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“Only a dead man’s, in the current state or soon to be,” I gritted out, the idea of her touching anyone besides me or Jameson making jealousy spike.

“You’re so sweet when you get all murder-y.” Reaching into his front pocket, Rain withdrew a thin credit card holder and flipped it over, showing me the license on the opposite side. “As you requested.”

After snapping on a pair of gloves, I took it from her and angled it into the light to read the name.

“Parker Jacobs.” I studied the picture, then looked at the victim’s face. “That’s him all right.” Grabbing an evidence bag from the nearby crime scene tech, I dropped the card holder inside and sealed the tape. “Let’s show this to the bartender and see if she remembers any—”

“Did y’all hear that?” Rain stood quickly, teetering on her high heels. I wrapped a steadying hand around her elbow to keep her from falling onto the body.

“Hear what?” I asked, hand automatically sliding toward my Glock.

Rain’s lips dipped into a frown. “I don’t know. It sounded like someone talking or muttering, maybe.”

“Did you clear the scene?” I snapped at the officer hovering close by.

His eyes went wide as he nodded. “We did an initial sweep, but did we search inside every car? No. We needed to get the scene taped off quick. A drunk couple almost tripped over the body.”

“I’m on it,” Jameson said, his voice carrying over the now deathly quiet parking lot. “You stay with Rain.”

Without waiting for a response, he pulled his gun free and started toward the row of parked cars.

“It could’ve been nothing,” Rain whispered. “I might be mistaken—”

“Or not. They didn’t completely clear the scene if they didn’t check the cars. Plus, there’s another point of entry where—”

“Someone get the fucking medics over here. Now!” Jameson’s bellow rang through the night.

Stunned, I didn’t react when Rain jerked out of my hold and started toward Jameson, where he stood waving both arms in the air a few cars down. Before she could get close, I wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Let me go,” she hissed. “I can help.”

The insistent urge to keep her from danger told me to keep her close and not let go, but as much as I wanted to protect her, I also needed to let Rain be Rain at the same time. My jaw worked back and forth as I debated what to do.

“Fine. Together, though.”

With a huff, she nodded in agreement.

The second we rounded the bumper of a car, giving us a clear view of what Jameson found, Rain dropped to her knees beside the woman lying face up on the pavement. Fingers pressed to the woman’s slender throat, Rain’s shoulders sagged, signaling she’d found a pulse and the woman was alive. Next, Rain shifted to examine the woman’s eyes, lifting one eyelid and then the other while shining her cell’s flashlight into them. The unknown woman moaned, head lolling side to side in protest.

“I can smell the alcohol on her from here,” Rain muttered to herself. “But this seems like more than the effects of too much to drink. Her breathing… it’s shallow. Too shallow.” She turned her face up to mine. “We need to get her to the hospital now in case she took something or was unknowingly drugged.”

I glanced toward the opening of the alley, where the ambulance lights still flashed. “Can I move her?”

“I don’t… I don’t know. There aren’t any signs of neck or spine trauma, but—”

Good enough for me.

One arm beneath her neck, the other under her knees, I cradled the woman to my chest. Knees and lower back screaming in pain, I lifted the limp body into the air. Careful to not jostle her too much, I slowly jogged toward the opening of the alley where the medics had finally appeared.

“Pull out the gurney,” I demanded.

One look at the woman in my arms spurred them into action, one hopping into the ambulance to pull out the rolling bed.

Once it was out and secure, I gently laid her on the thin padding. “She needs oxygen now. The ME thinks either alcohol poisoning or drugs. We need to get her to the hospital immediately and run a full toxicology panel—”

“Slade.” I twisted around to face Jameson, who had a small baggie with trace amounts of white powder inside pinched between two fingers. “Rain searched the dead fucker’s pockets and found this. Look familiar to you?”

“Is that fucking ketamine? Damnit.” Before the EMTs could shut the back doors, I hauled myself inside the ambulance. “Stay with Rain. Run point on the investigation for me until I get back. I’m going with her.” I nodded to the EMT holding the doors, and he slammed them shut, sealing me inside.

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