Black Light: Suspicion

by Measha Stone

  Friend dinner bordered on meeting the parents, and they weren’t there yet. Hell, maybe they would never be there, but for right now, she just wanted to embrace the fun they were having. And get to work on the case.

  Telling him about Travis had been easy once the flood gates had opened. The judgment she feared had never come.

  “Have the IT guys been able to find any leads on the email?” he asked.

  “They promised to have it this afternoon. But in the meantime, I’ve been combing through her crap. Hoping to find someone who stood up to her, because fuck, she was a bitch.” She put her coffee cup back on the desk.

  “Nothing?” Scott leaned back in his chair. So many parts of working a case involved waiting for analysis and test results; without a witness or suspects to grill, they were left staring at each other.

  “Nelson! Russo! Got another one for you!” The captain jerked a thumb toward the interrogation rooms.

  Scott arched both eyebrows. “He can’t be serious. Another one?”

  “This is just stupid.” Sophie grabbed a pen.

  “Well, the last one did give us some information. Maybe this one will have more insight.” Scott stood and stretched his arms over his head, his shirt hem lifting enough for her to get a glimpse of his abs. Not too hard bodied, but enough fitness to dry her mouth by watching him move. She blinked, reminding herself they were at work. They had a case to solve. No matter how much of a bitch the victim was, she didn’t deserve to be murdered.

  Scott cupped her elbow as they walked toward the interrogation room. Her first instinct was pull away; the little touch could be misread by other officers. The mind reader he was turning out to be must have understood her too well; he closed his fingers around her arm and held her close to him.

  “Just being a gentleman,” he whispered while he pulled open the first set of glass doors. His hand released her but found a new position on the small of her back. Even when he wasn’t in the lead, he led her.

  Scott stopped just outside the interrogation room. “Have we heard back yet from the vic’s family?”

  “No, which is a little weird. She has a sister who lives in New York. You’d think she’d be interested in finding out what happened. We’ll need to talk to her.”

  Scott nodded. “You wanna get some dinner tonight?” He posed the question with his hand on the door handle.

  “We’re at work,” she said.

  “Partners have dinner all the time,” he pointed out.

  And that’s what they were, partners. But she didn’t see a friendly smile beaming down at her. She saw possession.

  With too much to think about, to process, she turned back to the closed door. “Fine. Dinner. Now, open the door.” She hadn’t meant to sound so pissy. A girl being taken to dinner by Scott should be thrilled to her toes, yet for Sophie, it stirred up unease. She’d agreed to see how things progressed with them, but she hadn’t expected so much normalcy to invade their relationship. Nights at the club, learning tricks of the trade, that sort of thing, sure. But he wanted dinners and movies and hanging with friends.

  And when it all failed, where would that leave her? Them? Would she have to transfer districts again? She’d let herself get taken in with the promise of Scott’s dominance, and now she worried it would all crumble again anyway. Hadn’t she learned her lesson already?

  Too much uncertainty for a Monday.

  “Let’s get in there.”

  Scott hesitated a moment, wrinkled his brow, and she thought he was going to drag her into a long conversation. Thankfully, he let the matter drop and opened the door.

  A man, mid-thirties, sat facing the door, his hands folded on the table. Wide dark eyes, clenched jaw, his mouth downturned. For someone ready to confess to a murder he probably hadn’t committed, he gave more of an impression of terrorized animal than martyr.

  “You’re—” He paused to clear his throat, and hopefully straighten out his nerves. “You’re the detectives working on Susan’s murder?” A little wobbly at the end, but he made it through the sentence without wavering too much.

  “Yes,” Scott answered pulling back the chair opposite the man and sat down. “I’m Detective Russo, and this is my partner, Detective Nelson.”

  “And you are?” Sophie asked. They should have stopped to get the preliminary information before jumping into the room.

  “Clark Simmons,” he answered but kept his eyes glued to Scott.

  “Well, Clark. I understand you have some information for us about Susan.” Sophie perched on the table beside Clark, letting her leg brush his elbow.

  Still he didn’t face her.

  “I think she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. I saw them a few days ago, arguing in front of our office building. It looked…heated.” He interlaced his fingers, whitening his knuckles.

  “And you worked with her?” Sophie asked tapping her pen against his shoulder to draw his attention to her.

