Joint Investigation. Terri Reed

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      “Be right out,” she called.

      She removed her stocking cap and let her hair fall to her shoulders. She finger combed the long strands as best she could then tied them back with a scrunchie she’d found in a pocket. She pinched her cheeks to give her face some color, but the dark circles of fatigue rimming her eyes were a lost cause. What did it matter, anyway? She wasn’t trying to impress Drew.

      She stuffed the cap into her pocket before opening the door. Drew stood with one shoulder propped against the wall, his tall, lean frame relaxed. Handsome. The thought invaded her mind. The man was definitely good-looking, even with the signs of fatigue around his eyes and the day’s growth of beard shadowing his strong jawline.

      He’d changed into navy khakis and a collared shirt beneath a jacket with the letters RCMP on the breast pocket, and on the back, as she’d seen earlier. Like hers. Only she had no jurisdiction here.

      Despite her badge, at the moment she wasn’t acting as an agent of the United States but as a woman obsessed with finding a killer who’d murdered her best friend.

      Drew pushed away from the wall. “Where are you staying?”

      She gave him the name of a popular hotel chain in downtown Vancouver, then followed him to his vehicle where she settled into the passenger seat and let her curiosity about the man driving prompt her to ask, “How long have you been with the RCMP?”

      “I was born into it,” he said with a grin.

      She made a face. “What?”

      “My dad’s a retired Mountie. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to follow in his footsteps.”

      She wondered what Drew had been like as a kid. A strange tenderness filled her as she imagined a dark-haired boy hero-worshipping his father.

      For the next ten minutes they chatted, keeping the conversation light and discovering similar tastes in movies and book genres. Drew followed the National Hockey League, while she could recite pro-football stats. She found him to be engaging and easy to be with. Strange considering their meeting. She’d have guessed they wouldn’t find so much to talk about. But when it came right down to it, they were more alike than was comfortable but for some reason she didn’t mind.

      Drew pulled up in front of her hotel. Sami opened her door, grateful that for a few minutes she’d let herself be normal and been able to push thoughts of Birdman to the back burner. She had this man to thank. He’d made it easy to take a moment to breathe before she rushed back into her investigation. “Thank you for...well, everything.”

      “My pleasure, Sami.”

      When Drew turned off the engine, tension rushed into tight a knot in her tummy. It was one thing to let down her guard for the drive over but another completely for him to come to her hotel room door. “You don’t have to walk me up.”

      “I don’t have to but it’s the polite thing to do.” He climbed from the vehicle before she could protest further.

      Nerves on the edge of snapping, she decided not to fight him on this. She wanted to hang on to the last remnants of peace in the hope she might sleep tonight. She’d heard Canadians were super polite and friendly. He was living up to the reputation.

      The doorman opened the glass door to allow them entrance. Sami smiled her thanks. Soft classical music played in the lobby. The polished marble floors gleamed and teakwood accents added texture, while plush, comfortable seating arrangements invited private conversations.

      After nodding a greeting to the concierge, they took the elevator to the second floor. She slid her electronic key in the lock, waited for the green light, then pushed open the door. Darkness lay within.

      Confusion made her hesitate. The overspill of the hallway light reached a few feet in front of her. She frowned and hovered on the threshold.

      Drew stepped close, so close she could feel the heat from his body battling the sudden chill chasing down her spine. “Something wrong?”

      “I left a light on when I headed out.”

      “Most likely the maid turned it off after cleaning your room.”

      Though that sounded plausible, the need for caution didn’t ease. She stepped inside the room and groped the wall for the light switch. When she flipped it, nothing happened. Her stomach knotted. She withdrew her sidearm.

      Drew’s hand on her shoulder gently nudged her aside so he could step past her and move farther into the darkened room. Normally, she’d balk if a man took the lead away from her. She wouldn’t let anyone view her as less because she was a woman. But since she had no jurisdiction here and, frankly, was a little freaked out, she allowed him to enter first.

      The curtains were drawn; however, a little light from the parking lot outside slipped through the edges, enough to cast gray shadows. Sami’s breathing slowed as she strained to listen. Was someone in the room?

      She followed Drew deeper into the gloom. Heard him try the table lamp. But the room remained dark.

      When she felt the air move, she whipped toward her left. A hissing sound filled her head and something hit her in the face, stinging her eyes, her nose, her mouth.

      Pepper spray!

      She gagged and spit. Fear fisted in her chest.

      Drew’s guttural growl said he, too, had been squirted with the offending substance.

      They were both vulnerable and the thought terrified her.

      Suddenly, the floor-length curtains on the other side of the room were yanked aside. Light from the hotel’s back parking lot filled the room. Sami blinked back the tears of stinging pain. She could make out a dark figure at the patio door. She raised her gun but the intruder slid open the glass door and escaped over the balcony and into the night before she could sight down the barrel.

      Drew gave chase, disappearing behind the assailant.

      She stumbled forward intent on pursuit but she made it only to the sliding door before Drew returned.

      He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket and growled, “I couldn’t see which way he went.”

      A sense of urgency gripped her. “Come on—we need to wash this stuff off.” She groped for his hand and latched on to lead him to the bathroom.

      Thankfully, the light in the bathroom worked. She turned the cold water on, grabbed two washcloths from the rack and drenched them before handing one to Drew and using one herself.

      After a few minutes the burning from the pepper spray was relatively under control. Drew found a pile of lightbulbs on the bed. He screwed one into the table lamp and turned it on. The warm glow expelled the shadows.

      Sami’s gaze caught on the wall above the king-size bed. Her heart slammed into her ribs so hard she put a hand over her chest to protect herself.

      Drew’s shocked hiss echoed in the stillness of the room.

      Her mouth went dry.

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