Don saw the very beautiful woman step into the doorway of his office just as he hung up the phone. His secretary had just left for the day, and he was getting ready to do the same after another uneventful day. His nerves had been much better as the day went on with no one showing up to question him about the dead girl, leaving him with the impression that the connection between the two of them had not been made. ÒHello, may I help you?Ó Don put on his most charming smile as he stood from behind his desk to meet the beauty. He was already imagining what it would be like to have someone like her in his bed. The thought died a quick death when she reached into her pocket and held out the badge to him. ÒIÕm Detective Sparks; I wonder if I may ask you a few questions?Ó Don tried not to sweat or swallow too hard as saliva pooled in his mouth, and his knees threatened to buckle beneath him. In his mind, he was wishing heÕd followed his gut and left town as soon as he heard the n

ÒDo you know why you were spanked, Celia?Ó CeliaÕs mind wasnÕt exactly a blank, but she wasnÕt thinking straight either. There were tears of disbelief rolling down her cheeks, and she was finding it hard to breathe past the lump in her throat and chest. Her ass was on fire, and the mixture of shame and lust she felt confused the hell out of her. No one had ever daredÉ ÒAnswer me.Ó The nerve of him, she thought. Instead of words, she turned eyes of fury on him as she twisted her head to glare back at him. ÒI see!Ó Her eyes widened at his cryptic tone, but she didnÕt have long to wonder what it meant as she found herself moved from his lap to facedown on his bed. The next sound she heard was his zipper, and her heart started to race. ÒWhatÕre you doing?Ó She struggled up onto her shoulder so she could look back at him. What she saw made the blood heat in her veins, and the embarrassing liquid of arousal that had started with her spanking began to pool between her thighs and

By the time Celia reached her desk Riley, and his antics were the last thing on her mind. She was back in detective mode and was sure that she was on the right track. SheÕd spent most of the time after leaving Don WilsonÕs office, concentrating on who the mystery guest had been, but now her focus had shifted back to her reason for going there in the first place. She was sure that sheÕd found Don Simpson and the fact that heÕd changed his name and was now using an alias was only one of the reasons she found him suspicious. As a detective whoÕd been trained by the best, she knew all of the signs to look for in a suspect. Some of them are sophisticated enough to get away with lying, but a greenhorn like Don wasnÕt savvy enough to pull the wool over her eyes. She couldnÕt quite put her finger on why exactly she didnÕt peg him as her killer; the vibe just wasnÕt there. But she knew from his squirrely actions under her questioning that he knew something or was involved in some

Don Simpson was caught completely off guard by the sudden appearance of the two officers who showed up at his office door out of nowhere unannounced. TheyÕd caught him slipping, as the young people like to say since heÕd been sure that heÕd warded off the female detective the day before. His secretary looked a bit askance at him as she ushered them into the inner office before closing the door behind them. ÒDetective, what can I do for you? I thought we already established yesterday that I donÕt know the young lady in question, so wouldnÕt be of much help with your investigation. Come in, come in.Ó He made a grand gesture of inviting them in as he gave them his best shit-eating grin. The one that every good lawyer worth his salt had practiced in his mirror at least a thousand times give or take. It pretty much says weÕre all on the same team, nothing to see here and has gotten him out of many a scrape with the boys in blue in the past. The fact that she was a woman shoul

I wonder what it is that sheÕs thinking about so deeply? Celia thought as she watched the older woman closely while she seemed lost in thought. In the last five minutes, a myriad of emotions had crossed that rather expressive face that she was sure had once held immense beauty but was now weathered by life and time. She did her best to hide her true feelings about the conclusions sheÕd drawn in the last few minutes, but she may have thrown up a little in her mouth a time or two. Had the woman always acted like this with her stepson in the presence of others? Had no one else ever noticed the ick factor here? Nowhere in her research had anything even remotely close to what was glaring her in the face been mentioned or even hinted at. But it was obvious from the ease with which the older woman did it and the nonchalant way in which her stepson accepted the action that it was not a new thing between them. There were too many questions running through her mind now that