Free Cold Hearted (Cold Justice Book 6) by Toni Anderson Page B

detective, was working through the social media stuff and contacting the cell companies for records of calls and voice messages. Physical evidence was being couriered to Quantico and fast-tracked for analysis. That alone told her someone higher up than Agent Singh was pulling the strings.
    Everyone on the sex register list had an alibi for Monday night. There were no easy suspects.
    No sheets had been found in any dumpster inside the town limits. Uniforms were continuing to canvass the neighborhood, talking to people who’d been out the first time they’d knocked on doors. That was the cornerstone of good police work—canvassing and asking the same question over and over again. Now she and Agent Singh were off to interview Tanya Whitehouse and Alicia Drummond, both of whom were staying at their sorority house. Then she had a date at the morgue, followed by another team meeting at three.
    She was a little surprised she had the lead on this, but figured it would make it easier to fire her if she didn’t make an arrest. How long would they give her to get results? A day? A week?
    “We’ll take your car,” she informed Darsh as she caught up with him outside the chief’s office. “They know mine on campus, and I wouldn’t put it past someone to slash the tires.”
    He grimaced. “That popular?” He pulled out his keys and they headed down the steps towards the rental.
    “As spare ribs at a vegan barbecue,” she told him.
    The reporters, who’d been made to assemble on one side of the parking lot, started baying for blood when they saw her. She ignored them and the biting cold that wanted to sink into her flesh. Darsh pressed his key fob, and she got into his vehicle, appreciating the comfort of the soft leather seats.
    “Quite the fan club you have around here. How do you cope with all the adulation?”
    Apparently she didn’t have the monopoly on sarcasm. “It’s easy. I have a badge and a gun, and I know how to use it.” She pulled a face, needing a little honesty. “I do my job, even when no one likes the results.” She put on her seat belt, uncomfortably aware of the proximity to the rock hard body she’d once investigated naked. To her consternation, she realized her backside and thighs were getting hot. Heated seats. Thank God. “This is a lot more swank than my truck.”
    “You don’t seem like the truck type.” He started the engine and backed out of the space.
    “What do you mean?”
    “More a hybrid SUV kind of person.”
    She snorted.
    The press would be trying to run his plates before they got around the block. What would they make of the fact there was an FBI profiler on the case? The chief would probably tell them soon anyway. Anything to feed the maw of the beast.
    She shrugged. “I needed a vehicle that was good in the snow and that I could use to transport furniture when I moved up here from Queens.”
    “When did you leave the NYPD?”
    The innocent question brought back all sorts of painful memories. “Take a left out of here and a right on Main.” She hoped he’d forget the question.
    No such luck.
    “So when you started working here is privileged information?”
    “If I had a choice my whole life would be privileged information.” The defensive edge to her voice gave away too much. He’d find out if he wanted to, and now she’d made it into a thing . Damn. “Three years ago.”
    “Not long after we hooked up?”
    Fiery heat worked its way across her cheeks at the reminder. “Three months after my training course with the Bureau, yes. You turn right in about half a mile.”
    She watched his fingers handle the steering wheel. Long and tapered. Short, clean nails. She remembered them drifting over her skin.
    She jolted when he spoke.
    “I take it your husband didn’t come with you?”
    She fought the urge to retch. “No.”
    “How come?”
    She glared at him in silence.
    “You know I can find out.” He shrugged those impressive shoulders, and Erin wished she was a