Free Deadly Storm by Lily Harper Hart

together, and our activities don’t include you.”
    “You’re sick little sex fiends,” Grady said, grabbing a piece of bacon from Mandy’s plate. She slapped his hand.
    “I’m hungry. Give it back.”
    “Did you two work up an appetite?” Grady asked, winking.
    “Yes, we did,” James replied, nonplussed. “We’re going to work up another one in a little bit, and I don’t care if you’re here to watch or not.”
    “Sick!”
    “What do you want?” James asked.
    “I wanted to give you a heads up that a student at the community college was found dead last night,” Grady said. “Sophie got called out on the story.”
    “Why do I care about that?” James asked. “I mean, I’m not happy that someone died, but I’m not sure why it’s our concern.” He slid one of the slices of bacon from his plate to Mandy’s to replace the piece Grady pilfered.
    “Oh, you two are so sweet right now I want to puke,” Grady said, grabbing the bacon before Mandy could.
    “Put that back on her plate or I will thump you,” James threatened.
    “He can keep it,” Mandy said, sighing. “I don’t want it after he’s had his grubby fingers on it. We both know where his fingers have probably been.”
    James grinned. “I’ll make some more.”
    “I’m actually full,” Mandy said. “We’ve done nothing but eat and … um … sleep since last night.”
    “You’re such a bad liar,” Grady teased.
    “Go back to the dead person,” James said. “Who was it?”
    “It was a woman named Julie Nichols,” Grady said. “She was a single woman in her mid-twenties. She was stabbed, and it looks like she was sexually assaulted – although they have to wait for labs to come back before they can be sure of that.”
    James pursed his lips. “How do you know all of this?”
    “I went with Sophie.”
    “Sick,” Mandy said, wrinkling her nose. “You’re so lovesick you couldn’t stand to be away from your girlfriend for even a couple of hours. Gross. Omigod.”
    James pursed his lips to keep from laughing, but Mandy was so adorable in her animated state it didn’t work. “I love you, baby.”
    “That is not what happened,” Grady countered. “I … we … it was late. It was almost two in the morning when she got the call. It’s not safe for a woman to be out at that time of night.”
    “Oh, grow up,” Mandy said. “Women are just as capable as men.”
    Grady stuck his tongue out. “I didn’t say they weren’t.”
    “You did so.”
    “I did not.”
    “Knock it off,” James ordered.
    “See, you’re bugging your husband,” Grady said.
    “I was talking to you,” James countered. “While my wife likes making fun of you, I understand why you went with Sophie. If it had been me, I would’ve done the same thing for Mandy. I still don’t understand what this death has to do with us – or why you’re here interrupting my morning delight with my soon-to-be naked wife.”
    “Sick, sick, sick.”
    “I’m going to beat you.”
    “Fine.” Grady blew out a dramatic sigh. “You guys don’t have much of a sense of humor this morning.”
    “If you want us to laugh you should take your pants off,” Mandy suggested.
    James made a face. “Baby, don’t tell another man to take his pants off in front of me. I don’t like it.”
    “You’ll live. Go back to your story, Grady. Why do we care about Julie Nichols, other than the obvious, I mean?”
    “Well, while Sophie was questioning the cops, I started running information from my laptop in the car,” Grady said. “I was bored and curious. It’s not every day that a young woman gets raped and murdered on a community college campus. It’s not like it’s a big school.”
    “It’s well lit, too,” James said.
    “How do you know?”
    “I was there last night. I picked Mandy up from her class. I made sure I looked around while I was there. I don’t want my wife walking in a dangerous parking lot after dark.”
    “Because you want to keep her