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She was used to being patted on the head, told what she needed to do to be better--at everything His praise, so easily offered, floored her "Thank you"

"You’re welcome Nohat else can you tell about him?"

Suddenly she was desperate to impress him "Well, he hadstrands of her hair and caressing theaze sharpened, as if she’d astounded him "Explain how you deduced that"

"His pants They’re fitted for his fraenuine silk rather than a synthetic blend And look at his shoes They’re Burbans and go for three thousand dollars a pop"

A pause, as if he were processing what she’d said "Good eye"

The praise lit her up inside Careful He could addict her to his compliments as surely as he’d addicted her to his kisses

"Let’s find out e’re dealing with" Hector pressed his lips together, pulled a sently pressed thefrom the top of his print to the bottom

With more care than a man as muscled as Hector should possess, he placed the victim’s hand in the same position he’d found it Then he read the screen "Bobby Marks Five feet eleven, one hundred and eight-five pounds Dark hair Dark eyes Caucasian"

The nah her mind until she felt as if she’d been punched in the teain Now, uy’s face, but her gaze strayed there anyway

Familiar brown hair, ru, still glassed with pain and terror Those lips had once pressed kisses onto the top of her hand

"You knew hiasped "Yes," she croaked "I do Did"

Shock caused the words to leave her with the saa Won stock in several different coht more in others Those with oldaround in his toolbox, he said, "Your family is old money" He took several sa, under the nails

"Yes My dad never met him Died before Bobby’s time But my mother hates--hated him She made no secret about that No one did So if you want a list of fa one"

The witness had claimed the shooter had worn a suit Could he have been a businessman Bobby had taken down?

"Yeah, I’ll want a list Did you?" Hector sorted the vials before placing them in their proper locations in the box "Hate him, I mean?"

Surely he hadn’t intended for that to sound like an accusation As if she were a suspect, just because she’d had an association "I thought he was char" So char, now dead Gone "But then, I’m a trust fund baby and my wealth never depended on my business I could afford to like hi realization She reenuinely ale malt when she’d asked, and had even danced with her a tiain Never share a drink with her Never dance with anyone else

Though she hurt for what Bobby had surely endured, she forced herself to compartmentalize Focus, drive She couldn’t save hie him

Hector paused, and for a"Were you one of the things he wanted?"

In his ht to the answer

"Maybe at one time" She told herself she replied for the case, but deep down she knew better "He loved having arm candy, and I played that role for hio, he stopped dating He still went to all the parties, but he never showed up with a woman Alent solo Always left the same way"

A whoosh of air, the click of a lid, the cinch of a lock "Okay," Hector said, standing His expression never changed He gave nothing away "Do et out here, and to keep it on the DL I’ll process the rest of the scene and see e’ve got"

So Hector didn’t think Noelle was a good enough partner for this job He wanted Dallas Insulting, eh But okay She’d call the guy Then they could both be shocked and impressed with her skills

’Cause yeah, she would solve this thing No matter what she had to do, she would solve it Bobby deserved vengeance Bobby deserved peace

Andwith her worth any risk

When the thought registered, she had to cover her ain, reverting to her childhood ways, beco to prove herself, and when that failed, acting out for attention

And though she’d successfully sht her distress and pinned her in place with the intensity of his gaze "What’s wrong?"

How did he do that? How did he always know? "Nothing," she said, lowering her hands Sha" She would solve this case, but she wouldn’t do it to impress a man or to prove she orthy She would do it for Bobby Only Bobby

Hector frowned "You’re lying" His gaze roved over her, perhaps searching for injuries He own until that very moment, because his jaw dropped Heatcauldron of … desire? "You’re also alle up to hie his arms to wrap around her and buffer her from the rest of the world, froht now you’re ht to pry intoSo back off"

He was the one to radiate shaht"

"Aren’t I always?" A flippant reply when all she really wanted to do was sag in defeat

Twenty

THE LITTLE COFFEE SHOP reeked of caffeine (a given), sugar (a bonus), and cigarette sents, however, no arrests would be ht or any other

Noelle had spent soh Of course, she’d intended to piss her parents off, and--she hated to ad cancer She’d prayed the disease would strike her down, she’d be hospitalized, and all of her fa, telling her how much they loved her, just as she was, and how sorry they were to have treated her so badly