Cado Read Free Page A

considered that, and was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. As I approached him I allowed myself to appreciate the uniformed yumminess that I previously hadn’t. He was tall, about 6’3” or 6’4” if I had to guess. His square jaw was clean-shaven but stubble was already showing because of his dark coloring. His hair was short but it looked good on him, it served to highlight his strong features and deep chocolate eyes.  Yep…definitely yummy .
    “Sooo…” I drawled out, my voice definitely huskier than I wanted it to sound. “What can I do for you, officer?”
    He pushed off the wall and stood up straight, dropping his arms to his sides. “Do you always answer the door naked?” His features were a mask of indifference but his eyes danced with amusement.
    I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “No. But I was sleeping and didn’t really take stock of my clothing or lack there of. I just wanted whoever was pounding on my door to stop.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared up at him. “Can we get to the point of your visit? I really would like to go back to sleep ASAP.”
    He cleared his throat and seemed to shift into business mode. “Right. Your employer, Bert…called the precinct to come check on you. With some of the stuff that’s happened around the club lately…he was concerned.”
    I idly wondered if Officer Hotty was from Pittsburgh. He didn’t have the Yinzer accent I’d been hearing a lot around town. I quirked an eyebrow. “Do the Pittsburgh Police usually run off to check on people like that? I mean, I was at work last night and—”
    “No one’s heard from you in two days,” Officer Hotty interjected. “And no, usually with your…profession and situation I wouldn’t have been sent here. But in light of the murders…” His voice trailed off as if he was uncomfortable saying anymore.
    “I—well—I—” My mind was reeling. Two days? What the hell happened to me? A wave of nausea washed over me and I clutched my stomach. I was really beginning to think someone had drugged me. It would explain…well everything. “I don’t know what happened.” And that thought was literally making me ill. “I mean, I was at the club, and well—” I couldn’t exactly tell him the rest… That I thought I’d had the shit beaten out of me, and then someone healed me. Not that I really believed any of that had actually happened but— “I think someone must have drugged me. I just don’t know what happened and I have no other reasonable explanation.”
    My knees buckled and Officer Hotty scooped me up in his arms. If I weren’t on the verge of a panic attack I probably would have taken advantage of the situation. It’d been quite some time since I’d gotten intimate with anything non-battery operated. “I’ve got you,” he rasped, turning for the door. “I’m going to take you to the hospital.”
    I sniggered, my mind had stalled on his ‘I’ve got you’ line. “You’ve got me? Who’s got you?” I mumbled.
    Officer Hotty snorted. “Did you really just quote the seventies version of the Superman movie to me?”
    I met his deep chocolate gaze and interlaced my fingers around his neck. I was suddenly embarrassed. “You knew what I was referencing.” I grimaced and buried my face in his shirt, getting a bit too comfortable with a strange man. “I’m the one going to the hospital, what’s your excuse?”
    He didn’t respond and merely snorted again. I decided that for the moment there was nothing left to say. I agreed with him that under the circumstances I needed to go to the hospital to get checked out. I’d been missing for two days, doing God knows what in a drug-induced haze. I shuddered at all the horrifying possibilities.
     

     
    “What do you mean, I’m clean?” Oh, the irony of me being upset that my drug tests all came back negative.
    The elderly nurse pursed her lips and frowned at me. “Just what I said. All the tests came back