Crossing the Line Read Online Free PDF

yet firmly, closing the door behind him. He really needed that shower, and now he knew it was going to have to be a cold one—an ice-cold one, from the looks of it. Where had that image come from, and why now?
    Paul felt much better after his shower, with one exception. He couldn’t seem to get that image of Megan out of his head. It made no sense to him. She’d never looked at him that way before, and he’d never touched her like that. The flash made no sense to him, but he couldn’t shake it. And every time it popped up, all his efforts to calm himself were for naught. 
    Knowing he needed a distraction, as soon as Paul was dressed, he dialed Janey. She picked up after the first ring. “Up late partying?”
    He snorted, and felt it from his head to his toes. The medicine had helped his headache, but that didn’t mean it had gone away completely. “Hardly.”
    “Oh, man. I need to show you how to party right, then, Daniels.”
    Paul chuckled. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I manage just fine.”
    She made a noise through the phone that sounded a lot like the raspberries he blew on Chloe’s stomach from time to time. “Suit yourself. You know you’re always welcome to come out with us anytime, though.”
    His partner and some of the other detectives from the station regularly invited him to come out with them after a shift, but he’d always made the excuse that he had to get home to Chloe. He had no idea how he would dodge that once she got older, but for the moment, it worked. None of them pushed, except for Janey, and he figured that was because she knew he was only using Chloe as an excuse. 
    Janey and Paul had been partners for five years. She’d been there when he’d lost Melissa, so she knew all the ups and downs he’d gone through. Janey knew more than most when it came to how much he still grieved for his wife, because she was there beside him every day. 
    Wanting to change the subject, Paul brought up the reason she’d called him in the first place. “Another victim turned up last night?”
    “Yeah. Everything was the same as the other two, right down to the angle of the cuts. This guy knows what he’s doing. Doc says he’s confident now that the cuts were made by someone with a medical background.”
    It was something the medical examiner had brought up with the other two victims they’d found, but he’d been reluctant to go on record with it. Apparently, with this third victim, he felt he had enough evidence to support his theory. 
    “I suppose that narrows it down some. It will give us a place to start, at least.”
    “Anything is better than what we’ve had to go on so far.”
    That was the truth. This was one of the more frustrating cases he’d worked on in his fifteen years with the Indianapolis police department. There were no prints at the scene and no DNA left by the killer. There were no obvious signs anyone but the victim had been in the house at the time of death.
    “When are you heading back?”
    There was a knock on the door that joined his room to Megan’s—the one he’d closed about thirty minutes ago. “We should be back tonight.” He paused. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you when I get back and we can talk about a game plan.”
    “Don’t sweat it. Enjoy your family time. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”
    The door cracked opened, and Megan peeked through. Her hair no longer looked as if she’d had someone running their fingers through it. Paul swallowed. “Okay. Sounds good.”
    Janey hesitated. “You sure you’re all right?”
    Paul’s gaze never left Megan’s. For some reason, he couldn’t look away. “Yeah. I’m good.”
    Before Janey could interrogate him any more about his strange behavior, Paul disconnected the call. He set the phone down on the nightstand, feeling strangely uncomfortable as Megan opened the door further and stepped inside his room. She’d dressed, and was wearing an outfit he’d seen her in several