Cold Case Connection : The Body Hunters

by Kathleen Long

• ISBN13: 9780373693276
• ISBN10: 0373693273
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-05-13
• Publisher: Harlequin

Summary

The case may have gone ice-cold, but the connection between a veteran detective and a rookie agent was burning hot!Cameron Hughes never thought he'd meet his match in a determined--but inexperienced--undercover agent with a heart of gold. Somehow, though, Lily Christides had got under the detective's incredibly thick skin and wouldn't let go. Now, as they worked 24/7 on two unsolved cases, Cam was finding it increasingly difficult to resist taking her to bed and driving her to the point of no return. Then an elusive killer made it known Lily was next on his list, and Cam's passion turned to protection. Cam knew being her personal bodyguard was the best chance they had at containing the threats to her life. But what force was strong enough to contain their barely controlled attraction?

Excerpts

Philadelphia homicide detective Cameron Hughes didn't know who he was more pissed off at. The prosecutor's crack team of lawyers who'd mucked up his case seven years earlier, or the body lying in the middle of the kitchen.Nicole Christides.She'd no doubt been murdered by Buddy Grey as some sort of sick thank you for her work in overturning the conviction Cam had busted his hump for years earlier.She'd last been seen at the news station a bit before five o'clock tonight. They'd found her body thanks to an overzealous assistant who went looking for the star reporter after she failed to show for a meeting with a network executive.Cam directed a sharp nod at the nearest crime-scene technician. "Anything?"The young man pursed his lips. "Nothing obvious. Won't know until I process everything. The place is so clean I'd swear someone's already done this." He nodded toward the vacuum in his hand.Cam glared at the small vacuum used for gathering trace evidence. He already knew what they'd find back at the lab. Nothing.Grey was too careful. He was too smart. With the exception of the one time he'd left a hair behind on a victim.A single hair Cam had used to nail the case that should have put the man away forever.The prosecutor's office had broken the chain of custody, flushing Grey's guilty verdict down the toilet thanks to crack reporter Nicole Christides.Cam stole a quick glance at her battered body and groaned. He raked a hand across his face and stepped back out of the kitchen. He'd never been a fan, but no one deserved to die like this. Not even a pain-in-the-neck reporter with nothing better to do than set serial killers free."You'll call me as soon as you're done processing the scene?""Will do." The tech's voice trailed Cam as he headed into the brownstone's center hall toward the victim's office.Cam patted his pocket, longing for the cigarettes he'd given up three years earlier. Instead he found the ever-present pack of gum he carried to fill the void of craving his nasty habit had left behind.He unwrapped a piece, folded the sugary stick into his mouth and waited for a sense of comfort that never came.The homicide response team moved through the victim's brownstone with a precision choreographed by years of practice and experience. Outside, the strobe lights of emergency vehicles filled the night, matched only by the glare of television and newspaper cameras.A throng of reporters swarmed the sidewalk and street, waiting for word on the fate of one of their own, no doubt hoping for the darkest, grittiest, most sensational headline possible.Cam wasn't sure of a lot in life, but at that moment he was sure of two things.The reporters outside were not going to be disappointed.And he and his team were in for a long, long night.LILY CHRISTIDES STARED OUT the window at the Philadelphia skyline as the pilot announced the plane's descent.As part of her covert work with a group of private individuals known as The Body Hunters, she had to be willing to drop her life at a moment's notice to respond to the ticking clock of a new case.The Body Clock, they called it. A tool The Body Hunters used in their searches for missing victims or at-large criminals.Never had she dreamed the clock would be ticking for her sister's killer. She brushed a fresh round of tears from beneath her eyes and did her best to focus on the facts of her sister's murder and not the emotions.Even though she'd recently been on assignment on Isle de Cielo, Lily had caught the news of Buddy Grey's release from Graterford Prison.The police had apparently chosen Grey as their number one person of interest in Nicole's murder. The method matched the earlier crimes to a tee, yet Lily wasn't buying the theory.Nicole was too smart to have been killed by Grey. She'd believed in the man's innocence. She never would have worked to free him otherwise.Nicole had proven the prosecutor's office mishandled evi