Free Dangerous Kisses (Siren Publishing Classic) by Tonya Ramagos

she realized the knife belonged to Drake.
    In any other case, she would have gone with her gut. Her instincts very rarely steered her wrong. But her gut was twisted in knots, her instincts buried in a swarm of confusion and erotic desires.
    “He’s being framed, Jerry. Whoever did this wanted that knife found. They wanted us to believe Drake murdered Paul. It’s too perfect, too clean.”
    “I like perfect and clean. I’m taking him in, Megan.”
    “At least talk to Robert Warren first. And Debbie Norman. She was here last night, too. From what Drake said, she got to the tank first when she heard Paul’s scream.” And Drake had been returning from letting Brandon out the front door when he heard Debbie scream. He couldn’t have stabbed Paul, let Brandon out the door, and returned to the tank room in that amount of time.
    “From what Drake said,” Cusack repeated. “I thought you two weren’t together.”
    “We aren’t,” Megan said through gritted teeth.
    “You show up here this morning together. You’re protecting him now.” Cusack shook his head in obvious disgust. “Sure looks like you’ve got a thing going to me.”
    “My personal relationship with Drake, or lack thereof, has nothing to do with this. If I was trying to protect him, I wouldn’t have called you when I found the damn knife. What I’m doing is the job I’ve been trained to do.”
    Cusack’s brows winged up. “And I’m not?”
    “Not if you think you’re going to wrap up this case with the little evidence you have. Robert borrowed that knife. He threatened Paul yesterday mere hours before the attack. I heard the threat myself.”
    “You were here?” Cusack didn’t bother to hide his surprise. “You didn’t tell me that.”
    “It wasn’t relevant at the time. I left the department yesterday, went home to change, and came here to visit Paul. He was upset. The aquarium is in financial trouble. Two of his partners want to sell out to a casino firm out of Vegas. Then he found out about the temperature problem with the shark tank. When you think about it, you have more suspects than you can count on one hand, and any one of them could’ve gotten in here last night without Drake or Debbie knowing a thing.”
    “How? The only point of entrance that wasn’t covered by the security cameras is the back door that can only be opened from the inside. If your sweetheart didn’t do it, then he’s an accomplice. Hell, for all I know, he and Debbie were both in on it. There wasn’t anyone else here to dispute that.”
    Megan let the “sweetheart” jab slide. “And there’s no concrete evidence to support it either. I want this case.”
    “You’re on vacation, and you’re too damn close to this case to investigate it with a clear head.”
    Megan gaped at him. “Like you’re investigating it with a clear head. You don’t like Drake. You never have. You’re a breath away from arresting him now, and you haven’t done a thing to see if his story checks out.”
    “I fully intend to check out his story.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “And I intend to start by tracking down Robert Warren.”
    “I’m going with you.”
    “No, you’re not. I let you in here today because you know this place, you know how to do the job that needed to be done. You’re here unofficially, and it’s going to stay that way.”
    Megan shrugged. “Fine, then I’ll talk to Robert myself later. You can’t control what I do on vacation, Sergeant.”
    “I can get you for interfering in an investigation, Detective,” he countered hotly.
    “Then get me. I’m not backing away from this. Paul was a close friend, and I’m going to find out the truth about what happened to him, whatever that truth might be.”
    “Even if it turns out that your honey is the murderer after all.”
    “Even if it turns out that Drake is our killer.”

Chapter Four
     
    Drake watched Megan spin away from Cusack. She stomped his direction, her muscles tight, her