Hot Pursuit Read Free

longer he sat around here, he might never move again.
    Downstairs in the kitchen, he settled on coffee and half a toasted bagel. He needed something in his stomach, and he couldn’t live without his daily jolt of caffeine. Especially today. He carried both with him, and eyed his new Challenger before climbing in.
    He loved muscle cars, and this was a really cool one. But he missed his old Chevelle, which had been fucked up a few weeks ago when he and Shane had taken a dip—car and all—in the Cumberland River while in pursuit of a suspect. The car was currently sitting alone and forlorn in Christian Ford’s big garage out in back of his house. Chris was Shane’s cousin and fairly new as a detective at the department, having transferred in from Texas. The three of them tinkered on fixing the Chevelle when they had time and Taylor had the extra cash, which wasn’t often.
    God, he missed that car.
    The Challenger started with a throaty roar, which he had to admit was pretty butch. Too bad he couldn’t enjoy driving it today, with his knee screaming every time he switched from the gas to the brake. Maybe he should’ve accepted the ride. Too late now.
    He made it to the station and was thankfully able to give his report with little fanfare. Apparently, Shane had told only those who needed to know, including Captain Austin Rainey and a couple of uniforms, and he was grateful. He had no doubt that the entire department would know within the hour, but at least he was able to have some breathing room. A few minutes later, he limped into his partner’s office and closed the door.
    Shane looked up from some papers, giving him a half smile. “Hey. He must’ve winged you good.”
    â€œFor sure. No point in sitting around at home, though.”
    â€œYou might reconsider tomorrow, when it’s worse.”
    â€œWe’ll see.” He wouldn’t call in sick unless he was on his deathbed, and they both knew it. Shane just shook his head.
    â€œTell me exactly what happened.”
    He spent the next few minutes giving his partner the rundown, though there wasn’t much to tell. They went back through some of their most recent cases to try to form a list of who might still carry enough of a grudge to commit attempted murder, but although there were several candidates, none were that strong.
    â€œI might have to go back a few years.” Taylor tried to get comfortable in his chair, wincing as he squirmed. “Most of these are in prison or dead. As far as the ones that are out, I can come up with a list as long as my arm of who would run me over if they had the
chance
, but . . .” He frowned.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThis had a different feel. More deliberate. Nothing I can put my finger on, just intuition.”
    â€œLike he was waiting for the opportunity?”
    â€œExactly. I’ve got no proof, though.”
    â€œYou and I both know people kill for two main reasons: passion or money.” His partner eyed him. “Which one do you fit?”
    Taylor snorted. “Since I’m not loaded, I’m guessing passion. And there’s all kinds of passion-motived killings. Specifically hate, when it comes to cops.”
    Unbidden, his nightmare intruded. Viciously, he shoved it into its box.
    â€œOkay. Someone you or we arrested, then.”
    â€œMaybe.” Rubbing his eyes, he let out a tired breath. “Can we talk about this later? It might not even happen again.”
    â€œSure.”
    Somehow, he didn’t really believe that. A chill slithered down his spine, telling him this was only the start. Could be his overwrought, stressed mind, but it didn’t seem likely that’s all there was to it.
    A knock interrupted his thoughts, and Captain Rainey stepped into Shane’s office. “We’ve got a body in the Sugarland Motel. Anonymous caller reported the sound of a gunshot, and Jenkins found the guy plugged between the