Read Hidden Crimes for Free Online

of her
car, which was spelled to keep things cool. For now, they were
leaving her vehicle here. All she carried was the giant tote no
mother seemed able to leave home without.
    She clutched it and laughed when she caught
sight of his transport.
    “Really?” she chuckled, little snorts coming
from her nose. “You drive a vintage Goblinati? Nate, you know
that’s a total skirt-chaser’s car.”
    “I know it’s fast,” he said, secretly amused
by her hilarity. “And I think I ought to get points for not buying
it in red.”
    He held the passenger door for her, noting
how neatly she swung her trim calves inside. Because noticing made
this feel too much like a date, he worked a frown onto his face and
circled to the driver’s side.
    By the time he slid behind the wheel, she’d
buckled up and turned her body toward his. Her legs were pulled up
beneath her, her cheek at rest on the soft leather. The pose was
catlike, her gorgeous curves relaxed and molded into the car’s
contours. Nate thought about how flexible she must be, how small
compared to him. His cock hardened without warning, stretching his
black jockstrap. Just looking at her and having her look back was
more powerful than most kisses.
    Unsettled by that knowledge, he inserted the
key and spoke. “Where we’re going isn’t far, at least not the way I
drive.”
    She smiled at him sleepily, a tired woman at
the end of her day. He realized she was comfortable with him. He
liked that better than he could say.
    “Feel free to catnap,” he teased drolly.
    She smiled again and, to his surprise, took
him up on the offer.
    She slept until he stopped the car at the old
blanket factory. Adam had made some inroads with his string
pulling. Though the plywood still listed crookedly on the front
entrance, a cat’s cradle of police tape warned people to keep out.
Better still, the RPD had installed a discreet watch spell. If
their mystery perpetrator came back this way, his image would be
recorded.
    Nate looked around but didn’t sense anyone
nearby. Apart from a distant clanking down by the river, the
neighborhood appeared abandoned.
    “This is the place?” Evina asked, shutting
her door quietly. Stiff from her nap, she laced her fingers above
her head and stretched. Despite the circumstances, Nate couldn’t
tear his gaze away. The way her breasts lifted with her movements
was gasp-worthy.
    She caught him staring and laughed softly.
“You are excellent for my ego, Detective Rivera.”
    Her use of his title, pleasurable though it
was, reminded him of their mission. “We should go inside. I know
it’s important for you to be undisturbed when you’re
projecting.”
    Though her eyes stayed warm, her smile
slipped away. She nodded for him to go ahead of her. Once they’d
both ducked beneath the tape, Nate led the way with the powerful
police issue flashlight he kept stowed in his glove box. The dirty
stairs didn’t look any better under its beam. Evina sucked in a
breath when a rat the size of a rabbit scampered across their
path.
    She wasn’t afraid. Rats were prey to
tigresses, even if they did make for disgusting meals—definitely
not interchangeable with chicken.
    “Wait here,” Nate said when they reached the
swinging doors to the second floor corridor. “I want to check the
way ahead.”
    Evina gave him an eye roll, reminding him she
faced danger everyday.
    “I’m the one with the gun,” he said, pointing
to his ankle.
    That comment widened her eyes. He supposed it
hadn’t occurred to her that he’d go armed to the grocery store.
Satisfied she’d stay, he checked the length of the hall. As he’d
expected, no one was there but them.
    He returned to her, belatedly sorry he’d left
her by herself in a pitch-black stairwell. His estimation of her
nerves went up another notch when he saw how calm she was.
    They continued together to the strange room
he’d found. It too was webbed in crime scene tape. Nate reached
through the plastic strips and pushed