by Melody Raven
Claudia smiled and Sam figured she’d made a good enough save. “You don’t need to stand there all day. Have a seat.”
Sam and Claire both sat, and Claire studied Sam and copied her motions as she unfolded the napkin and set it on her lap. Because Sam had known it was a nice restaurant, she’d dressed reasonably conservative. She still wore her black skinny jeans and combat boots, but her makeup was simple. Maybe that had more to do with her exhaustion, though. She’d put on enough concealer and foundation to hide the circles under her eyes and then some mascara and a nude lipstick. Along with her simple white knit tank top, the top of her looked more than presentable.
Claire was also dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt and Sam’s old black leather jacket. But Claire’s bright blonde hair and natural beauty really didn’t need makeup to elevate it. As a pair they weren’t anything fancy, but they would get the job done.
Even so, if she’d known Claudia was going to be there, she would’ve dressed a hell of a lot better.
“Heather and I were just discussing your day yesterday,” said Claudia.
The day from hell. Maybe she was actually going to hear what had happened after she was asked to leave. “Oh really? I hadn’t told Heather anything about it yet.”
“Probably for the best,” said Claudia, and Heather jerked as though the verbal confirmation that she didn’t need to be kept informed actually pained her. “The whole mess is rather... messy.” Claudia made a little laugh at her own words. “Forgive me, Claire. I’ve never been good with words.”
Claire smiled awkwardly. “I’ve heard that you’re a great speaker.”
Sam wanted to high-five her friend. Flattery was always a good option when speaking with Claudia.
“You’re too sweet. I need to remember to be nicer to my granddaughters if this is what they tell people about me.”
“You know we’re your biggest fans, Grandma,” said Heather.
“Thank you, dear.” Claudia turned her attention back to Sam. “So I hear you’re associating with Detective Derek Pierce again.”
Sam leaned back in the chair and put a hand over her mouth. She knew this wasn’t a friendly visit. “You talked with Bastian.”
Claudia’s expression was guarded and Sam had no idea what she was thinking. “He told me, yes. But I knew before. It’s not a good idea to keep things from me.”
“I wasn’t keeping anything from you. In fact, if you talked to Bastian, I told him I knew he’d tell you.”
“That was taken into consideration. You should’ve told me yourself. You’re an important asset to me, Samantha.”
Sam nodded. “Of course, Grandmother. I will make sure any future items like that are communicated immediately.”
“This situation with Janet Montgomery is worrisome.”
Heather and Sam once again caught eyes across the table. It was never good if Claudia was worried.
“I would like to meet up with Bastian as soon as possible to help with the situation,” said Sam.
“That’s not necessary,” said Claudia. “I have something else for you to do.”
“I can help out if needed,” said Heather.
Claudia didn’t even acknowledge her. “I talked with Parker and Helen last night. Tried to pinpoint when Janet went bad. Bastian is looking into a few of my suspicions.”
Sam nodded as she tried to steel herself for the inevitable firing that was about to happen. She thought her grandmother would be nice enough to not do it in front of other people, but they’d all have to find out eventually. And, hey, if Heather found out in person, she could tell Abigail and that would save Sam from having to make that phone call.
“I need you to go to the police department and see if they know who she talked to while she was there.”
Well, that was unexpected. “You want me to go to the cops?”
“I can’t very well send Bastian. You saw to it that Detective Pierce isn’t susceptible to certain... persuasions. So now you’re going to have to take care of this yourself. Find out who she talked to. Try to see video feed if necessary. Bastian was instructed to inform you if he finds out anything useful.”
“So... you want me to talk to Derek?”
“No. I want you to talk to anyone Janet had contact with. If that happens to include Detective Pierce, then that includes him too. But I can trust you to keep everything professional.”
It wasn’t a question, so Sam didn’t give a yes or no. “Okay. I’ll go right now.”
“Nonsense.” Claudia pushed her chair back and stood. Heather and Sam reflexively rose as well, with Claire standing a few seconds after them. “Oh, sit down,” said Claudia.
The three younger women at the table all stayed standing, watching to see whether anyone else was going to sit first.
“You came to have lunch and I’m not going to get in the way of that. But once you finish, get to work. Keep me updated on your progress.” Then, as if she were right back to being a loving grandmother, she gave Heather a hug and kissed her on her cheeks and repeated the farewell with Sam. All three of them were silent as Claudia left the restaurant. Sam knew Claudia had told them to finish their meal, but Sam had no appetite any more.
But Heather was the first one to bow out. “I just remembered that I have something to get to this afternoon,” she said abruptly. “We’ll have to reschedule.” Before Sam could even utter a word, Heather picked up her designer handbag and made a run for the door.
Claire twisted in her chair to watch Heather as she disappeared from the restaurant. “So you’re seeing Derek again?”
“That’s what you picked up from this whole exchange?”
“That’s the only part that made me happy. Your grandmother is terrifying.”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, she is.”
“So what are you going to do?”
