A Fine Specimen by Lisa Marie Rice Read Free Book Online Page A

enforcement theory and I’m writing my
dissertation on it. I have basically all the material I need but, as I told
you, Ray insisted that I spend time at a police station and I think he’s right,
because fieldwork in testing theories is always so important.
    “I won’t be a bother, I
promise. I have a slightly modified Thematic Apperception Test which I’ll be
asking your officers to take, but they can do that whenever they have a spare
moment. I would like to interview them as well, but I can easily arrange to do
that when they have some down time, if they’re willing. I won’t interrupt
anyone’s routine and I promise not to get in the way. When I go back to my
hotel in the evening, you won’t even know I had been around.”
    It was as if she hadn’t
spoken about her work at all. He honed in on something else entirely. “You’re
staying in a hotel? Where? Which one?”
    “The Carlton,” Caitlin
said, wrinkling her nose. She’d been a student all her adult life and was used
to ratty student conditions, but the Carlton was, hands down, the worst place
she’d ever slept in her life.
    He reared his head back.
“The Carlton. That’s in Riverhead.”
    She blinked at the flat,
disapproving tone of his voice.
    He shook his head, a
sharp blur. “You’re crazy. Riverhead is the worst section of Baylorville, worse
than the Trey. Someone who looks like you, someone who gets lost in her
thoughts, is ripe prey for the scumbags in Riverhead.” He rapped his knuckles
on the tabletop once, hard, and blew out a quick breath. “I knew it. You do have a death wish.”
    “No, I don’t.” Caitlin
sighed. “I didn’t know the area would be like that. My travel agent probably
didn’t either. I told her I wanted a budget hotel. I’m sure she didn’t realize
how…how unsavory the area is.” She shrugged. “It’s only for a few days,
anyway.”
    “A few days are enough
for you to get tossed, maybe killed,” he said bluntly, and nodded as she
flinched involuntarily at his harsh words. “Good. The more scared you are, the
more wary you’ll be.”
    He was trying to scare
her away, but he didn’t know her. Caitlin didn’t scare easily. “Like I said, it’s
only for a few days. I’m expecting—hoping—to be awarded a year’s grant by the
Frederiksson Foundation. Once I get the grant, I’ll be looking for an
apartment.”
    Caitlin tried not to
squirm under Alex’s dark, intense, disapproving gaze. She simply met it with
her own, keeping her face neutral. But she could feel his strong will beating
against her from across the table. To her relief, Martha arrived, neatly
sliding his burrito and Caitlin’s cheeseburger in front of them.
    As if she didn’t have a
care in the world, Caitlin bit into her burger and munched. “Wow. This is really good.”
    He was barely listening,
simply glowering at her. Caitlin refrained from rolling her eyes or showing
impatience in any way as she ate the delicious cheeseburger. She didn’t want to
do anything to tip the balance, because they were at a stalemate. His power
against her stubbornness. The first person to blink lost.
    They stared at each
other, Alex doing a very good imitation of a smokestack with steam coming out
of it.
    After a while, it got
ridiculous. Caitlin tried a little conversational distraction. She finished
chewing and smiled. “Ray told me the cheeseburgers in Baylorville were
special.”
    Alex just stared. He
didn’t want her at the station house, but just as clearly, he was compelled,
for reasons she didn’t understand, to accede to Ray’s wishes. As long as
Caitlin didn’t do or say anything that could put ammunition in his hands, she’d
won.
    They were at a tipping
point. Caitlin suddenly realized that she needed for him to obey her on
something, to establish a precedent.
    She nodded at his
burrito. “ Eat ,” she said, trying to inject stern command into her voice.
    He looked down,
startled, at the food in front of him, as if he’d