Hot Trick (A Detective Shelley Caldwell Novel) Read Online Free PDF

by rigor mortis, which happened two to four hours after death. A fresh kill. Her wet hair appeared dark in the moonlight, and her face was turned away from me. Just as well. I’d looked into the face of death enough lately. I didn’t need to see hers. Didn’t need another one haunting me until I set things right.
    I closed my eyes, offered a prayer for the victim’s soul and asked that her killer be brought to justice.
    Preferably by me.
    If there was anything I hated more than paperwork, it was the thought of a murderer walking free, with the potential to kill again.
    My moment of contemplation ended when Norelli asked, “What the hell are you doing here, Caldwell?”
    “I was in the neighborhood. Thought I’d join the party.”
    “Party favors are all gone. You could be too. This is my case.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    I glanced back into the trunk for a better look at the ligatures around the woman’s hands and feet. My mind was already working.
    Rope. What kind? Where had it been bought?
    And the knots. Anything special about them?
    I glanced back across the street at the marina. Sailor’s knots, maybe?
    “No, no, no you don’t,” Norelli blustered. “I already told you this was my case.”
    “You need a partner. Walker is on vacation.”
    Detective Jamal Walker paired up with Norelli more often than not. CPD detectives weren’t assigned partners. Certain detectives just drifted toward each other because they worked well together. You work on my case and I work on yours. A time-honored tradition.
    “With Walker off, you need someone to hold your hand.”
    “You’re not my type.”
    “I’m not asking you to dance with me, Norelli. Just work with me.”
    “Like I said, it’s my case.”
    “Correction.” I took a big breath and swallowed my pride. “I would like to work with you.”
    Not really, but I needed to be on this case. There was some connection between the little Irishman who’d approached me and the dead woman.
    Maybe Sebastian too.
    I don’t know what made me think it, but I couldn’t shake the idea. And if Sebastian was involved, so was Silke, if only by association. Years on the job told me I was onto a lead. Following my instinct usually served me well.
    “Why now?” Norelli asked, suspicion ripe in his voice. “Why this case?”
    I shrugged and gave him my most heartfelt expression. “I finally realized I was missing out. Walker made me see that. He was right when he said you are the job, Norelli.” True. “You’re good, and you see that justice is served.” True, as well. “I want to learn at your feet.” Not so much.
    He barked a laugh. “Sounds like a load of bullshit to me.”
    “C’mon, give me a break already.” I kept my voice even and a smile frozen on my lips. “Haven’t I paid enough dues for you yet? Didn’t we work okay on the cult killer case?”
    “You did a credible job.”
    I had done a fantastic job, both of solving it and covering up the fact that real vampires had been involved, which he’d never even suspected.
    My job was mega-important to me and I’d almost lost it once. When I found the first body in the cult killer case and called it in, it disappeared by the time backup arrived. Case closed. But not for me. I hadn’t been able to let it go and made it my mission to find out what happened. And my reward? Ordered to get psych evaluation, I’d been taken out of Homicide, demoted to a rubber gun cop until the psychiatrist deemed me ready to make a comeback.
    So after getting back in the CPD’s good graces, I’d worked undercover, pretending to be Silke, at a Goth bar. That’s where I’d met Jake. And the vampire. Make that vampires, plural.
    I’d solved the case and recovered my standing in the department, but ever since I’d known that vampires existed right here in River City, I’d been trying to avoid anything that would make me look bad or even foolish. I’d been walking on eggs around the department, blaming the past. I couldn’t