Clay Richardson is a well-known artist who owns his own gallery. Quint Hawk, a police detective, makes contact with Clay when he sees a portrait Clay has painted in the window of the gallery -- a portrait of a homeless young man who was murdered just days before. Unfortunately, Clay has no idea who the subject was. Several months later, Quint contacts Clay to again ask about one of Clay's paintings. The subject has been murdered, as has a third man in another of his paintings. The reclusive artist and the handsome detective are drawn to each other as they try to determine what is happening and why. They come up with a plan to catch the killer -- a plan that could end up in their deaths before they can decide if there is more to their feelings than a couple of very good nights in Clay's bed.

The Element Case

“In a heartbeat, if you didn’t know I’d get on your ass about it.”


“And go comb your hair while I open the doors for the throngs of people who want to see your latest works of art.”


“What throngs? When I came in there was no one waiting.”


“There will be in ten, nine, eight…”


Shaking his head, Clay walked over to the table at one side of the room to get a glass of wine from the server and a couple of canapés off one of the trays. Then he walked slowly around the gallery, studying his paintings. The pièce de résistance was Element of Delight, the painting based on the sketches of a young man he’d seen downtown two months ago.


“It is a delight,” a woman said from beside him.


Chapter 3