If I Fail — Marian Lanouette

Murder, sex, stalking, just a normal day for Lieutenant Jake Carrington, that is, until he becomes the one being stalked. Were rules really meant to be broken? Jake Carrington is finding out the hard way that the answer is no. He dated a victim's sister a couple of times during the investigation and now Chloe Wagner is the number one suspect in the murder. If Chloe is convicted Jake could lose his rank or worse, his job. While trying to resolves his cases Jake is faced with a stalker. Someone is hunting him and his current girlfriend Mia. Excerpt Heading back to the bullpen, Jake pulled up short. Louie walked right into him. “Hey, what the…” He ignored Louie and stared. Chapter Two “What are you doing here, Chloe?” Steel in his tone, had the woman stepping back. “Nice way to greet someone. I called, you didn't answer. So I came around to check on my sister's case.” “Isn't it a little late to be out?” “No. I just thought I'd stop in.” “I don't answer my personal phone at crime scenes. You've been told countless times you need to call through the switchboard to check up on Shanna's case.” “I thought we could talk. You don't return any of my calls.” “You don't want to do this now…” Louie interrupted. “Jake, why don't you head over to the lab and grab the reports? I'll talk to Ms. Wagner.” Jake looked around the squad room. He saw the other detectives with their heads down, giving the appearance of privacy. He knew better -- they were listening to every word he exchanged with Chloe. No one gossip better than a cop. “It's okay, Louie. I'll handle it.” Jake turned his attention back to Chloe. “Jake, the captain's waiting the reports. We need them now. The labs expecting you. Go…I'll update Ms. Wagner.” As Jake walked away, he heard Chloe ask, “Why's he avoiding me?” * * * * Louie took a few minutes to reply, studying her. He mentally noted her statistics -- five-six, one hundred twenty pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, and full mouth in a rounded face. A pretty woman, in “the girl next door” kind of way; all wrapped in a bossy, possessive nature. The top two turn-offs for any man, especially one like Jake. Jake had dumped her quickly. He never dated any woman for long. He knew that Jake never allowed himself to get close to anyone.