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fumbled in the dark trying to get the key into the lock. She swung the door open and stepped blindly into the black apartment, groping for the light switch.
    It was instantaneous.
    White pain spliced through her shoulder as her arm was wrenched behind her back.
    Panic punched her in the stomach. A scream surged through her body and erupted into her throat. It got no further. It was suffocated by leather.
    A glove.
    She fought to gasp in air. She could see nothing through the blur of blackness.
    The door slammed shut behind her, cutting her off from the outside world.
    She flailed behind her with her free hand and tore at a handful of hair. An expletive. Male. More pain as he increased the pressure on her arm.
    “Shut the hell up or you get hurt.” He spat the words into the dark. Harsh, hoarse. Her lungs screamed for gulps of air. But each time she struggled to move, the pain tore at her shoulder.
    Stay calm, Hannah. Stay calm. She forced herself to hold still.
    The iron grip eased slightly, as if her attacker was testing. She could feel hot breath at her ear.
    He swore and immediately let go of her mouth.
    “Hannah?”
    A thin beam from a flashlight cut through the dark. Slowly he turned her head and body round to face him, still pinning her arm behind her back. She blinked blindly against the sudden brightness as he looked down into her face.
    “Sweet Jesus.” He let the light fall so she could see him. It caught the hard ice of his eyes.
    She felt faint.
    “Rex?” Her voice came out hoarse, barely audible.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing, McGuire? You could have gotten yourself hurt.” He kept his voice a low whisper. His mouth was so close she felt his breath on her lips.
    She wrenched free and lunged for the light switch. Light flooded the small apartment.
    She whirled round to confront him. “Damn you, Rex Logan! What in hell are you doing in Amy Barnes’s apartment?”
    “Lord, woman.” He pushed past her, drew the blinds in a deft movement. “Keep your voice down.”
    Uneasiness prickled up the nape of her neck. He looked lethal, dressed in black from head to foot. Dark stubble shadowed his jaw. His hair was black gloss, and he’d let it grow. It gave him a wild look. The only light thing about him was the glacial ice in his stare. A devil with Arctic eyes. The contrast was startling, unnerving. Almost inhuman.
    “You shouldn’t be here, Hannah.” His words were low, threatening.
    “ You’re the one with no right to be here.” Anger started to boil up, displacing her fear. She could feel the heat of color spilling back into her cheeks. “Give me one good reason not to call the cops and have your sorry ass kicked behind bars, Rex Logan.” She realized she was shaking.
    “You do that and you won’t find out what really happened to Amy Barnes.”
    She was stunned into silence.
    He took a step closer. “Talk to me, Hannah. Tell me why you’re in a dead woman’s apartment at night.” He was unnerving her with his steady blue gaze. She was determined to hold it, not to look away and give him the upper hand.
    “What makes you think I believe anything happened to Amy?”
    “I know you, Hannah. You don’t let things lie. Never did. That’s why you were good. One of the best. That’s why you’re here, tonight, isn’t it? You’re looking for something.”
    She pushed the hair back from her face in an effort to clear her head. Rex stepped even closer. The air crackled between them. She edged backward, toward the phone. Blood drummed in her ears.
    “What has any of this got to do with you, Rex?”
    “I’m looking for answers. Like you. I don’t believe Amy’s death was an accident.”
    Hannah took another step back toward the phone and reached behind her for the receiver.
    He was on her in an instant, had her pinned up against the wall, her heart jackhammering against her rib cage. He reached and took the receiver from her hand. Placed it firmly back in the cradle. “No