Tainted Blood
Page 18
It was a pretty even split.
“I’m not sure what you think you have that links me to whatever it is you have going on, but I’ll tell you here and now, it’s not going to stick. I’ve been here all evening. More than that, I’ve been here all week. Any of the people behind me there will vouch for my whereabouts.”
Well, some of them would. A few might still be miffed over the card thing…
“That’s not what this is, Ms.—Can I call you Meredith?”
“Uh, yeah, go for it.”
“Alright, Meredith. I’m a friend of Luka’s. Well, my wife is—was. She’s not dead or anything. She’s just not my wife anymore. I’m Detective Carter, by the way. Joss Carter.”
“Okay… Carter, so you know Luka? What exactly does that have to do with me and a murder?” I chose not to harp on the guy too much for not making a lot of sense. The dark crescents under his eyes said he hadn’t seen a night’s sleep in the recent past.
Carter glanced over my shoulder at our audience. “Like I said there’s been more than one murder—a series of murders, really. I don’t want to discuss the particulars here, but something seems off about the crimes.”
“Off how?”
“Off like…” He leaned closer and pitched his voice to a whisper. “Off like the kind of off you people deal with.”
“Oh…”
“Yeah, so I had my wife—my ex-wife—reach out to Luka, and he pointed me in your direction.”
“Nice of him to give me a heads-up. You want me to come and check it out tonight?”
“That’s what I was hoping. They were just setting up the crime scene when I left. It’s not far. I figured the quicker we got you there to take a look…”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” I didn’t really know if the recency of the death made any difference to what I might see, but it certainly couldn’t hurt.
“And if you’re worried about pay, the department will foot the bill for your consulting fee.”
“Will I get a badge?”
Carter smiled wanly. “If we can’t figure out who’s doing this, you can have mine.”
Click here to order Dark Vessel: Meredith Bale Mysteries Book Three
About DC Malone
DC Malone lives in a world filled with specters, vampires, and all the many other others that populate the fantastical vistas of imagination.
When DC surfaces from the world of fantasy, it is to resume the cozy life in a tiny Midwest town with a family of furry critters, both of the feline and canine varieties.
Other Books by DC Malone
Meredith Bale Mysteries
Grave Robber
Tainted Blood
Dark Vessel
Book 4 (In progress – title forthcoming)