â he said, lifting his head to close the distance between his mouth and hers. His lips skimmed across hers. âNow I just want you â¦â
And she wanted him, her skin heating and tingling everywhere they touched. The sheet had slipped down, so that her breasts were bare against his chest. His hair, that covered his impressive pecs, tickled and teased her nipples, bringing them to tight, sensitive points.
âAnd I wantââ Kate struggled free of his loose grasp and grabbed up the sheet again, holding it between them like a shield ââto arrest you.â
Prologue
The sweet, metallic scent of blood hung heavy in the air, and chimes rang out from the clock tower in the town square. Warrick James didnât need to know what time it was. He was already too late. He was always too late.
He pushed open the door and stepped into his fatherâs den. He had known what he would find; heâd been warned. But still the scene struck him like a body blow.
His father lay back in his chair, blood gushed from a hole blown in his chest. Even with the bulletâthat special bulletâin it, his heart continued to pump.
And his fatherâs eyes staredânot up at the man who had taken his life. But at the man who had failed to save him. Warrick was used to the disappointment in his fatherâs pale brown gaze. For thirty years, he had seen it every time the man had looked at him.
The chimes continued to ring out. Was that the eighth or the ninth? Just a few more chimes before midnight arrived...
Warrick reeled; his heart feeling as if a shot had been fired into it, as well. Maybe a bullet would pierce it next. Reaganâthe man heâd known he would find standing over the bodyâheld the gun yet, his finger against the trigger. And the barrel of that gun was pointed at Warrick.
âWhat kind of monster are you?â Warrick asked even as he felt his own body beginning to turn from man to beast. âHow could you do this?â
âYou donât understand,â Reagan replied. âLet me explain...â
Warrick shook his head. He was beyond listening. He didnât even care that that gunâloaded with those special bulletsâwas pointed directly at his heart. Just as the clock chimed for the twelfth time, he launched himself at his fatherâs killer.
* * *
Detective Kate Wever intimately knew the city she protected. Before being promoted to the major case squad, she had patrolled these streets. She knew the metropolis of Zantrax, Michigan, as well as she knew herself. As she knew her friends...
Or so sheâd once believed. Now she wasnât certain what, or who, to believe. Except for Bernie...
She knew not to believe the vagrant. Yet she followed him into the dead-end alley between some of the tallest buildings in the city. The sun hadnât set, but it was dark in the alley. The air hung still and putrid above the asphalt.
Kate, following too close to Bernie, held her breathâunwilling to breathe for fear of gagging. The man should have gone to the shelter instead of the police station. He could have used a shower. And probably a meal. Or at least some coffee. She held out a cup to him and pulled a sandwich from her pocket. âHere,â she said. âYou need to eat.â
He needed to sober up. The stench wasnât just because he hadnât showered for weeksâmaybe months. He also smelled strongly of alcohol. Or of strong alcohol...
She hadnât brought enough coffee. He reached for it, his hand shaking. The cover came off and the hot liquid spilled over the rim and splashed onto the front of his long trench coat. âBernie, are you all right?â
His gray-haired head jerked up and down in quick, nervous nods. His dark eyes were wild. With fear or drunkenness?
âItâs this place,â he said with a shudder of revulsion.
âWe didnât have to come here.â She wasnât sure why he had insisted on her following him from the station to the alley. With no sun between the buildings, the air wasnât just stillâit was cold.
She shivered. But not just from the cold.
One of those buildings had a bar in its basementâClub Underground. A bar where strange things happened...like Bernie had claimed happened here. Too bad her friend owned the place...