No Hero Read Online Free Page A

his tongue. Desire curled in his belly. Unwanted desire. Determinedly, he cut his gaze back toward Liz. The sight of her bending over Darnell’s mutilated body dissolved the yearning.
    Connor glanced at her watch, then squeezed her eyes shut for an instant. “I should have brought it. I guarantee you’ll be glad to have it,” she said. “It’s an interview I did with Gerard Fontenot. He’s got to be involved in this. He said some things—about you.”
    The name was like a bucket of cold water. Dev’s whole attention snapped back to her. “Fontenot?” It took him a beat to catch up with what else she’d said. “In case you’ve forgotten, Fontenot is in prison in a wheelchair.”
    She waved that off. “You need to see it. You need to hear what he said.” Her emerald green eyes turned opaque and he saw something in them that Dev had never seen before. It looked like fear.
    He must be more tired than he thought to believe that. “Look, Connor. I don’t have time for this right now. I’ll get with you later.”
    “Dev.” It was Givens again. “I could use your help here.”
    Dev nodded without taking his eyes off her.
    She averted her gaze and wrapped her arms around herself. “Okay,” she muttered. “Sorry I interrupted you, Detective. I’ll expect to hear from you.” She began to retreat, then stopped. “It really is important.”
    He frowned at how easily she’d agreed. Too easily. An almost silent humming began in the back of his brain. It was something he’d always had—a sort of internal warning system. He didn’t know where it came from or how it worked. He just knew that when it happened, he needed to pay attention.
    Reghan Connor was smart and sly and a little bit ruthless. In his experience, she’d do almost anything if she thought she’d get a story out of it. But the hum inside his head was telling him that she believed what she’d said about Fontenot. It wasn’t in her nature to give up without a fight—she was like a snapping turtle once she got her teeth into something, not letting go until it thundered, as the old saying went. She certainly never let go voluntarily.
    Which meant there was definitely something going on here.
    She took a second step away from him and started to turn. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do. He ought to let her go and good riddance, but he was too seasoned a cop to dismiss a lead, even if he was ninety-nine percent certain it was false. There was always that one percent.
    “Hold it.” Dev reached out, checking himself before he touched her. “I’ll send an officer with you to pick it up.”
    She shook her head. “Don’t bother,” she said shortly. “I’m sure you don’t want to spare anyone. They’re all very busy.”
    “Stevens!” he yelled without taking his gaze from hers. “Follow Ms. Connor home. She’s got a DVD for us.”
    Stevens appeared at his elbow. “Yes sir. This way, Ms. Connor.” He reached for her arm, but she recoiled, glaring at Dev. For a second, it looked as though she would say something else. Then she whirled and stalked off. Stevens tagged along behind her.
    Someone called Dev’s name, but he wasted precious seconds watching Reghan Connor walk away. She had a graceful dignity about her, even dressed in faded jeans and a loose blouse. More and more of that bright hair escaped its restraint with each step she took. Maybe the next time he saw her he could goad her into cutting it so he’d no longer have to fight the sensual image of it trailing across his naked, sensitized skin.
    He pushed his thoughts toward why she’d come here and away from how she looked leaving. She’d been awfully interested in how the victim, Darnell, had died. It wouldn’t completely surprise him if the details of the murders ended up on her show later that morning. It would , however, royally piss him off. If she compromised this investigation, he’d go over to her fancy little Garden District house and wring her dainty