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

By then they were standing in front of the Vault. Quint looked up at the brick front of the building as he often had when he’d stopped by for a drink after work. “It started out as a saloon in the mid-eighteen hundreds,” he said, wanting to get Clay’s mind off his past for a while. “Then it was a liquor distribution business, a cigar factory, a machine company, the costume shop, and now it’s back to being a saloon.”


Clay looked at him in surprise. “Why do you know all that?”


“A chatty bartender who works here told me.” He opened the door, and they went in. The place was crowded but they managed to find booth along the long brick wall that made up one side of the room. When the waitress came over, they ordered beer.


“This is a nice place,” Quint said after she left, leaning forward with his elbows on the table so Clay could hear him above the din.


“Definitely different from the clubs I normally hang out at. I wish I’d brought my sketchpad with me.”


Chapter 21