'High Heat' Ch. 1 Excerpt by Richard Castle

Chapter 1
Reykjavk. The mere word sent shivers of ecstasy down Nikki Heats spine.
Reykjavk. It was like a sumptuous gourmet meal, a fragrant bubble bath, and a
shot of top-shelf tequila, joined in a way that the delights of each amplified the others.
Reykjavk. Say it loud and theres music playing. Say it soft and . . . Well, there
was more loud than soft when it came to the very best parts of Reykjavk.
Yes, Reykjavk. To the uninformedwhich included the entire worlds
population, save for one incredible manit was the capital and main fishing port of the
island nation of Iceland, a lonely chunk of volcanic rock in the North Atlantic, just south
of the Arctic Circle.
To Heat, it was something else entirely. Something far less lonely and far more
inviting.
Reykjavk was what her husband, the ruggedly handsome and world-famous
magazine writer Jameson Rook, called where he had taken her on their honeymoon. He
had chosen the name in the same spirit as the islands original Norse settlers, who dubbed
their green, temperate new home Snlandliterally snow landto deter Viking
pillagers.
Rook wasnt looking to throw off the Vikings, of course. He was more concerned
with Us Weekly and the gossip column of the New York Ledger, publications whose
journalistic sensibilities often brought to mind plundering seafaring warriors.
To be clear, Reykjavk wasnt really Reykjavk, and it wasnt just one place. The
newlyweds Reykjavk turned out to be located on three different continents, in major
cities and small towns, in the tropics and on the tundra.
Taken collectively, their tour of the various destinations had been like Around the
World in Eighty Days, albeit not as lengthy. Jules Verne didnt have to contend with the
New York Police Departments vacation policy. Then again, he also didnt have access to
a rich friends private jet, as Rook did.
Without having to bother with the inconveniences of commercial air travel, Rook
had been able to show her the best of the hidden off-the-beaten-path gems he had
discovered during his days as a foreign correspondentevery secret beach, locals-only
restaurant, and little-known treasure you couldnt learn about in the guidebooks.
They had relished leisurely wine-and-cheese picnics in the Alps, laughing about
nothing and everything, with the Jungfraujoch smiling down on them. They had
sunbathed in the nude on the Amalfi Coast, safe in the knowledge that Rook knew spots
the paparazzi didnt. They had meditated in a Tibetan pagoda, achieving an inner peace
that was impossible to find when they were enjoined in the hectic pace of their daily
lives.
And they had made love. Oh, how they made love. Heat was astonished at Rooks
stamina and creativity, at how even now, years into their relationship, he had found new
and inventive ways to take her to ever-greater heights, elevations of bliss that made the
mighty Himalayas seem like lowly foothills. She had discovered a few new tricks for
pleasing him as well. The phrase lets go to Reykjavkor any of its various
derivationshad taken on special meaning.
Suffice it to say the real Reykjavk was known for its unusual tectonic activity
and so was their version of it.
Heat hadnt thought getting married would change anything fundamental about
their union. She thought they would throw a big party, take a nice trip, and things would
continue more or less as they always had.
But Captain Nikki Heat, whose instincts as a detective were seldom wrong, had
turned out to be mistaken in that assumption about her personal life. Getting married had
lowered the last barriers between them, allowing for an intimacy like she had never
experienced before. Heat had thought she was in love with Rook before their wedding.
She recognized that was just a prolonged crush compared to what she felt now.
And if she sighed as she lay in bed and thumbed through pictures of their
honeymoon, on an early Tuesday morning in Octobermore than a year since they had
returned from Reykjavkit was not because she was again thinking about her husbands
magnificent ass. It was because the man who had made her the happiest woman on the
planet was not around for a prework quickie.
Rook had been away on assignment since Sunday. The two-time Pulitzer Prize
winner was writing a profile for First Press about Legs Kline, the billionaire businessman
turned unexpected independent contender for the US presidency. Kline had seized on the
general dissatisfaction with the main party candidatesthe Democratic nominee,
Senator Lindsy Gardner, was a librarian turned politician who was said to be too nice to
be president; the Republican pick, Caleb Brown, was a take-no-prisoners lawmaker who
was said to be too meanand turned it into real momentum toward the White House.
Who is Legs Kline, really? That had been the question on the lips of the electorate
ever since. Jameson Rook was the one journalist America trusted for a straight answer.
And now that the election was just three weeks off, the clock was ticking. Rook
had been working day and night on the profile, to the detriment of Heats love life. He
had checked in the previous night from somewhere in the Midwest, where he had been
visiting a Kline Industries fracking operation. Next it would be a smelting plant on the
shores of Lake Erie and then a logging camp in the Rockies . . . or was it a liquid natural
gas operation on the Gulf Coast?
She couldnt keep track. Rook had been vague about when he would return. All
she knew was he would finish his tour of the Kline Industries facilities, then join the
candidate on the campaign trail in the hopes of scoring a one-on-one interview. And that
might take a while.
Just as she was about to let out another wistful sigh, her smartphone rang. She
grabbed it off the nightstand where she kept it, its ringer always turned on high so it
would awaken her from even the deepest sleep.
Heat.
Captain. It was the voice of Miguel Ochoa, the co-leader of her detective squad.
We got something at the precinct you really need to see. How soon can you be in?
On my way, Heat said, already swinging her feet to the floor.
Is Rook with you?
No.
Where is he?
I have no idea. Bismarck maybe.
Thats . . . Montana, right?

North Dakota, genius.
Okay. Good enough.
She was about to hang up, but Ochoa added, By the way, you eaten breakfast
yet?
No.
Good. Keep it that way.

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Chapter 1

Thats . . . Montana, right?

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