Cold Snap by Allison Brennan

amusement. “Because you’re not someone who can keep her emotions to herself. If you had to see him after that, he’d know just by looking at you.”
    “You sound like that’s a bad thing. I can’t lie. I can’t hide what I really think about people. If that’s a fault, sue me.” She paused. “Lee ordered his people to throw Doreen out of a car in my alley the night she died. I know it and I will prove it. Somehow.”
    This was personal for Elle, and now he knew for certain. The story about Doreen dying, Lee’s involvement, and now Kami missing—Elle blamed herself, and she wasn’t thinking ahead.
    Patrick was going to have to do that for her.
    He needed to talk this out with her. If revenge was in her heart, Patrick had to find a way to stop it.

 
    CHAPTER 4
     
    They parked at the far end of the parking lot adjacent to the teen center. There were only a few cars, but Patrick wanted to assess the terrain before they went in, and the end of the lot provided him with the best visual of the entire grounds, even with the fog.
    He liked that someone had taken the time to decorate the center for Christmas. White lights trimmed the front windows, and a tree in the front was decorated with large plastic ornaments and green and white lights. There were basketball courts on the other side of the center from the parking lot, and a lot of open space. The streets that framed the center’s boundaries weren’t as clean and bright—warehouses, decrepit apartments, and boarded-up businesses.
    He asked Elle, “How many entrances? Exits?”
    “Two entrances, one that goes straight into the gym, and the main entrance. The gym entrance is closed after six P.M. The other exits are alarmed.”
    “I’m more concerned about safety issues.”
    “There haven’t been any major problems since it opened. These kids know that if a few rotten apples get in, they’ll mess it up for everyone.”
    Patrick wasn’t sure that was true, but he didn’t comment. “I’m going to let you go in alone,” he said, “because as you said, I look like a cop.”
    She gave him a genuine smile. “Maybe if you let your hair grow a bit, replace the conservative Dockers with faded jeans, and get a nice tat on your arm…”
    “No way in hell am I getting a tattoo.” Two of his brothers had them, but Jack had been in the army and Connor had been an undercover cop. Patrick had never had the urge to inject ink under his skin.
    When Elle’s eyes sparkled, Patrick said, “You have one.”
    “Two.”
    “Where?”
    “That’s for you to find out.” She winked and got out of the car.
    Patrick decided to ignore Elle’s flirtatious comment. She was trying to divert his attention from the seriousness of the situation and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. The brief connection they’d made when she told him about Doreen was gone, and this was Gabrielle Santana, after all, the girl who had the ability to appear wholesome and sexy at the same time.
    Besides, her mood changes threw him for a loop. First she was driven and worried, then angry at Kami’s father, then grumpy that he insisted on retrieving his gun. Her anguish about Doreen was real, of that he was certain, but she had a well-honed defense mechanism that kicked in whenever those emotions hit her. He didn’t know if she was flirting with him to throw him off guard or because she was relieved he was helping her.
    Maybe a little of both.
    Patrick watched her cross the parking lot and enter the building. Elle was a bundle of energy, a spitfire his mother would have said—and that could be taken as a compliment or an insult.
    Elle was beginning to grow on Patrick.
    He looked around the area. There were no street decorations to signal that it was Christmas, only the tree and lights in front of the building, visible through the thinning fog.
    To the north of the entrance, a group of young men played basketball on a lighted, outside court. Two on two, three black kids and a tall, skinny white