Die for Me by Karen Rose Read Free Book Online Page A

cell rang. “Dammit, Katherine, where have you been?”
    “In the morgue, getting your Jane Doe settled for the night. What do you need?”
    “Your friend’s cell number.” He looked up at the knock on the passenger window. It was the college girl. “Hold on, Katherine.” He rolled the far window down. “Yes?”
    The girl’s full lips were quivering. “Um . . . I’m waiting for someone and I think it might be you.”
    She was even prettier up close, and asking for trouble approaching men like that. “Hell of a pickup line, but I’m not interested. Go practice on somebody your own age.”
    “Wait!” she shouted, but he rolled the window back up.
    “Who was that?” Katherine asked, amusement in her voice.
    Vito was not amused. “College kid trying for an older guy. Your friend isn’t here.”
    “If she said she’d be there, she’s there, Vito. Sophie’s very reliable.”
    “And I’m telling you—Goddammit.” It was the girl again, at his window now. “Look here,” he said to the girl, “I said I’m not interested. That means go away.” He started to raise the window, but she slammed her palms on the edge of the glass, curling her fingers into claws as she fought the window’s ascent. The gloves she wore were thin knit and every finger was a different color of the rainbow, clashing with the camouflage.
    Vito was reaching for his badge when the girl took off her sunglasses. She rolled eyes that were bright green. “Do you know Katherine?” she demanded and it was then he realized she was no girl. She was at least thirty, maybe a few years older.
    He gritted his teeth. “Katherine,” he said slowly. “What does your friend look like?”
    “Like the woman standing at your window,” Katherine said, chuckling. “Long hair, blond, thirtyish. Eclectic fashion sense. Sorry, Vito.”
    He bit back his smartass retort. “I was looking for someone your age. You said you’d known her for twenty-five years.”
    “Twenty-eight, actually. Since I was in kindergarten,” the woman said brusquely and stuck out her multicolored hand. “Sophie Johannsen. Hello, Katherine,” she called into the phone. “You should have given us cell phone numbers,” she added in a tone that was singsong on top, but underneath was taut with impatience.
    Katherine sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve got to go, Vito. I have company coming for dinner and I still have to check on Sophie’s grandmother on my way home.”
    Vito closed his phone and met the woman’s narrowed green eyes, feeling like a total and complete idiot. “I’m sorry. I thought you were twenty.”
    One side of her full mouth lifted in a wry smile and he was struck with the certainty that he’d been wrong yet again. She wasn’t simply pretty up close. She was absolutely beautiful. Vito found his fingers itching to touch her lips.
A woman could do amazing things with that mouth.
Abruptly he clenched his jaw, both annoyed and shocked at the vividness of the images stampeding through his mind.
Rein it in, Chick. Now.
    “I guess I’m flattered. It’s been a long time since somebody mistook me for a college coed.” She pointed an electric blue finger at the building. “The equipment we need is just inside. There’s too much for one trip and I didn’t want to leave it on the curb while I went back for the rest of it. It’s pretty expensive. Can you give me a hand?”
    Controlling his thoughts with considerable difficulty, he followed her to the building. “We appreciate your help, Dr. Johannsen,” he said as she unlocked the door.
    “It’s my pleasure. Katherine’s been there for me more times than I can count. And please, call me Sophie. Nobody calls me Dr. Johannsen. Even my students call me Dr. J—but I think that’s more of a basketball reference, because I’m tall.”
    She offered the last line with a self-deprecating smile and Vito couldn’t take his eyes off her face. Devoid of a speck of makeup, she had a natural, wholesome glow despite