Gone to Her Grave (Rogue River Novella Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

made those conservative clothes cling to her long-limbed body. She wore no makeup, and she’d gathered her hair in her no-time-to-fuss ponytail. God help him. She was still the prettiest thing he’d ever laid eyes on. She was wholesome and fresh and everything he’d ever wanted in a woman since the day they met on the campus of Oregon State. A bead of sweat ran down her chest and disappeared between her breasts. No matter how much Carly Taylor drove him crazy, he wanted to drop to his knees and follow that drop of moisture with his tongue.
    Shit.
    “Last night was an accident.” She propped her hands on her hips. “And did it ever occur to you that kid might be innocent?”
    “No.” His size-twelve wing tip fit in his mouth with no problem. This was what happened when he lost focus. Thinking about sex with Carly compromised every cell in his primitive brain.
    “Everything all right out here?”
    They both turned to see Stevie standing in the open doorway of the station.
    Saved.
    “Fine. I was just leaving,” Carly called over, without taking her attention off Seth. “I’ll stop at your place and look for Brianna’s hat on my way home. You’re still taking her out to dinner tomorrow night?”
    It’s your home too , Seth thought, but he kept his mouth shut. Opening it would just make room for his other foot, and he was already choking.
    He nodded. “I’ll pick her up at six.” Praying he didn’t have to cancel because of work, Seth pivoted and headed toward the station.
    Stevie was waiting for him inside.
    “Where’s Zane?” he asked.
    She gave him a look. “I’m not good enough for you?”
    God save him from the Taylor women. He. Could. Not. Win.
    “You’ll do just fine. I was hoping to talk to both of you.” He nodded toward the “conference” room. Stevie followed him in. A fan whirred, stirring the heat like stew on the stove. As much as he hated to cut off any movement of air, he closed the door.
    Stevie grabbed water from the mini-fridge. She tossed him a bottle. “What can I do for you?”
    He caught it. “Thanks. I’ve been assigned to the Interagency Drug Task Force. I heard about your overdose case.”
    Her brows lifted. “Really?”
    “I stopped at the hospital on the way over here. It doesn’t look good.”
    “Damn.”
    “There’s a new designer drug circulating, C-22, also known under the street names ‘bacon’ or ‘strips.’ We’ve had six deaths likely attributable to the new drug in this area.”
    “We heard about it.” Stevie twisted the cap off her bottle. “The kids really call it bacon?”
    “Because it makes everything better, and because it’s sold on little strips of red paper that the kids put in their mouths to allow the liquid chemical to be absorbed.”
    “Damned kids.” She drank.
    Seth summed up the medical examiner’s findings. “Since it’s chemically based rather than plant based, we’re looking for a lab of sorts. We think there’s a manufacturer in Rogue County. I wanted to put you all on alert.”
    “Well, shoot.” Stevie put the bottle down and scrubbed a hand across her eyes.
    “That about sums it up,” he said. “How deep is Carly mixed up in this?”
    Stevie squinted at him. “You’re not doing that.”
    “Doing what?”
    “Putting me in the middle.” Stevie clucked. “No way. You want to know what my sister is up to, you talk to her.”
    “Because that goes so well.” Bitterness coated the back of his throat. He poured more water down to wash it away. Didn’t work. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you into our mess.”
    “I know you didn’t.” Stevie sighed. “If it means anything to you, Carly isn’t happy either.”
    That should not have cheered him up, but it did give him a little hope. “I just don’t understand why she left.”
    “You’ll have to ask her,” Stevie said. “But maybe that’s part of the problem.”
    Well, crap. How was he supposed to find out, if he and Carly couldn’t exchange