Page 36 of Sinful Justice

“Pride, probably.” She pushes my hand away and accepts her new glass of water when Tim wanders by. He’s busy, and his patrons are thirsty, so he gives me a warning look and keeps moving. “You were supposed to exit my life as soon as the sun rose, Archer. But here you are.”

“And here I’m gonna stay.” I walk my fingertips along her thigh and lean in close enough to nibble on the ball of her shoulder. “We’re practically colleagues at this point. We need each other—ya know, for work and stuff.”

“Actually,” she scoffs. “We don’t.” Angling to the right, she moves far enough to rob me of a shoulder to bite. “Did you often accost Doctor Chant for sex, Detective Malone?”

My stiff cock deflates. “No.”

She turns just her head and pins me with a glare. “Then I assure you, sex is not a prerequisite for us to do our jobs. You managed to do it just fine, by your admission, prior to me coming here.”

“Not a prerequisite.” I slide the tip of my finger along the inseam of her pants. “But a fun side perk. I heard you solved the Sarah Smart homicide.”

“We reached a cause of death ruling, yes.”

“And?” I wave for Tim’s attention when he wanders back our way, and a moment later, accept the beer he pours without asking what I want. “What did you rule?”

“Burst mycotic aneurysm. Multiple.”

I wait for her to continue, but when her silence presses against the wall of noise surrounding us, I slide my fingers just a little higher along her thigh and pull her attention back to me. “I didn’t go to medical school, Doc. So you might need to explain those words to me.”

As though exhausted by my lack of education, Minka sighs and spins her water glass on the mahogany countertop to make perfect rings from the condensation. “She had an infection inside her body that went untreated. She’d been prescribed antibiotics a few weeks prior to death to battle what they considered a consistent UTI. She took the antibiotics as advised, thought everything was all better, and left it all alone.

“What actually happened was that infection continued to rage war inside her body. She would have been feeling lethargic in the days leading up to her death. Headaches too, just as the case notes said. Eventually, the infection ate too much, she went to bed that night, no doubt exhausted, and while she slept, she suffered a burst aneurysm that ended her life within seconds. Pain-free. Fast. She wouldn’t have even known it was happening.”

Frowning, I study the little heart inked behind her ear. “So… natural causes?”

“There’s no homicide here, Detective Malone. Let Sarah’s people bury her; her death was a tragedy, but there was no foul play except by a doctor who wasn’t paying attention. But even then, you won’t get a conviction. He did his job, prescribed the ABs, and would have informed her to come back if her issue persisted. His fault lies in poor aftercare.”

“Well… I…” Stunned, I glare and struggle to accept her answer. “And you’re sure?”

Snarling, Minka grabs my hand and throws it off her lap with a shove strong enough to make my torso jerk. “Do not doubt me, Detective Malone, or I’ll ban you from my building and have you using another team on the other side of the city to close your cases.”

Pushing up to stand, she places her half-empty glass on the silver grate where Tim pours drinks while the grooves in the steel catch spillover, then turning away, she walks fast enough she probably thinks she can escape me.

I lift my beer and chug half in one large gulp, then I set it beside her glass and spin off the stool to find her already halfway across the room. Aubree and Fletch laugh by the pool tables, taking pleasure in the way I strike out with the delectable Doctor Mayet, but in the time it takes Minka to swing her coat on, I push through the crowd and stop only when my chest touches her back and my hands help her finish with her flimsy coat.

It’s freezing outside, we’re still a month away from the weather breaking and the spring-like warmth trickling in to stop the snow from sticking. But for some reason, the educated doctor wears a coat thinner than my shirt.

“Stay away from me, Detective Malone. I don’t want to spend my downtime with you.”

“You were fine with it on Saturday.”

I wrap my arm around her torso and grin when her eyes whip to mine. But I don’t dwell, and I sure as hell don’t give her time to question me on it. Pushing forward, I herd the woman through the doors and onto the sidewalk outside, and when she shivers from the cold, I wrap her up that much tighter and pause at the road.

“We could turn left and go to my place for a repeat of what we already enjoyed. Or we could turn right and head to your apartment—though I should warn you, we’ll still be doing the thing we already enjoyed.”

“How do you know where I live?” She turns in the cold and looks up with lips that are already hinting at blue again. “Stalk much?”

I scoff. “I’m a cop, lady. It’s literally what I do.”

And because she’s so fucking cold, I lead her toward her building door. It’s faster than if we go to mine, and her susceptibility to the cold makes my palms sweat.

Minka doesn’t want to walk with me, she sure as hell doesn’t want to lead me to her apartment, but I’m stronger than her, broader, and I’m determined to get her warm and inside, which means I spin her away from me, but then I plaster my chest to her back and lead her through the glass doors and past a curious Steve as he stands by his door.

“You’re not invited into my apartment, Archer.”

On the second-floor landing, I grin and counter with, “So I guess I’ll break in.”

“I don’t want you to come up with me.”

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