Sam shrugged. “Exactly what she told me to. You said it yourself. She’s terrifying.”
“Did you figure out who’s missing a leg?” Derek took another drink of his fourth coffee of the day. The black sludge was working double time. Between the caffeine and the god-awful taste, it kept his mind awake and alert.
“A drug addict,” said the medical examiner over the phone.
“Yeah?”
“Male Caucasian between thirty and forty years old and approximately six feet tall. We screened for drugs and came back positive for significant levels of methamphetamine and trace quantities of its primary metabolite amphetamine. My guess is that it’s drug related.”
“What else can you tell me?” Derek was grateful for all of Albert’s work, but he didn’t need his coroner’s guesses. Derek had seen plenty of drug murders that didn’t end with someone getting legs thrown in dumpsters, so he was still trying to keep an open mind.
“I can’t determine cause of death from the leg. There were no common poisons found in his system and he could’ve overdosed, but we can’t prove that based off the leg alone. It doesn’t have the features of an accident, but once again, I still can’t rule that out. I’m ninety percent sure we’re looking at a murder. There was evidence that he had a knee surgery. I already emailed you pictures of the scar and details of what I can tell about the procedures. Maybe the hospitals can help with ID.”
That was more than he thought he’d get from a leg alone. “Sounds like a good start. Let me know if you think of anything else.”
They hung up and Derek pulled up the email with the details from the autopsy, or whatever it was called when a leg was dissected. Not a lot to go on, but more than they had before. He already sent the DNA to be run against the database for felons in the state. If the guy was a drug addict, that meant they might get a hit. At least there was one piece of good news.
“Why do you smell?”
Derek looked over his computer monitor to see Sam in the door to his office. His surprise was muffled by the exhaustion he was fighting through and the annoyance of the morning. “I didn’t think you were allowed in here.”
“The guy at the desk recognized me and let me through. Guess I made an impression.”
“You did make an impression. Want to know who your mother made an impression on? My boss. If he sees you here, I think he might fire me.”
“Don’t worry about her. I’m here on Claudia’s orders and she’s over my mom’s head.”
“Your grandmother wants you here? She said this?”
“Very clearly. Okay, slightly confusingly, but the point came across.”
Derek finally set his cup down and lowered his laptop screen so there wasn’t anything between them. “Okay, I’ll bite. What does your grandmother want from me?”
“Technically nothing. She wants to know what Janet was doing at the police station yesterday.”
“I figured she didn’t go to this precinct, though. Wouldn’t she go closer to home?”
“Maybe. But I don’t know which station she’d go to and I happen to have this contact who’s a cop who could help me out.”
He nodded as he started to get it. “So Claudia is giving you permission to talk to me now? Funny, since the last time I dealt with her she wanted me dead.”
“If she still wanted you dead, you’d be dead. Are you going to help me or not? I’m sure Bastian would have luck if we started hitting police stations one by one.”
Derek motioned her inside. “Come on.” She got a smug smile on her face, so he added, “Before Voss sees you.”
Sam stepped inside and closed the door behind her. It was nice to see her out of the suit and in clothes that were more like her. More like the Sam he knew, at least.
She sat in the chair across from him and she immediately raised her lip in disgust. “Is that a leg?” She pointed to a picture on his desk.
“Shit.” He bent over to clear the papers off his desk, trying to get everything related to the leg case. “Sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. I didn’t give you any warning before stopping here.”
“Why not?”
“Why not be sorry?”
“Why not give me warning?”
Sam stiffened in her seat. “I guess I thought you’d tell me not to come.”
“I stuck with you all last night. What would make me change my mind?”
“I don’t know. I’m tired and stressed and I’m working under the assumption that things aren’t going to go my way right now.”
Derek didn’t know what to say to that. He was kind of in the same boat. Who knew? Maybe their luck was about to change.
“You never answered me.”
“Never answered what?”
“You stink.”
“So you’ve decided not to try the flattery method of getting information.”
The corner of her mouth hooked up. “I’ll flatter you all day if you want. But you do stink.”
“I was at the landfill all morning.”
“You were up all night and then had to go to the dump?”
“It’s a glamorous life I live,” he said dryly while he opened his laptop up. “Janet Montgomery, right? Do you have a recent picture?”
“Uhh... no. I can get one, though.”
“See if you can. For now, I’ll float her name around and see if she’s in the system or if anyone recognizes her.”
“Great. How long will that take?”
“Not long.” He pulled up the report system and entered in her name, but the older police reporting software search would be running for a few minutes before it gave him anything useful. “What are you really doing, Sam?”
“I’m being honest. I’m trying to find out what happened to Janet.”
“Not with that. With that guy yesterday. With your grandmother. Wearing a suit. I don’t get it.”
“I told you I want to help people. Just like you, Derek.”
“You help people with mind control and threats. That’s no help.”
“Sorry, I must’ve forgotten. You’re going to take on my family single-handedly, aren’t you?”
