Free Deadly Justice by Kathy Ivan

ole pot roast and all the trimmings when they figure out what happened.  And I'll whip up a German Chocolate cake too.” 
    “Are you trying to bankrupt me?  Those guys eat like starving elephants.  The food budget for them alone is close to the national debt.”  It was their own private joke about feeding his men.  He'd grouse and she'd snicker and remind him she did all the cooking, he just needed to pay the bills.  The team gathered at his home often enough she knew each and every one of them and all their favorite foods.  She wasn't above gastronomic bribery when the occasion warranted. 
    “Ms. Willie, thank you for the lovely tea.  It was exactly what I needed.”  Andrea spun around on the barstool and looked at him.  “I have to go to the police station and give my statement.”
    “Not yet.  I'll take you there in a bit, once you've had time to process everything.”
    “What's there to process?  The officers saw the condition of the office.  All that blood…wait, I need to call Mr. Mitchell.”  She hopped off the barstool and looked around the kitchen.  “Where's my purse?  And my laptop?”
    “Locked in my car.  You can call your boss and the police later, after you've had a chance to rest.”
    “I'm not an invalid, nor am I feeble-minded.  After Ms. Willie's wonderful tea,” she smiled at the other woman, “I'm as good as new.  And I'd rather get the whole thing over and done.  They may already know who destroyed Mr. Mitchell's office.”
    “Ms. Willie, we'll be in my office.” 
    With a hand at the small of her back, he steered her toward his inner sanctum.  Once there, he sat in one of the chairs alongside hers instead of behind his massive desk.  And, truthfully, he wanted to feel closer, a more intimate connection with the gorgeous woman.  He inhaled her light fragrance, and his groin tightened in response. 
    What was it about this woman that made him feel as if he'd known her forever?  She was basically a stranger.  A suspect in his never-ending game of cat and mouse with Richard Webster, yet he couldn't deny the pull he felt.  An underlying attraction that went beyond just her looks.  Damn, he needed to get hold of himself, and focus on what was important, getting information about the man he'd been chasing for years, and the beauty seated across from him was the key. 
    “How are you doing?” 
    She glanced up at his words, her warm jade eyes meeting his.  “I don't know.  I can't seem to piece everything together.  Walking into Mr. Mitchell's office and finding…”
    He leaned forward and clasped one of her hands, noting immediately how cold it felt.  “We'll figure it out.  I'm going to call one of my contacts with the Dallas Police Department, and find out if they have any information.  Then we'll have somebody come out here and talk to you.  There's no reason they can't take your statement here instead of making you go downtown.  How's that?” 
    She nodded.  “Thank you.  I'm not sure what I'd have done if you hadn't shown up.” 
    He was damned glad he'd followed his gut and gone to see her first thing.  Not that he'd tell her why he'd really been there.  After he'd planted the tracking device in her shoe the night before, Carlisle had given him another one to put in her purse.  She wouldn't be wearing the same heels she'd worn to the benefit, and they needed a better way to keep tabs on the lovely but elusive Ms. Kirkland.
    He'd never expected to wander into the scene out of a horror movie when he'd walked through the doors of Mitchell's office.  No, he'd planned on stopping in and seeing if she'd be amenable to going out for coffee, giving Nate time to do a more thorough search than he'd been able to perform the prior day. 
    But he was good at thinking on his feet, and the opportunity to get closer to Andrea, especially while she was off kilter after the morning's scare, was too good an opportunity to let slip through his