Page 4 of Hidden Hero

“Same as all my procedures. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She snapped off her gloves and shoved them into her pockets. Still blinking at the water dripping into her face, she stepped around them and headed toward her vehicle.

Jeremy turned to watch her retreat, shaking his head slightly.

“Damn, man,” Pete said, shaking his head while a smile curved his lips. “It’s like watching a thirteen-year-old try to flirt!”

“Nothing wrong with my skills.” Jeremy laughed. “She’s the one who needs to loosen up.”

“Six months of you trying to make her smile, and you’re still striking out. Why don’t you just ask her out?”

“Me? Ask her out?” Jeremy laughed. “Hell, no. I’m not interested in dating her. I’m just trying to get a smile, but she’s more a robot than a woman. Maybe if she’d get the stick out of her ass, she’d smile more.”

“Shit,” Pete whispered, his eyes wide as his grin vanished.

As soon as Jeremy spied the regret filling Pete’s face, he knew what he’d find when he turned around. When he slowly rotated his body, his gaze dropped and landed on the petite doctor standing directly behind him. Her headgear was gone, and her now-visible expression remained a tight-lipped mask of control.

“I…” he stammered, heat creeping up his neck. He couldn’t believe that he was in this position. Again.

“Carl just sent the photographs to you. My reports will follow.” With that pronouncement, she turned, and with her head held high, she walked to her vehicle, climbed behind the wheel, and pulled into traffic. She never once looked over at the now red-faced detective who knew his expression held just as much regret as he’d seen on Pete’s face.

Jeremy groaned, running a hand down his face. “Fuckin’ hell.”

Pete’s grin slowly returned. “Man, you really know how to make an impression.”

Jeremy sighed. “Yeah. Just not the right kind.”

3

Cora placed her hands on her hips, stretched her back, and twisted her neck until a satisfying pop eased the tension in her shoulders. As the tightness ebbed away, a soft sigh escaped her lips. Clicking off her mobile dictation device, she shrugged out of her PPE jacket, revealing the scrubs beneath, and tossed the used material into the designated receptacle.

She reserved the full coveralls for when she was out in the field, where she needed to maintain the integrity of the investigative site. In her lab, she wanted to protect her clothing and ensure nothing contaminated the body as she performed the autopsy.

After crossing to her desk, she woke her laptop with a tap and reviewed her dictated notes to ensure they had been properly entered into the case report. Satisfied, she turned back to the lifeless form of Fred Rudolph, ready to have her technicians wrap him with dignity and return him to the mortuary drawer.

As far as Shirley Adams, the older woman killed in the sedan, nothing was suspicious about her death, so an autopsy wasn’t required. But because of the witness statements of his erratic driving and the drugs found at the scene, Cora had performed an autopsy on Mr. Rudolph.

She had pulled his medical records from the local hospital, not surprised to discover the medications found in his system for blood pressure, hypothyroid, and enlarged prostate. NSAIDs for his arthritis. What was surprising was that none of the pills, other than blood pressure medication, were located in the truck. The bagged pills didn’t contain any prescribed for him, and she didn’t find any in his system.So he wasn’t ingesting any drugs that didn’t belong to him but was certainly transporting other prescription drugs somewhere.

While the question hung in her mind, she knew the detectives would have to determine where he got them, why he had them, and where he was taking them.

That last thought brought one drug task force detective—Jeremy Pickett—to the forefront of her mind. The first time she’d met him, she was more concerned with who was contaminating her crime scene. But when his partner, Pete, shifted to the side, allowing her an unobstructed view, her professional mask momentarily faltered.

Cora snorted softly at the memory. She hadn’t wanted to notice him, yet she couldn’t help it. His hair was cropped on the sides and longer on top, casually swept toward his eyes. He reminded her of a little boy overdue for a haircut. But there was nothing boyish about him. She suspected Jeremy was acutely aware of his looks and their effect.

His eyes were mesmerizing, but his smile threatened to steal her breath. Full lips curved up a little higher on one side, giving him a rakish appearance. He was a man who smiled often and knew precisely what his grin did for others.

He was the type who people noticed when he walked into a room. He’d shake hands with men and get clapped on the back while women dropped their panties. She rolled her eyes at the thought, a flush creeping up her neck.Well, there’ll be no panty-dropping here.

The words had become a silent mantra over the past six months, but every time their paths crossed, he seemed determined to charm her, his efforts transparent and unrelenting. And she had to admit, he was charming and funny. And holy hell… gorgeous.

She snorted. She didn’t doubt that from the time he’d hit puberty, maybe even before then, he’d been the cute boy who grew into a gorgeous, confident man. She had no problem with someone being confident, but her earlier years of being around cocky guys had left their mark on her.

Boys in high school teased her because she was short and slow to mature. For some reason, being an intelligent girl who didn’t care for athletics other than running made her a target for the mean girls and the popular boys who ran the school.

Cora couldn’t wait to attend college, seeing it as a fresh start, but soon discovered she never felt at home with the sorority and fraternity mentality of weekend parties, lots of alcohol use and abuse, and having to sleep in the lounge when her roommate had a revolving door of boyfriends spending the night.

Jeremy crossed her mind again. She wondered if he would have felt right at home in that setting.

Her parents had been thrilled with her plans for medical school. For her, it was the only career she wanted. And the idea that she would finally be taken seriously was close to being a reality. However, considering her father was a well-known neurosurgeon in the region, she once again felt she had a target on her back, even at Duke University. She was sometimes treated as though her dad’s prestige made the others critical.

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