The Whiskey Files

Prologue

Susanna Emmitt was a tall, dark drink of water. A woman with the sharp and sultry looks of Linda Darnell and the body that most women kill themselves under the knife to achieve. For her, it had been all natural. Every curve in the right place and legs that didn't seem to quit. Of course, Salem King had become smitten with her from first sight.

That hadn't taken into account the way she had waved him off at first. How hard the chase had been and, boy, did Salem love the chase. Married women always ran the hardest, but even for Salem she ran harder than any other woman had before and he had chased her long and hard.

That was what had made it so right yet so wrong, that night in the backseat of her car with the driver taking them around the block. How her body had felt on top of his. How hot the passion and the carnal lust of her riding on top of him, how she hushed him so that no one could know she was cheating on her husband.

Every ebb and flow of her half naked body on top of him. The way she squeezed and clung to him as their lips collided and devoured one another as if they couldn't get enough of the way the other tasted or as if they'd never get the chance to taste each other ever again.

Little did she know that there were bugs all over her black Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-Class. That even though the driver had been sworn to secrecy by her and he had his eyes focused on the road ahead of them, that there were cameras and microphones strategically placed all over to get the best shots of their actions. Recording every sordid detail, right down to the glorious finish that had her throwing her head back and wrapping her arms around his neck.

What he hadn't counted on was how he didn't want to turn in that evidence. How he didn't want to give up what he had with Mrs. Emmitt that everything he had worked for had led to something far deeper than just lust but a love for a married woman. That he was willing to throw everything he had away just for more lurid turns in the backseat of her car.

"What do you mean he paid you?"

Coming from her mouth, it had felt like a gut punch and Salem could barely comprehend the notion himself.

"Your husband paid me to sleep with you. That's what I really do for a living, Suzie. Wealthy men pay me to sleep with their wives so they can divorce them for infidelity-"

He barely got the words out when he felt the hot sting of her hand slap him across the face, not once, but twice. Hard enough that he could taste the blood from where he bit his cheek in the process.

"I can't believe you, you're disgusting... I can't- Oh god." She looked like she was going to throw up.

"I didn't hand him the evidence. It's different this time, Suzie..."

"Stop saying my name like that, you lost that right!"

"Please listen to me, I'm telling you this for a reason. I love you!"

She slapped him again for good measure.

"Don't ever come near me again, Mr. King or I will call the police. Do you understand me?"

That was the last time he ever spoke to Susanna Emmitt. The last case he had taken and the last time him and his partner Tulley had been on speaking terms.