Betrayal with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Three) by Jenn Vakey

even hotter. “Between trying to clean blood out of it, and moving it out of his face to see different injuries he’s had, I’ve gotten a good enough feel to know how soft it is.”
    “How often does he get hurt?” Lori asked curiously.
    Rilynne chewed on her lip for a moment before rattling off the list. “There was the serial killer, the cop he punched, the bar fight, and-” she paused briefly “-I know I’m forgetting something. Oh yes, the boxing injuries.”
    “Uh huh,” Lori said on a long breath. “And how many of those were you involved in?”
    “All of them,” she replied bluntly, dropping her head back and running her hands across her face. “But it’s not like I started any of them. The serial killer would have gone after him either way. The only way that would have been avoidable was if I had caught her before she made her move.”
    “You can’t blame yourself for that. No one suspected a woman was behind that. Of all serial killers in America, only eight percent are female. Eighty percent of those use poison, which your killer did not. Seventy-four percent are also committed for financial gain, which wasn’t part of your case,” Lori rattled off. “We went over the case before you left, and the thought never even crossed my mind that you could be looking for a woman.”
    “I know,” she replied. “Even after the fact, it’s still hard to see.”
    Rilynne picked up one of the crayons and started doodling on the mat in front of Kim.
    “Okay,” Lori said. “So I get how you were involved with that one, but you’ll have to explain the others.”
    Rilynne chuckled again, handing the crayon back to Kim. “The bar fight was pretty simple. A couple locals were drunk and got a little out of hand after a news release regarding the Pirate Killer case. They came after me and he laid them out so quickly, the officers at the other end of the bar hadn’t even reached us yet.”
    “Wait, Addison Valley has it’s own news station?”
    “I know, I was shocked, too,” Rilynne laughed at her surprised expression. “Now, the other two were actually relatively similar. He has a tendency to defend my honor, and really doesn’t like it when other men are disrespectful. Even if they’re officers in our department.”
    “Oow,” Lori mumbled excitedly. “You have your own little knight in shining armor, don’t you? Maybe I should move down to a small country town and find one of those for myself.”
    “Well, if you ever decide to, I may actually have the perfect guy for you in Addison Valley.”
    Lori sat up straight and flipped her long, blonde hair off of her shoulder. “Oh, really? Is he cute?”
    Rilynne bobbed her head dramatically. “Like you should even have to ask. Good looking, good job, and a great body to top it all off.” She decided to leave out the fact that he was one of the men on the list that Ben had an altercation with.
    “I may just have to make that visit pretty soon then,” she said with a grin. “So, back to Ben. What’s going on with the two of you?”
    Rilynne let out a deep sigh. “Eventually we’ll get around to actually making it through a date.”
    “So, have you two… you know?” Lori asked, glancing over at Kim before returning her gaze to Rilynne.
    “No,” she replied abruptly. “We haven’t even kissed. I don’t know, it’s just…”
    “Awkward,” Lori finished her sentence.
    “Exactly. We’ve been through so much, and he’s one of my best friends. As excited as I am, I have an equal level of apprehension,” she explained. “I will say that what we were able to get through on our first date was nice.”
    “That’s all understandable,” Lori replied. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, though. From what I could tell, he seemed like a great guy. In my opinion, you two will make a very cute couple.”
    Rilynne leaned back in her seat and smiled warmly. “I get knots in my stomach just thinking about it.”
    “Happy