“I’m going to protect my people.”
“Just run the search, Derek.”
He wanted to say more but didn’t know how to say it in a way that she’d listen. He remembered when she’d touched that stuff yesterday. Her face had fallen and he’d seen a look of terror in her eyes he hadn’t seen before. The longer she stayed trying to save the world, the more often she’d be in situations that would strike fear into her heart like that.
Derek was used to seeing dead bodies floating in the water. He was used to interviewing people who lied to him and helping people who didn’t want to be helped. Sam had been a full-time heiress just a few months ago. She didn’t really choose this life and she wasn’t in any way prepared for it.
But if he couldn’t get her to stop, he could at least offer her any help he could. “If you want to go over a few things, maybe after I get off work we could—”
“What is this?”
Sam held up an envelope and looked at him questioningly.
He couldn’t read it from where he was, so he took it from her hand to get a closer look. “Oh.” The envelope was addressed to Abigail Harris.
“Oh? Why do you have my mother’s mail? Was my mother here? Have you been talking to her?”
He winced and knew he was going to have to tell her the truth.
“Wait, did you steal this? I know I’m not an expert cop or anything, but you still need a warrant if you want to—”
“I didn’t steal it. I can legally get anything out of the trash once it’s off her property.” Damn it, that wasn’t how he should’ve started this. “I mean—”
“You went dumpster diving at my mother’s? Is that really why you stink?”
“No, that was something else. Sam, you knew I was doing this. Looking into your mother. Sometimes when dealing with someone untouchable, you need to get dirty.”
“I—I don’t even know. How much do you have of hers?”
The computer dinged, letting him know the search was finished. “I can bring up the report for—”
“How much do you have of hers?” she repeated.
“I don’t think you need to see what I have.”
“I think I want to see how much you have. Especially if you don’t want me running straight to Claudia to tell her what you’ve been doing.”
Her voice was steady but he knew she was bluffing. Their friendship had been strained at best, but she’d made her protective stance of him when it came to her grandmother more than clear.
“Show me what you have,” she ordered. “Please.”
Damn it. The please did him in. It was easy to say no to threats, especially empty ones. But this wasn’t just some investigation she was butting in on. This was her mother. He knew that their situations were very different, but if she had been investigating his family, he knew he’d go crazy. Besides, he hadn’t found anything of use in the papers he’d recovered from the trash. What was the harm in showing it to her?
“Come on.” He stood. “It’s all in the evidence lockup.”
“You’re calling it evidence? Evidence of what?”
“I don’t know what to call it. I don’t have a lot of experience with this. But I needed to store it somewhere.”
The evidence lockup was located in the basement, so he led her toward the elevator, but of course he couldn’t get there before he ran into someone he didn’t want to see.
“Ms. Harris,” said Captain Voss.
Fuck. “She’s here to check on the status of the Tommy Collins case,” said Derek quickly before Voss lost his shit.
Sam covered quickly as well. “Hello, Captain Voss. It’s so nice to see you again. Especially under better circumstances.”
Charming Sam was much scarier than goth/punk Sam. She reminded him too much of her mother when she was like this. But Voss seemed happy to know that she was happy. He was in a beige shirt and a loosened tie. The looser the tie, the worse his mood was, so it might be a good thing that Sam was there as a buffer.
�
��When you get a chance, I’d like an update on the John Doe case,” said Voss before he nodded a good-bye to Sam and left, leaving Derek no chance to mention how little progress he’d made on the John Doe who was missing a leg. Derek continued to the elevator when Voss called, “Peirce!”
Derek shook his head before he turned around. “Yeah, Captain?”
“You’re going to be there tonight, right?”
“What’s tonight?” asked Sam.
“Nothing,” said Derek.
“Policeman’s ball. Detective Pierce is going to be honored by the mayor. We’re all proud of him.”
Sam raised a brow at Derek and he mentally cursed. “I’ll be there,” he said before he continued to the elevator.
“You’re being honored?” asked Sam as he hit the down arrow.
“I’m a token honoree,” said Derek. “Something for the bureaucrats to brag about as they try to get budget increases.”
“It’s still nice to be the reason for a budget increase. What are you being honored for?”
“Tommy Collins,” said Derek simply.
“Oh.”
Her previously half-joking expression disappeared and her shoulders slightly slumped. Tommy Collins was a dark memory for each of them. It was his introduction into her dark world and he was the man she’d murdered—and she’d gotten away with it. And now he was getting an award for it. If anyone was getting an award, it should be her considering she’d been instrumental in helping him find Tommy. But nothing about that case should be celebrated.
“You’re not going to tell Claire, are you?”
Sam shrugged. “She’d probably be happy to hear that you’re being rewarded for it. She hated the guy more than any of us.”
“Yeah, but I think she’s happier that it’s over. This might re-open things that she’s trying to heal from.”
“Maybe.” The elevator doors opened, but Sam didn’t move as she studied him. “You’re getting close to Claire?”
