AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He lost his train of thought for a moment. That happened when an unsuspecting guy looked at her. He was just now starting to get used to it.
Standing in the conference room door, staring at everything he had done so far, was his newest partner in Major Crimes. Lieutenant Heather Holly Coleson—one of the scariest women in existence. One of the hottest, certainly—but definitely one of the scariest.
There were multitudes of incredibly terrifying women at the Finley Creek TSP now. More than there had been three years ago, right before Major Crimes was formed. That was for sure. Most of those demon women worked in the forensics department. Two of them worked Major Crimes now. Heather Coleson and Lila Dodson—a pair of beautiful women who terrified every man who got too close.
They liked it that way.
But this most terrifying one was his partner.
On every case but this one.
This case was Jarrod’s. Completely.
He and Heather were the Major Crimes: Cold Case division now.
Jarrod appreciated her opinions—no denying that. Scariest woman in Major Crimes, yes. Most intelligent cop in Major Crimes—even after only a month or so of working with her, he was absolutely certain of it. The woman was brilliant.
Heather’s mind was phenomenal. The package was phenomenal. No denying that. But so was the bite. “Not obsessive. Determined. You can look. But you can’t touch.”
He wanted to know if she saw the connections he did. She couldn’t officially work the case with him—her family members had been victims of the cases involved, they’d had some really shitty bad luck, her family—but he wanted to know what she thought.
Heather very well could see connections he couldn’t. The woman was good at seeing connections in random things. Scarily so.
She stared at the board. Reached up and touched Eastman’s face. That sick bastard had stalked Heather’s family for decades. And nearly killed her sister and several of Heather’s nieces. “You think he…was a part of this underworld theory of yours.”
“I think he was a tentacle of it, yes. I think someone out there knew what he was a part of. This city is too damned small for what he was doing to have occurred in a complete vacuum. I just need to find that someone. That’s my ultimate goal. If I find the lynchpin, I can unravel everything.”
“I hope you do. And I hope we get a chance to fry them.” A look of pain passed over her face—her beautiful face. Heather was five ten, athletic, and toned, if a bit on the skinny side, with long dark hair, pale skin, killer dark eyes and a phenomenal smile.
Now, gorgeous she may have been—but that whole scariest woman in the TSP thing, it was real. And had him keeping his hands off. No matter what.
He saw where she was looking. Big surprise. Gregory Eastman was the boogeyman in Heather’s nightmares, he suspected. “That bastard…nearly destroyed us. If someone was helping him, then I want them to pay, too.”
“Hands off my case, though.” Jarrod sent her a firm look of his own. They were still trying to figure out who was fully in charge of the Cold Case division. It probably should be him, since he had been there first. But…well…she might be a lot better at dealing with the headache of being in charge than he would. Maybe they’d just flip a coin. Or take turns. Eventually. “I’m watching you.”
He had been—something was bothering that scary creature. He’d noticed it that morning, when she should have been paying attention when they were discussing the potential transfers Wichita Falls was pushing on Major Crimes. Everyone knew the guy would be a plant. Wichita Falls was spying again. There had been six potential names read off, with bios. Daniel had asked for objections or if anyone knew the people involved.
Heather had stood up, said she knew all six and they were all bad news.
Then she’d sat back down and gone silent. She hadn’t said another word. No one had pushed her, but Jarrod knew Daniel would corner this creature about those names when he could.
Heather had paled and pulled into herself. Jarrod was still trying to figure out why.
Unless she was afraid she’d be transferred out to make room for this new guy.
That would never happen. Major Crimes had voted to keep their pet Heather, after all. She fit. Like she was meant to be there with them, no matter what.
“I want copies of what was found in his computer. I’ve put in a request to speak with your pal Marshall. It involves my family. I should have access. I don’t like being stonewalled like this. It’s been almost four months—what are they waiting for?”
Major Crimes had limited access to the Eastman case two months before this woman had transferred in. Only a handful of people could access it at all. It connected to the governor and a multibillionaire, after all.
Heather wasn’t one of those people with access. It pissed her off. Jarrod was more on her side now. She deserved answers, too. She just wasn’t getting them.
“You’ll get it eventually. I’ll talk to the chief and McKellen myself. But to be honest, there isn’t much there. Even encrypted. I’m not so sure we have all of his records. It just doesn’t seem possible. The guy escaped detection for thirty-five years—I seriously doubt everything he had was right there in that house on those hard drives and a handful of memory cards. It just doesn’t make sense.” No—he wasn’t stupid. Eastman had had more evidence somewhere. Jarrod was still searching for it.
“You’ll keep looking?”
“I won’t stop.” He meant that. What Eastman had done to Heather’s family sickened him. Heather and her sisters, her nieces—they deserved to know the truth. “As soon as I know the full truth, I’ll share it with you myself. Even off the record, if I have to. I’m still working it. I promise. You have my word.”
