Panic Room by Patti Larsen

Author:Patti Larsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: vampire, murder mystery, werewolf, women detective, paranormal murder mystery
Publisher: Patti Larsen

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INT. – THE PANIC ROOM – NIGHT

Gerri’s apprehension the guilty party would pull out a gun and shoot them all seemed to be a weaponless cop’s fears and not a possible fact as time ticked on. She lost none of her tension, but did relent in her refusal to allow any of them near her.

Especially with the new information Kinsey gave her. Maybe it was just coincidence Alan Jenkins and the congressman’s daughter had a thing, but Gerri didn’t believe in random what ifs. And, as she stepped past Doug to talk to the young aide, she noticed not only did Alan have blue all over his hands, it was now on the dark charcoal of his pants and the left side of his white dress shirt just visible under his jacket lapel.

“What do you have in your jacket?” Sure, he could have simply put his phone away, or reached for his wallet. But, the stiff way he stood when she brought it up, how he turned his shoulders away from her, told Gerri he was hiding something.

And he smelled like fear, didn’t he? Time to make good on her threat and search them all, staring with Jenkins.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Liar. Her gut growled at him. He seemed very well aware and, though likely a good deceiver under normal circumstances, not everyone held up well under this kind of pressure.

Gerri refrained from manhandling him only because the captain and mayor were there. Damn it. “How long did you work for the congressman?” If he was new, he might have some kind of ulterior motive, a reason for being here, for luring Barnes’s daughter.

“A month.” Alan swallowed hard. He must have known how bad that looked.

“Less,” Meredith spoke up, her voice sharp. Gerri didn’t take her eyes off Alan, circling him slowly in the small space permitting as she went on. “And your resume had holes, as I recall.”

“The congressman didn’t seem to think so.” He adjusted his suit, nervousness a red flag for Gerri. The more she circled, the more agitated he became. But, was he capable of murder?

“Belle liked you,” Linda spoke up for the first time since announcing her husband was dead downstairs. Her tone came across as dull, lifeless. Uninterested. “You’re here only because Belle asked him to hire you.”

“How very interesting,” Gerri said, stopping in front of the young aide, looking down at him. Okay, so she rather liked her high heels at the moment. Even in her boots she would have had four or five inches on him. In these things? Easily another three. “And problematic for me, Alan.” She casually brushed imaginary lint from his lapel, smiling at him. “Now, why don’t you tell me why you befriended the congressman’s daughter and why it was you really wanted a job with him?”

Sweat. She loved it, not for its own sake. For the scents it carried. The way it gathered and dripped down his temple, the flush of his cheeks, how he cleared his throat and tried to back away with limited room to retreat.

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