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“He sure has,” he said with a wolfish grin, and pulled her close, planting a kiss on her lips. It wasn’t the heat from the milk that spread through her but a completely different kind of heat. One she could definitely get used to. She didn’t know if it would help her sleep but suddenly she didn’t care so much about sleep anymore.

There was more kissing, and the cup of milk was soon transferred to the counter and so was her perky behind.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted Chase to move in with her, but she sure as heck wanted him to keep kissing her like this and bending her backwards over the countertop.

When they both came up for air, he took a sip from her cup and looked at her over the rim with those dark eyes of his. Something stirred and she said,“Let’s go back to bed.”

He smiled.“Thought you’d never ask.”

By the time Max and Dooley strolled in, Odelia and Chase were fast asleep, enjoying a well-deserved rest after some very strenuous midnight activities.

Chapter 21

The next morning, Odelia joined Chase as they drove off to work. He’d scheduled four more interviews with four more very interesting men, and wanted her there. He claimed she had a knack for getting people to confess stuff. That and he liked her company. How could she say no to an offer like that? Plus, she got to collect some great quotes for the series of articles she was writing on the explosive murder case.

As they rode along the streets of Hampton Cove, which were slowly coming alive again after a short night, she sat slumped down in the passenger seat while he expertly maneuvered his pickup through traffic.“So did you get that report from the fire marshals?”

“We did, actually,” he said, looking as cool and collected as ever. Not much ruffled this man, which was probably what made him so good at his job. And in her bed.

“And was nitroglycerin involved?” she prompted.

“Yes, it was. A whole lot of the stuff. And it did come in a beer bottle, as they suspected. But when they checked Curt Pigott’s room they found nothing. Not a trace. Not on his person, not on his clothes, not on any of his possessions. Which makes this a very puzzling case.”

“And, like he said, why would he use room service to deliver a bomb to his rival? That would make him the dumbest killer in history,” she mused as she gazed out the window at the streets outside, where people were walking their children to school and others were hurrying to get to work on time.“So what about the others?”

Chase shook his head.“Nothing. All the interesting men were cleared.”

“Someone must have had a bottle of nitroglycerin in their room.”

“Someone sure did. Only we haven’t been able to find it. Yet. The thing is, this particular nitro was homemade, not factory-made, which tells us a few things.”

He used his indicator to turn left onto Main Street. As usual, there wasn’t a single parking spot left in front of the hotel, so he turned the car down the ramp and into the parking garage reserved for hotel guests.

“Whoever mixed the nitro must have done so where they wouldn’t be disturbed. Because nitro is a notoriously unstable substance, and tends to explode when you don’t know what you’re doing. Plus, nitro has some serious side effects.”

“Like?”

“It affects the arteries, widening them, which is why it’s so useful against heart conditions and chest pains. The side effect is that it opens the blood vessels in the brain, too, which can cause some serious headaches. They call it NG head, or bang head, and it’s more like a migraine than amild headache. Other side effects are dizziness, nausea, flushing…”

“So we’re looking for a killer with a serious case of migraine.”

“Or those migraines could have passed by the time he or she came to Hampton Cove. It’s the fumes and working with the stuff that’s tricky. Once it’s transferred into a canister and kept on ice it’s much safer to handle.”

“On ice?”

“Oh, yes. Nitro is notoriously unstable. One wrong move and boom! So it’s handled at low temperatures and stored that way, too.”

She sighed.“So we’re looking for a killer who may or may not have had headaches in the past and who used a cold bottle of beer to kill the Most Fascinating Man in the World.”

Chase gave her a grin.“Isn’t this the most fascinating case you’ve ever worked on?”

They got out of the car and rode the elevator up to the lobby. The four men they were here to interview were waiting in the conference room. For the sake of expedience Chase had decided to interview them together instead of one by one. And so it was that when they walked into the conference room, the Most Intriguing, Most Iconic, Most Attractive and Sexiest Men in the World were seated around the table, drumming their fingers and looking glum and annoyed.

Most interesting men don’t like to be kept waiting. And they don’t appreciate jumping through hoops to satisfy the members of law enforcement.