Dr. KILLER

Marcus stumbled backward, his shoulders hitting the mattress. The woman's hands pressed against his chest, pinning him there. Her perfume—something sweet and seductive, filled his nostrils.His fingers moved toward her hips. She stopped them, pressing one manicured finger on his lips with the corners of her mouth curved upward."I have a surprise for you."She winked. Her tongue leaked her bottom lip in a slow and deliberate way.Heat flooded Marcus's face. His pulse hammered in his temples, as he kept breathing fast. "You are going to kill me," he said, the words coming out breathless. "Heart attack. Right here. My blood pressure—"Her laugh echoed through the room. "I would actually like to send you to hell."She reached toward the nightstand. Silk dangled from her fingers—black, smooth. Before he could speak, the fabric covered his eyes. Her fingers worked behind his head, tying the knot. “Where are your handcuffs?” She whispered in his ears. “Umm…my back pocket. The keys are ther

Karma sat back in her booth, lifted her untouched drink, and watched her father drain his fourth glass of whiskey.Mia walked fast.She changed into something tighter—a red dress that barely covered anything. Reapplied her lipstick. Sprayed more perfume. Then catwalked straight to Marcus's table, leaned over so he got a full view of her full bouncy boobs, and whispered something in his ear.His face instantly lit up like a kid ready to open his gifts on Christmas morning.Twenty minutes later, they left together. His arm around her waist, her heels clicking beside his heavy footsteps. The other officers whistled and cheered, while Marcus threw them a salute and grinned.Karma had watched from her booth, with her phone in her hand. She already paid for the room in cash, using a fake name before she went to the club. And already placed the blindfold in the nightstand drawer. So she texted Mia the address of the Hotel and the room number to be certain there will be no mistakes. Dr Karma

Chapter 5The police car smelled like stale coffee and leather.Karma sat in the back seat, hands folded in her lap, watching the city pass through the tinted window. Buildings blurred into each other. Traffic lights, people walking in a hurry, an old woman walking a dog almost like she was crawling and the dog was frustrated with her, everything moved at its normal pace, as though the world was carrying on without her. “Noah knows. Shit!” She whispered under her breath. The thought sat heavy in her chest, pressing down like a hand around her throat. Not squeezing, just resting there. Reminding her she was in trouble. She replayed the phone conversation she had with Noah in her head. Which strip club? What kind of grieving daughter asks which strip club? She had been so focused on getting the information that she had not thought about how the question would sound later. How it would sound when a man as sharp as Noah replayed it in his own head at 3 AM, staring at the ceiling, pu

Chapter 7Karma turned to look out the window. The city moved past — shops opening, people starting their days, the ordinary machinery of ordinary life grinding forward without interruption."No," she said. "There is nothing."He wrote something on his legal pad. She didn't ask what.Sandra was waiting in the hospital lobby.She had been Karma's assistant for four years — efficient, discreet, with a talent for appearing calm in every situation. But today, that talent was being tested. Her eyes were red, her usually perfect blazer slightly creased, as though she had slept in it or hadn't slept at all.She walked toward Karma the moment the doors opened and fell into step beside her without preamble."The board called twice more," Sandra said, her voice low. "The chair wants an emergency meeting this afternoon. The head of PR is asking for a statement. Three members of staff have already spoken to journalists — two of them to say they believe in you completely, one of them said—" She st

Tilting his head backwards in shock, as a result of her response. "Because you walked into that interrogation room looking like someone who needed protecting and I—" He stopped, pressing his lips together, he shook his head in what looked like defeat. "It doesn't matter.""It does matter," she said quietly. "Say it."He looked at her for a long moment. The lamp light caught the line of his jaw, the tension still held there and the yearning in his eyes. When he spoke again his voice was different. "I have spent ten years watching you build something extraordinary from nothing," he said. "I watched you put yourself through medical school while dealing with everything he put you through. I watched you open that hospital and name it Save the needy and I knew — I always knew — exactly why you chose that name." He paused. "You have spent your entire adult life protecting children and helpless adults that no one else was protecting. And he walked back into your life and I—" Another pause. "