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

“I was only kidding,”Clay told the painting of Quint as he began working on the eyes. “That would be like something out of a thriller. Cop falls for artist, cop starts killing off the competition. Cop pretends he needs the artist to help him stop the killer, giving said cop the chance to work his way into the artist’s life.” He snickered. “Watch too many TV detective shows?”


He continued working, and eventually the eyes looked the way he wanted them to—like Quint’s knowing, understanding ones.


Chapter 18