Castle Richard - Nikki Heat 02 - ...

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NAKED HEAT
RICHARD CASTLE
To the real Nikki Heat,
with gratitude.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also Available from Hyperion
Copyright
Chapter One
N
ikki Heat pondered red lights and why they seemed to last so much
longer when there was no traffic. The one she waited for at Amsterdam
and 83rd
was taking forever to change. The detective was rolling on her first call of
the morning and probably could have lit up her gumball to make her left
turn, but
the crime was long since done, the medical examiner was on scene, and
the body wasn't going anywhere. She used the interlude to peel back the
lid of
her coffee to see if it was drinking temp yet. The cheap white plastic
cracked, and she ended up holding half the lid with the other half still
seated on the
cup. Heat cursed aloud and chucked the useless half on the passenger-
side floor mat. Just as she was about to take a sip, desperately needing
a
caffeine jolt to lift her morning fog, a horn honked behind her. The light
had finally gone green. Of course.
With an experienced hand tilting the cup so the momentum of her turn
wouldn't slop coffee over the rim and onto her fingers, Nikki steered left
onto
83rd. She had just straightened the wheel passing Cafe Lalo when a dog
darted out in front of her. Heat slammed the brakes. Coffee sloshed onto
her
lap. It was all over her skirt, but she was more concerned about the dog.
Thankfully, she didn't hit it. She didn't even scare it. The dog, a small
German shepherd or husky mix, boldly stood there in the street right in
front of her,
not moving, just staring at her over its shoulder. Nikki smiled at it and
waved. And still, it just stood there. That stare unnerved her. It was
challenging and
intrusive. The eyes were sinister, piercing under dark brows and a
permanent frown. As she examined it, something else seemed off about
the dog. Like
it wasn't a dog at all. Too small for a shepherd or husky, and the coloring
of its rough coat was tan mottled by gray. And the muzzle was too thin
and
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