Details are important. Be Observant...

Marisa

There's nothing that I can do to make these murders stop. No matter how many leads I follow, I struggle to make a connection to the cases that remain open. With another woman missing and presumably taken like the others, it's impossible to ignore how this is a race against time. Time is just what I don't have when my sister is pushing up her wedding and my nights are heating up and getting too busy with my partner. We're both aware that we're playing a dangerous game by caving to our desire. But the possibility that he might end up having to leave town? That's too horrible to consider.

Soon enough, conflicting clues start popping up. The victims, the motives, and even a specific person of interest. So many variables are shifting. Suddenly, it seems like I'm in too deep, trying to stay afloat with these impossible cases to solve and the man I shouldn't want.

It helps that I'm not alone-not in struggling with this desire or in the frustration when we can't find the missing body or the killer. When it becomes clear that time is falling short for the next target, I hate to think that it also means my time with Ryan will be over before it's truly begun.

Ryan

There's something to be said for not mixing business with pleasure. I can't understand how my partner bumbles through cases and manages to find the clues we need and the criminals we want to stop. All I can respect and admit is how deeply she's come to matter, both on the clock and in my bed. Marisa is the one woman I want to keep in my life. And the one partner I want to trust to always have my back.

Focused on these cases, we don't have many opportunities to sit down and talk about our futures. Not when a serial killer needs to be found before they strike again. And not when I'm tempted to show her how well we click and match.

Sooner or later, choices will have to be made. If I stay in town to explore this newfound intimacy neither of us can get enough of, there's no chance that I would be able to stay on the force. I promised myself that I'd never let anyone, especially not another woman, influence my choice to stay in my career. I'll never turn off my dedication to see justice be delivered, but this time is different. I hate to consider the idea that I might have to walk away from her love after all.

Detecting Love Series

• Book 1 - Vigilant
• Book 2 - Perceptive
• Book 3 - Observant