Page 45 of Locked In Ice

“Suits my dark soul.There.Happy?And it’s a Victorian, like so many of the houses in this district.It’s got character.And, yes, it’s kinda creepy, but I wanted it the minute I saw it.”

The way I wanted you?Not that he’d ever told her that.Lane nodded.“I like the house.And I’m not a bit surprised you live here.”In fact, he thought the place suited her perfectly.Dark and mysterious.With an air of danger.

Perfect Ophelia.

She hurried inside.Her bag hit the wooden floor in the foyer.A crystal chandelier hung overhead, and his gaze traveled up the worn banister and wooden stairs that led to the upper level.Her stairs were black, too.

“Two guest rooms are upstairs.Take your pick of either one.”

So she wasn’t planning to share a room with him.Message received.Now his dick could just settle down.He pushed the door closed.Flipped the lock.

She paced into the den as nervous energy seemed to hum in the air around her.“I can’t believe the cops didn’t listen to me.”

Not that he was defending them, but… “The detectivewaspissed that you’d ignored her orders and gone to see the body.”

“Yes, fine, granted.”

Granted?He almost smiled.He hadn’t truly smiled in ages.After being in the cell for so long, being hunted, Lane hadn’t thought he would ever smile easily again.But Ophelia kept throwing him off his guard.

Her hands flew into the air.“I had useful intel.”Her hands dropped as she kept pacing.“And Benny just shut me down completely.He wouldn’t talk to me at all after the detectives arrived.”

“Because Benny was trying to cover his own ass.”Too late for that.Benny had been busted allowing civilians to view the body.

“If I hadn’t seen the body, he wouldn’t have known how valuable that string was.You heard him.He thought it was a fiber from the pillow.A random thread that had gotten stuck on Thomas’s finger during the struggle.Benny, Detective O’Brien, her partner—they all would have overlooked an important piece of the case.”

He wasn’t so sure the string was important.“You don’t think there’s a chance the string got there the way Benedict thought?During the struggle, itcouldhave just become tangled on his finger.”It wasn’t impossible.“The detective believed that—”

“She’s wrong.Benny is wrong.There is a difference between a tangle and a tie, and I’veseenthat exact knot before.”Her hand raked through her hair.“It’s not a coincidence that he took out Thomas.I collar the killer, and he executes him.No coincidence.”She stopped in front of a gray couch.One with big, fluffy, black pillows.“They didn’t even call the FBI.Itoldthem to bring in the Feds.”

He propped one shoulder against the wall of the den.“Because you think a serial killer is at play.One you murdered.”

Ophelia whirled toward him.“Could be a copycat.Has to be a copycat, doesn’t it?But only a few people knew about the perp’s signature.And those few people are all Feds.The string was never public knowledge.”

Yes, okay, he was bone tired.Hell of a night.Hell of a day.And he was pretty much running on fumes.Lane ambled to her couch.Slid down.Damn comfortable.He rolled back his shoulders and settled in.“Partner, I think you’re gonna need to bring me way more up to speed.”

She did a double take at the wordpartner.Why did she look surprised?She’d been telling the world they were partners.Now he got on board, and Ophelia looked at him as if he had two heads.

And she was also not bringing him up to speed as he’d directed.That had to change.He was missing things about this case.Andnotjust because he was tired.Because Ophelia wasn’t sharing properly.“Lesson six.Don’t keep secrets from your partner.”

“I’m the one training you!You don’t get to add lessons!That’s what I do.”A huff.“That will not be lesson six.”

Fine.For now.“How may vics?”Lane asked.“How long did your killer hunt?”

“He wasnotmy killer.”

“How did you catch him?And when did you kill him?”His gaze swept over her.Delicate.Fragile.That was how she looked, at least to him.Sure, determination and intensity cloaked her, but Ophelia was physically so much smaller than he was.

How had she taken out a killer?And had his death been the reason she left the Bureau?

Her arms wrapped around her body.

She didn’t answer any of his questions.

“I’m at a major disadvantage here,” Lane noted.Was he supposed to operate in the dark?“You know pretty much everything about me, but I know zero about you.”

“Not true.”She wet her lips.“You know what it feels like when I come around your dick.”

He jolted and nearly leapt off the couch.But he caught himself.His hand gripped the arm cushion beside him.Hard.“Trying to distract me?”Because, baby, nice technique.Bravo.One that was definitely working.He’d just gotten a fast and furious memory of being balls deep in her and feeling her inner muscles squeeze him as if they’d never let go.

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