The Object of His Protection Read Free

And unfortunately, Detective Lavender Sessions, his former partner while on the force, was out of town. Like Charlene, Drey could always count on him to tell him what he needed to know.
    “And there’s something else pretty strange about Joe Dennis.”
    Charlene’s statement cut deep into his thoughts. “What?”
    “He swallowed a key.”
    “Excuse me?” Drey said, certain he hadn’t heard her right.
    “I said he swallowed a key. One was taken out of his stomach.”
    Drey rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Are you sure?” Immediately, he knew he had made a mistake in asking her that. In all his dealings with Charlene he had come to realize that she was a professional who knew her business.
    “Of course I’m sure. Not only did I read it in the report, but I saw it myself. Nate hadn’t removed it from the table.”
    Drey didn’t say anything for a moment; he was too busy thinking. Had Dennis swallowed the key to keep it from getting into someone else’s hands? Was the key a link to Harmon’s death? Those were questions he intended to get answered. “What sort of key was it?” he asked.
    “Too small to be a door key. It was more like the size of a locker key or safe-deposit box key.”
    He rubbed his chin again, his curiosity igniting. “I need a copy of that key,” he said, placing the phone on speaker so he could get dressed.
    “That’s not possible, Drey. I don’t mind passing information on to you if I think it will help your case, but I draw the line at removing anything that could later become evidence.”
    “And I’m not asking you to,” he said quickly.
    “Well, what are you asking me to do?”
    He could hear the agitation in her voice. The last thing he wanted to do was get her teed off, especially now when he needed information about that key. “I’m asking that you provide me a mold of it in wax. I’ve got a small kit that resembles a ladies’ compact.”
    She didn’t say anything for a moment, as if contemplating his request. And then she asked, “But what good is that when you don’t know what the key goes to?”
    “I’ll find out. So will you get an indention of that key?”
    “I don’t know, Drey….”
    “Please.” If he sounded desperate, there was no help for it. He needed to know everything about Joe Dennis’s death, especially now that he knew it hadn’t been from natural causes.
    He could hear her deep sigh and felt his heart begin to beat wildly in his chest. Even her sigh was a turn-on.
    “Okay, fine,” she said.
    He couldn’t help but smile. If he solved the case and was able to link it back to Harmon’s death, then he owed her more than just dinner. “Meet me tonight so I can give the kit to you.”
    “Where?”
    “You name the place. Better yet, if you give me your home address I can drop it off there.”
    He heard the hesitation in her voice and was about to throw out another option when she said, “That’s fine, since I really don’t want to go back out tonight. I live in the Rippling Shores Condos.”
    He knew the area. It was a newly developed subdivision of nice townhomes. “I know where it’s located. What’s the condo number?”
    She rattled it off to him and he saved it in his memory. “I’ll be there in less than an hour.”
    He smiled when, with not even a goodbye, she hung up the phone. For some reason he was looking forward to seeing her without her lab coat.

Chapter 2
    C harlene glanced out the window and wondered for the umpteenth time why she had given Drey her address instead of meeting him somewhere. What had happened to her “do not mix business with pleasure” rule?
    She was used to seeing him in a business setting, but now he would invade her personal space. The only consolation was that since he was dropping something off she wouldn’t have to invite him inside.
    Satisfied with that, she glanced down at herself. Okay, so she had decided to change out of the frayed pair of shorts and T-shirt she had put on after coming home