Phoenix Arizona by Lynn Hagen

sharing private information. The man was closemouthed when it came to who he was and what made him tick.
    “I’m a waiter.”
    Matt froze, staring down at the man who meant more to him than his next breath. He swallowed hard as his head began to buzz with pain. “At a diner?” He looked Phoenix over, seeing that his mate fit the description perfectly to what the killer looked for. He was short, slim, and had beautiful blond hair. Phoenix even had stunning blue eyes.
    God, no!
    “Yes.” Phoenix chuckled. “At a diner.”
    “We need to go,” Matt said as he began to pull Phoenix toward his car. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his mate, but the overwhelming urge to protect what was his was riding him hard.
    “Stop dragging me. Are you trying to kidnap me?” Phoenix backed up, but Matt wouldn’t let him go. “Matt, you’re scaring me, please.” The last word was a softly spoken plea, and Matt’s heart was tearing in two. He wasn’t trying to frighten his mate, but Phoenix needed to know what was going on. He needed to protect himself. He needed to—oh, gods, Matt couldn’t take this. His heart felt like it was being ripped from his chest.
    Matt opened the passenger door and sat Phoenix down in his sedan. His mate looked flushed and scared, and that was the last thing Matt wanted. But Phoenix needed to understand the severity of the situation. His mate needed to be armed with the knowledge of what was happening in this very city. Phoenix laid one hand on the dashboard, the other on the doorframe, looking as if he were going to bolt from Matt’s car.
    Matt didn’t understand where Phoenix’s fear was coming from, but he needed to tell his mate about the killer. Usually Matt wouldn’t discuss cases he was working on with civilians, but Phoenix just might be in danger, so Matt did the one thing he had never done before. He pushed aside his loyalty to not only the force, but his personal loyalty to his job.
    He knelt down eye level to Phoenix, staring his mate right in his baby blues. “I’m not trying to scare you, Phoenix. I just need to talk to you. I won’t take you anywhere. If it makes you feel safer, then here.” Matt stood and fished his car keys out of his front pocket and laid them in Phoenix’s hand, closing his mate’s fingers over them. “Now, will you sit here and listen to what I have to say?”
    Phoenix looked at the keys in his hand and then back at Matt, giving a nod. Matt closed the door and then walked around to his side of the car, scanning the area before he got in.
    Matt watched Phoenix for a moment after he settled into his seat. His mate was playing with the ring the keys were attached to, but Matt could smell the apprehension that hung thick inside the car.
    Matt cleared his throat, looking up from Phoenix’s hand where his mate had gripped the keys tightly. “About two weeks ago, a man was found murdered.”
    Phoenix’s head snapped up to look at Matt with a mixture of uneasiness and curiosity in his eyes. Matt glanced down at Phoenix’s neck, wishing he could be nibbling on the smooth skin instead of telling his mate about a killer who was likely to strike again. It wasn’t setting up a very romantic mood for their date later.
    “He was found with his hands tied behind his back and on his knees, his throat sliced open from ear to ear.” He might not have had to get so graphic, but Matt had learned long ago that most people didn’t take warnings seriously unless there was a little fear behind the warning. It was the last thing Matt wanted to do, but he didn’t want Phoenix to become a victim either.
    “Matt, how—how do you know this?” The uneasy scent quickly changed to outright fear.
    “Let me finish. You need to understand. Yesterday, another man was found murdered in the same way. They both had blond hair, short stature, and slim build…and they both worked in a diner.”
    Phoenix grabbed for the door handle, wrestling to get it to work. He cried