Drawing The Line

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Book: Read Drawing The Line for Free Online
Authors: Kimberly Kincaid
would let another department snap up jurisdiction on a case they’d been building for years. Unless…
    “Because I just go t off the phone with dispatch,” Lieutenant Martin said. “There was another robbery with the exact same MO at a hardware store on Ninth. Both employees were stabbed to death at the scene. This is a murder case now, gentlemen, and it happened in our backyard. Which means we have jurisdiction, but we’re going to need vice’s help to nail Brody if he’s responsible.”
    “Oh hell,” Jason murmured, his shoulders threading up tight. Brody had never been afraid to get his hands dirty, but he was notoriously careful , and even more notoriously clean. No one had ever been able to pin him for anything, let alone anything that would send him to prison for the rest of his rotten life. “You want me on this case as part of the task force so we can collar Brody for these murders and break up his drug ring?”
    Lieutenant Martin’s voice went as unyielding as his stare. “ Exactly. And if Serenity Gallagher is going to testify against him in a case that’ll link him directly to a double murder, we need her in protective custody. As of right now, Morgan, that woman doesn’t leave your sight.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Serenity stared at Detective Morgan’s GQ-worthy profile from the passenger seat of his Tahoe, stuck squarely between wanting to scream her head off and cry her eyes out. Not that either would help her epically crappy situation, but right about now, at least the screaming would feel down-to-her-toes good.
    “Look, are you absolutely certain all of this is neces sary?” It was a total last-ditch effort, but come on. Protective custody ? She had a business to run. Not to mention sanity to preserve. Yes, Jules had stepped up to run Mac’s temporarily, and her staff had rallied to fill in the gaps in a show of incredible support. But being cooped up all alone with no one to cook for and no diner to manage was going to drive Serenity completely whack-a-doo.
    “ ’Fraid so,” Jason said, keeping his eyes on the road as he passed off a little shrug, and God. How could he be so nonchalant?
    “But you said this Brody guy has been arrested. I mean, I picked him out of a lineup.” A thick tangle of dread tugged her belly at the memory. None of the men in the lineup had been able to see her, and Jason and his boss had been right there at her side the whole time. The process had taken less than a minute once the DA had asked her to identify who’d attacked her in the diner.
    But a minute’s worth of looking into the eyes of the man who’d viciously stabbed her friend was fifty-nine seconds too long.
    “ Yes, Brody’s in custody.” Jason made the turn toward her apartment building, the headlights of the SUV slicing through the warm evening air. “But since Colin wasn’t able to identify anyone from the photos my partner brought to the hospital, you’re our only witness. It’s safer to keep you in a secure location, at least for now.”
    Serenity cleared her throat, not quite willing to ditch her last-ditch. “If he’s in jail, then Brody can’t hurt me, right?”
    “It’s a necessary precaution, Ms. Gallagher . We wouldn’t do it otherwise.”
    The easygoing flash of his baby blues hit her in ful l force from the driver’s seat, and she rubbed a hand across the back of her aching neck with a wince. “That doesn’t work on me, just so you know.”
    He pulled the Tahoe into a vacant parking spot and cut the engine before turning to look at her more closely. “What doesn’t work on you?”
    “That… charming thing you do. To try and distract people and get what you want. It doesn’t work on me.” Okay, so maybe she was pushing the boundaries of polite conversation. But her whole life had just been upended with one swift tug. Would it kill him to give her a straight answer?
    Rather than take offense, or eve n get frosty, he

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