That handsome face broke into a grin. “Good, because I want you too. And as long as were committed to each other—”
“—and no blonde, gorgeous detectives—”
He kissed her. “—that’s all that we need to know for sure right now.”
“Then kiss me, Captain Hot Lips, and let’s not let this gorgeous hotel suite go to waste.”
“Oh, I’m going to do a lot more than kiss you.”
All she could do was hold on to him as he did.
ALOUDBANGINGon the hotel door jerked Tanner completely awake. He immediately reached for his Glock on the bedside table, quickly getting his bearings.
Bree rolled over in the bed, muttering, “Want to sleep.”
The pounding on the door came again. Tanner slipped on his boxers and glanced at his phone. It was 4:30 a.m. He cursed when he saw he’d missed a dozen messages from Whitaker, since his phone had been on silent so Bree could get some sleep.
Sure enough when he looked out the hotel door security hole, there was Whitaker.
Tanner opened the door. “You do know it’s four thirty in the morning, right?”
Whitaker didn’t crack a smile. “We need you and Bree back at the station right away. We’ve got a situation.”
Tanner left the door open for Whitaker to enter and grabbed his jeans from the bathroom, slipping them on. “Are you sure she has to come with us? She’s still pretty wiped from yesterday.”
Whitaker shook his head grimly. “Yes, unfortunately we need her more than we even need you. We just received more footage.”
Shock shot through Tanner’s body. “What? I don’t understand. Could it have been previously recorded?”
Whitaker shrugged. “It doesn’t look like it, but let’s hope so.”
“Did Elliot Webster have a second victim somewhere? A partner?”
“We’re trying to figure out exactly what is going on. Jeremy is still in the hospital because of his burns, and Penelope is hesitant to bring an unknown person into the case at this point. So Bree is the best option.”
“What’s going on?” Bree said from the bed, sitting up and holding the sheet pulled up to her body.
“I’ll wait outside.” Whitaker immediately turned and walked out the door.
Tanner walked over to the bed. “We’ve got a problem, freckles. More footage arrived at the station. With Jeremy at the hospital they need you to authenticate it and let us know what is going on—whether it’s old or new.”
She stretched like a sleepy kitten, then rubbed her eyes. He should’ve let her sleep last night instead of keeping them both awake half the night. But neither of them had seemed to be able to get enough of each other. It was like both of them wanted to resolidify whatever parts had become shaky over the last few days.
And they had. Their bond was 100 percent secure. They still needed to work out the details about what their always was going to look like, but that was all it was: details. That ring was still in his jacket pocket. As soon as the time was right he was going to slip it on her finger.
He tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. “You go hop in the shower. I’ll get us some coffee. It’s time to go back to work.”
Chapter Eleven
There was a skeleton crew working at command central when they got there. Penelope gave them both a solemn nod. “Thank you for coming in again. We are a little bit shaken up by this footage and just want to know what we’re dealing with.”
Bree sat down and pulled up the footage. Tanner hated to see the pinched look back in her eyes.
None of them spoke as they watched twenty-four seconds of what looked to be Jean Adams back in that damned water coffin. She wasn’t talking, wasn’t crying, but did seem to be lying there muttering something. With the voice modulator it was impossible to make out her words.
When the footage shut off, they all looked over at Bree.
She shook her head, looking confused. “I need a few minutes to see what I can figure out.”
