Read Online Jamie Hill Triple Threat by Jamie Hill - Free Book Online

to stop.
    He pulled back slowly from her. They didn’t look at each other, and didn’t speak as he gathered up his paperwork and shoved it in his jacket pocket. He was putting the jacket on when they heard a car alarm sound from the street.
    He swore and raced to the door.
    “Yours?” she assumed. He nodded as he headed to the stairwell. “Call me!” she yelled after him, and Jack was gone.
    He was sucking wind when he reached the front door to the building. He slammed it open and saw his truck, intact at first glance. He pushed the button on his keychain to stop the alarm. He walked around the truck and didn’t notice anything out of order. He leaned down with his hands on his knees until his breathing evened out.
    Something caught his eye in the shadows and Jack spoke up. “Hey, Ralph.”
    “I scared them off for you, Detective Dunlevy,” he murmured.
    Jack pulled out his wallet and removed a five-dollar bill. He took a step closer to Ralph, cringing slightly at the smell, and extended the bill. “Thanks, Ralph. I appreciate it.”
    Ralph snatched the money. “Yeah, sure, Detective Dunlevy. Anytime. Thanks, Detective Dunlevy.” He disappeared back into the gloom.
    Jack unlocked the truck and got in. It started fine. He felt under the seat for his gun. It was stupid to leave it out here in this neighborhood, but he didn’t think he should wear it into the apartment with the children. He’d have to figure that one out. He drove, thinking he'd need to get Dave’s phone number to call Crystal at the apartment when his cell phone vibrated. He whipped it out and looked at the number:  Unknown .
    “Dunlevy,” he wheezed into the phone, his breathing almost but not quite back to normal.
    “Your truck okay?” Crystal asked nervously.
    “Yeah. It’s my heart that’s questionable. I thought I was in better shape than that.”
    “Seem like you’re in pretty good shape to me,” she murmured seductively.
    He chuckled. “Yeah, well…Sorry I had to rush off.”
    “Maybe it was for the best. I’m sorry about tonight.”
    “What part? Polishing off the fries that I wasn’t finished with?”
    “No,” she laughed softly. “The part where I kissed you, even after you said you didn’t want me to.”
    “I never said I didn’t want you to. I said I couldn’t. Shouldn’t . There’s a huge difference.”
    “Explain it to me.”
    He scrunched up his face. With his left hand on the steering wheel, he used his right—still holding the phone—to scratch his head. Putting the phone back to his ear, he heard, “Hello? Hello? Never mind…”
    “Crys,” he began quietly, “I have a job to do. If I start thinking about you…say for instance, how beautiful you are and how much I’d love to yank that clip out and run my hands through your hair…Well now, see, that might be a distraction.”
    She chuckled softly again. “I’m glad you haven’t thought about it, then. I wouldn’t want to distract you.”
    “No, we wouldn’t want that,” he agreed.
    “I haven’t been thinking about you, either,” she said demurely. “I haven’t been thinking about kissing your earlobes and working my way down to your toes.”
    Jack’s erection immediately sprang back to life. He groaned into the phone. “My truck is trying to turn itself around. I’m having a hell of a time fighting it. But the one thing that’s saving me is this. I’m not doing anything at that guy’s apartment. I don’t care if you change the sheets from now ‘til the cows come home.”
    Crystal snickered. “Lucky for us my place is right next door. We’ll figure it out, Jack. We’ve got some time yet.”
    “A little added motivation for me to solve this case.”
    “Little?” she teased.
    He pictured the swell of her voluminous breasts and groaned again. “No, not little at all.”
    Her laugh was seductive and driving him crazy. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
    Probably for the best, he thought. “Good night, Crys,” he said