Pure Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page B

floor.
     
    “He’s dead alright,” the paramedic interrupted. He removed his stethoscope from his ears and stood up. “Nothing more we can do here, except take him away.”
     
    “Any clue as to the cause of death?” the cop asked.
     
    “An autopsy would tell for sure, but a heart attack is very likely.” The other paramedic rolled out the stretcher he had brought, and they carefully placed the dead man on it.
     
    “Okay, I guess that will do for now,” the officer said and pocketed his notepad. “Oh, by the way, was anyone with him?” He glanced at his watch and then in the direction of the door, like he was getting bored with the questioning and just wanted to get this over with, like the loss of a man’s life was interrupting his usual three A.M. nap.
     
    “Yes, he came with a woman. She was the one who notified me that he had collapsed.” I pointed at the dead guy who was now covered with a dark blanket. I stepped back as the paramedics wheeled the body past the two of us and out to the elevator. One of them gave me a wink as he rolled past, just at the moment the cop looked away.
     
    “And where is she?”
     
    I pursed my lips and snapped my attention back to the cop. “She—”
     
    “Oh, let me guess. She bailed, right?” he interrupted.
     
    “Yeah.” I nodded. “I didn’t get her name or anything.”
     
    The cop noticed the dead man’s clothes still on the chair.
     
    “Did you touch any of this?” he asked, pointing his black ink pen at the clothes.
     
    “No, I figured I had better get downstairs right away, you know, to let you guys in…so I left. I never looked, I just left.” I answered with what I hoped was a straight face and forced myself to look directly at him as I spoke. As soon as he appeared satisfied with the answer, I broke my stare and turned to walk toward the door so he could no longer see my face. On the inside, I felt tense and desperately wanted to take in a long deep breath of air, but I didn’t. I paused at the door with my hand on the knob and turned back to say, “I should get back down to the front desk, officer. So if there’s nothing more you need from me ...”
     
    He scratched a few more notes on that ubiquitous notepad and nodded, then spoke without looking up, “Just don’t leave the hotel. Stay at the front desk. I’ll need one more thing before we go.”
     
    I gave a meek smile to hide the fact that my heart just jumped up into my throat, then quickly slipped out the door. I couldn’t breathe. What ‘one more thing’ does he need? To slap handcuffs on me and throw me into the backseat of the patrol car? My stomach was in knots and my fists were two balls of white knuckles.
     
    The paramedics had already taken the body down, so I was the only one getting on the elevator. I plowed through the elevator doors and leaned up against the inside wall of the elevator car, hoping the firmness of the steel construction would somehow ooze into my body and still my nerves. The second the doors were shut, my lungs exploded with a gush of air. It felt like I had been holding my breath for hours.
     
    When I got back to the lobby, nobody was there. I got behind the front desk and I perched myself on an old worn stool, staring at the restroom door that lay across the expanse of the dreary lobby area. I had picked up my novel from the side office and pressed open the pages to a random section of the book. The paper felt smooth and calming as I passed the palm of my hand across its surface. I wanted to look as normal as possible when the police officer came down from Room 1215. The words on the page couldn’t hold my focus. Instead the large round black and white clock on the wall pulled my attention. The hands on its face seemed to stand still, barely a noticeable movement to be seen, and the thumping of my heart beat was the only audible sound I was aware of in the silent lobby. I wanted the police to hurry the hell up and leave.
     
    The familiar