Page 61 of Hell’s Half Acre

“Come here.”

She moved closer.

He held his hand up. “Smell this.”

She recoiled. “Gross! No! Are you kidding? Disgusting!”

Smirking, he gave her a droll glare. “You don’t have to lean that close. Just lean forward a little bit and inhale.”

Not sure she wanted to, she did as he said. Then she frowned too. “What is that?”

“Caramel.”

“As in the candy?”

He sniffed it. “Yeah. I think so.”

“Where was it?”

“It’s on the front of his shirt. Mostly covered in blood.”

“Why?”

He stood up before he answered. “If I knew the answer automatically, we’d be called psychics instead of detectives. Now that I detected it, I’ll have to figure it out.”

The urge to kick him was very strong. Good thing the smart-ass dwarfed her, or she might have yielded to the urge. “You do remember that I shot my last partner, right?”

His gorgeous amber gaze captured hers. “And you do remember that even shooting me with hellfire bullets won’t hurt me, but it will piss me off to no uncertain end.”

She tsked. “That’s not a deterrent given how cute you are when you’re pissed.”

Snorting, he moved away to scan the ground.

Sorcha had no idea what had made her say that. The man definitely brought out the evil in her sometimes.

Then again, as the son of the devil, he tended to do that to a lot of people.

Sorcha turned around and started away when she ran into someone. As she opened her mouth to apologize, she looked up and gasped.

Remiel.

Luke’s angel friend. Almost as tall as Luke, he had shoulder-length wavy blond hair. Normally, he kept it pulled back from his face in a ponytail. Today, he wore it loose to fall around his muscled shoulders.

“Hi, Remi.” It always amazed her that he was able to come and go at crime scenes without the unis or other detectives questioning him. But then given his angelic powers, it shouldn’t surprise her at all.

He inclined his head to her. “Detective.”

She glanced back at the body. “Are you here to collect his soul?”

He shook his head dispassionately. “He wasn’t one of ours. I’m actually here because of what happened to you.”

That made her stomach draw tight. “How do you mean?”

“Come with me.” He actually took her hand and led her to Luke, who had his back to them.

Unsure of what to think, she allowed him to lead her.

Luke turned around with a frown. “I know this isn’t a friendly visit.”