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he couldn't solve the case. His face, which had slowly returned to its usual pasty pallor, reddened again.
    "If you do not cooperate and answer my questions, I will charge you with obstruction of justice ," he blustered, but I knew it was hot air. He had nothing.
    "So you'll arrest me because I spoke to a guy? Mighty protective of you, Detective." I smiled, injecting a little charm into the turn to my lips. "I always knew there was a reason you followed me around twenty -four seven, Detective. I just never realized it was because you had the hots for me."
    A snort of laughter emanated from his dark-haired partner and I tilted my head to address him. "So who are you supposed to be? You the latest sorry sucker they found to babysit this fool?" I pointed a thumb at Fulbright , who choked with fury at my words. Not that being polite to Fulbright had ever been my strong suit.
    The stranger bowed his head, a little dip that revealed a hint of his eyes behind the tops of his sunglasses, along with a tantalizing few inches of skin at his neckline - skin covered in dark swirling tattoos. My stomach tightened, and I found it a bit hard to breathe. I had to force myself to concentrate when he spoke. "My name is Saleem. I'm assigned to partner Detective Fulbright for a short period of time. I'm sort of on temporary loan." His voice was smooth, liquid gold wrapping itself around me.
    He extended his hand and I took it , but instead of shaking it like a normal person would I froze. The rush of sensations that sparked through my fingers wasn't what had caught my attention, though it was strong enough to take my breath away. Although I was primarily a tracker, I possessed additional abilities many other trackers didn't. For instance, I was able to sense the magical ward around my house and would probably know if someone tried to tamper with it. At the moment, the mere touch of my hand to Saleem's told me he was Djinn.
    I must have been silent for too long. It gave Fulbright's fury a chance to simmer. "You can give Saleem his hand back and answer my damned questions," he snapped. But even as he spoke, his tone distracted me. Maybe it was the way he spoke the djinn's name, and the expression on his face as he said it, like he'd just thrown up and still had the taste of vomit in his mouth. I glared at him, then glanced back at Saleem who'd been watching me with very observant eyes. He knew I'd picked up on Fulbright's tone, but his only response was a 'that's life' shrug.
    I, on the other hand, wasn't calm. I was furious.
    I turned to Fulbright, intending to give him the tongue-lashing he deserved but Saleem cut me off. "It was good meeting you, Morgan. Have a nice day." With that he returned to the car and climbed in, all the while those deep dark eyes never left my face once. I shivered - the nice kind. Fulbright still stood there as if waiting for something. Oh, yes, those damned questions.
    "Okay , Detective, I'll answer your questions." A triumphant smile appeared on Fulbright's lips, then vanished as I spoke. "No, I didn't kill my parents. No, I didn't kill my sister. And no, I won't talk to you about Martin Cross because if he wanted you to know what we discussed, he would tell you himself since you were the lead on his daughter's case. Now since there isn't any law against me talking to Cross I will do so when and where I please. If you want to stop me, get a restraining order or something. Otherwise, leave me the fuck alone." He'd remained silent as I spoke, face taking on a vicious purple hue. I turned on my heel and walked back to my truck, sensing that any kind of proximity to the detective would be dangerous. More dangerous for him, but he didn't need to know that.
    He took a step toward me and a horn blared. Saleem had saved me from another dose of Fulbright's fury. The detective gave me one last disgusted glare and stalked off to his vehicle. I waited for the cops to leave my street before I started the truck and headed off in the