Sweet Dreams Boxed Set Read Free

into the garage, Sacramento’s unseasonably warm spring day sucking the breath from her lungs. She spotted the suspect on the sidewalk below as he disappeared around the corner of the structure, toward K Street. She pursued, taking the stairs two at a time. When she emerged on the street, she looked right toward the convention center, then left toward Cathedral Square.
    “Hey!” she called out to people walking past her. “Did you see a white man in a dark hoodie run through here?”
    No one responded, either ignoring her or giving her an odd look and wide berth. She looked down at her blouse. The blood had seeped through. That she had a gun in her hand probably made people wary. But she was a cop, dammit!
    Had been a cop. Past tense.
    The suspect had had a solid lead and she hadn’t been fast enough to shorten the distance. It was easy to lose oneself on K Street. Still, she dashed first to the right and scanned the street, trying to get a visual. He could have disappeared into the convention center, another hotel, a restaurant, a parking garage, or across J Street and down any number of alleys.
    She did the same thing at the opposite corner. Too many places to hide, too many side streets, too many easy ways to disappear.
    The shooter was gone.
    “Well, shit,” she muttered.
     

 
    Chapter Two
     
    Three California Highway Patrol officers met up with Alex as she stood on the corner replaying the last ten minutes over and over in her mind, but she couldn’t have done it any other way. If she’d had a partner or if the shooter hadn’t had such a good head start? Maybe. Maybe she could have caught up to him.
    “Hey,” Alex said as the CHP approached her cautiously. CHP handled security in the Capitol building.
    Alex holstered her weapon and identified herself to the officers, showing her ID and her concealed carry permit. She couldn't really blame their response time. Everything had happened so quick, by the time hotel security or Hart’s security alerted the police, the suspect was long gone.
    “He disappeared on K Street, but I couldn’t get a visual once he left the garage.” It was close to the lunch hour; the street began to fill with government bureaucrats and hacks on their lunch break. “He was approximately five feet ten inches tall wearing a black hoodie and jeans. Light brown or dark blond hair, Caucasian, slim—no more than one-fifty. In his early twenties.
    One officer repeated the information into his walkie-talkie, then said to Alex, “We'll canvass the neighborhood. Maybe someone saw him. We can also pull the security feeds from the hotel and K Street.” He gestured to the city’s security cameras that had been installed a few years ago on streets surrounding the Capitol building.
    That's all that could be done at this point. Alex hoped one of the cameras caught a good look at his face, but they’d have a better chance with the hotel surveillance system. They'd also search the hotel for evidence and interview witnesses.
    She said, “He had on gloves, but was standing on the second floor railing looking down into the lobby. Maybe there are prints up there.” Doubtful, but worth checking.
    “You’re bleeding.”
    “No shit.” The scent of her own blood turned her stomach, and she was trying to ignore the throbbing pain. The wail of approaching sirens told her the cavalry had arrived.
    The CHP escorted her back to the main hotel entrance. Three Sacramento PD squad cars skidded into the roundabout, facing the wrong direction.
    “An ambulance is on its way,” one of the cops said to her. “Why don’t you sit down inside?”
    A blast of cool, artificial air hit her as the doors swooshed open. Her damp silk blouse clung to her skin and chilled her when just a minute ago she was overheated. She subconsciously shivered.
    “I don’t need an ambulance,” she said. “Just a first aid kit.”
    They ignored her comment. She would have, too, if she were still cop.
    While two of the CHP