The Killing Room First edition

Denver detective Jake McCoy was rehabbing at her cabin in the mountains, trying to reconcile the shooting death of a young boy. Psychologist Nicole Westbrook, an expert in domestic violence, is in those very same mountains, escaping from the horrors of her profession for a brief vacation. Nicole becomes lost when she leaves the well-marked hiking trail in search of hot springs, and she stumbles upon Jake, who is enjoying her own soak in remote springs. They exchange first names only, but after a few hours together, a physical attraction neither can explain, engulfs them, leaving them as lovers, not strangers, when Nicole departs the following day. But when Jake returns to Denver, a murder investigation leads her to Nicole. Both are surprised that they are face to face with the stranger they thought they?d never see again, Nicole tries to remain in the professional closet that she?s been hiding in for so long, a place where out cop Jake McCoy does not fit. And Jake, still trying to recover from the shooting that left her injured, does her best to distance herself from Nicole. It is soon evident that a serial killer is targeting Nicole?s former patients. Try as they may, they can not deny the physical attraction between them, even if it means compromising the investigation. But after all is said and done, the fact remains that Nicole and Jake live in two different worlds. Despite the physical attraction and the gentle tug of love, both women accept that when their case is over, they will go their separate ways. Jake retreats back to the mountains, and Nicole resumes her practice in earnest, both trying to forget the other . . . and both failing.