Free Intimate Caresses (The Love and Danger Series) by Elizabeth Lennox Page B

nodded, not happy about the situation.
    “And that doesn’t include Nina,” Colt asserted.  “I think we can safely rule her out of the suspect pool.”
    Brock breathed a sigh of relief.  He knew that Nina hadn’t committed the murder, but he hadn’t wanted to influence Colt.  So he was grateful that his partner had come to the same conclusion.
    “Thank goodness,” Colt muttered.  “After this morning, I thought you were losing your edge.”
    “What do you mean?” he asked as they both grabbed their jackets and pulled them on as they were walking out of the police station. 
    Colt shrugged.  “You seemed determined to think of her as a murderer but even an idiot could see that she hadn’t had anything to do with this mess.”
    “Yeah, but the rumors over at her office…” he started to say.
    Colt was already shaking his head.  “The rumors were pure jealousy and you’d know it if you hadn’t been so completely blown away by her the first time you laid eyes on her.”
    Brock smiled and nodded his head.  “Okay, yeah.  I’ll give you that one.”
    Colt snorted as he pulled open the door to Brock’s SUV.  “Hell yeah you’ll give me that one.  And as soon as you stop acting like an ass whenever she’s around, you’ll know that she’s the one.”
    Brock had just started the engine but he paused to look at Colt.  “I’m not serious about Nina.  She’s just a good time.”
    Colt rolled his eyes and shook his head.  “Keep telling yourself that.”
    Brock wasn’t sure what to say so he put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot.  Before Brock turned left, Colt put one more thought out there.  “She’s not Laura, man.  Don’t paint her with the same brush.”
    Brock didn’t acknowledge that comment in any way, but the words were going over and over in his mind several times.  He wasn’t sure what he could say to that.  Colt was right.  His ex-girlfriend, Laura, had really messed him up by cheating with another guy.  Brock had been looking at women through the lens of a man who had been betrayed.  But maybe he should take those glasses off and view Nina more clearly.  She definitely was different although he couldn’t exactly define why.  He just knew in his gut that she wasn’t like Laura.  He couldn’t picture her doing the same thing as his ex-wife. 
    He pulled up outside of the victim’s house and the two men sat there for a long moment.  “What do you think we’re going to find?”
    Colt shrugged his huge shoulders.  “Who knows?  They always let something slip that will lead us in the right direction, don’t they?”
    Brock nodded sagely.  “Crime of passion or do you think she planned this?”
    Colt considered it for a moment.  “I’m guessing whoever put the medicine in his coffee cup was premeditated.  If the wife did the shooting, then I guess I could see how it was a crime of passion, but the fact that she brought it to the office shows intent and planning.  Those imply premeditation as well.  Either way you look at it, it isn’t good.”
    They both knew where this case was going.  “Okay.  Let’s hit it.”
    They walked to the front door and rang the doorbell.  The door was answered by a sad looking girl of about nineteen or twenty, pretty and blond.  Both Colt and Brock looked at each other when they saw her. 
    “Certainly plays to a type, doesn’t he?” Brock mentioned, both of them noting the blond hair as well as the pink lip gloss. 
    “Can I help you?” the young woman asked.
    Brock and Colt both pulled out their badges.  “We’d like to ask you a few questions about your employer, if you don’t mind,” Colt said.
    The woman looked nervous, but stepped back to allow both of them to enter.
    She led them into the living room.  “Ms. Silverberg isn’t here,” she whispered as she took a seat on the formal looking living room chair. 
    Brock and Colt both nodded.  “That’s fine.  We have questions for