  “I did.” He nodded. “Well, in the same building.”

  “So, you aren’t here to confess?” Scott sat back, folding his arms over his chest. She knew him well enough to hear the relief in his voice, but suspected their new friend, Clark, would take it as disinterest.

  “Confess? Why would I do that?” Clark’s back straightened, and he dared for the first time to look up at Sophie.

  “Tell us more about Susan. Were you two close?” Sophie skipped his question.

  “No. She worked on the floor above mine. We only knew each other casually. Lunchroom, elevator, that sort of thing.” Clark went back to staring at Scott. Did he think Scott had more clout because he was the man in the room? Could he really mistake her for a sidekick of sorts?

  Scott didn’t make a sound. He kept his arms folded over his chest, giving off the formidable presence he was while Sophie slid from the table and walked behind Clark.

  “I’m confused. You knew her or you saw her, which was it?” Sophie questioned from behind him.

  His back tensed, and he shift in his seat.

  “We spoke casually,” he explained.

  “And what was your impression of her?” Sophie asked next.

  “Impression?” he parroted.

  “What did you think of her? Generous, adventurous, warm hearted, business shark? Like, how was she?” Sophie tossed the pad of paper she’d brought with her on the table and took the seat beside Scott. The bastard could keep ignoring her, but she’d be the one asking questions.

  “I don’t know. She seemed decent enough. I heard her talking about trying to make partner where she worked, but there was a lot of competition. She worried she wouldn’t get it.”

  Scott unfolded his arms and leaned forward. “You heard her?”

  Clark blinked several times and swallowed hard. “Yes. On her phone, talking to her boyfriend.”

  “How did you know it was her boyfriend?” Sophie asked.

  “She used his name, I’d heard it before when she was making dinner plans with him.” Clark fidgeted in his seat.

  “So, you never had any real conversations with her? You sort of stalked her?” Sophie leaned closer to him. From what she had learned about Susan, this guy seemed more likely to be devoured by her than befriended.

  “What? No! We rode the same elevator many times, took lunch at the same time. But I didn’t stalk her.” His jaw clenched, and Sophie watched him for a long, silent moment. This was definitely an admirer from afar. He wasn’t looking up at her because he thought her a mere woman. He couldn’t make eye contact because girls scared him.

  “What about this ex-boyfriend. What about him?” Scott pressed on, probably having come to the same conclusion.

  “She was mad because he didn’t make time for her. So, she broke it off.” He squinted at Sophie, not quite meeting her eyes. “I heard her telling him on the phone to stop calling her. She told him she didn’t want to see him anymore, and she’d call him if she needed him.”

  “You ever meet him?” Sophie asked.

  �
��No.” He unlaced his fingers and spread them flat on the table. “That afternoon I saw them arguing was the first time I’d seen him in person.”

  “How’d you know it was him?” Scott asked.

  A blush grew over Clark’s cheeks. “His picture was on her contacts. I saw the screen when he called once…or twice.”

  “You ever ask her out?” Scott asked. “I mean after she broke up with her boyfriend,” he added.

  Clark’s eyes widened briefly. “No. Of course not.” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbed. Never ask, never get rejected.

  Sophie exchanged a glance with Scott. Once she was confident they were on the same page, she continued. “So, you saw them arguing. Did it get physical?” Sophie asked. “Did he push her maybe, slap her?”

  “No, he just, well, he pinned her against the building. And he…well, he kissed her. But it wasn’t a nice kiss, and she pushed him off.” His jaw tensed again.

  “And you charged in to save her?” Her attempt to keep the sarcasm from her voice failed on an epic level. Clark turned his gaze to her; a flash of disgust was quickly disguised once more behind his eyes. Was he disgusted by his own cowardice?

  “She didn’t need me to. I only came down here because I heard about what happened to her, and I know he had something to do with it.”

  “Because he kissed her a little rough a few weeks ago?” Scott asked. “You sure you weren’t just a little bit jealous? I mean, she was really good looking. Successful. Maybe you didn’t like being ignored? Rejected?”

  “She never rejected me,” Clark said firmly.

  “Right. Because you never asked her out. You just sort of followed her around like a lost puppy? Hoping for some scraps from the table?” Sophie pushed.

  Clark shook his head and slammed his hand down on the table. “I knew you’d make something out of nothing. It’s why I didn’t come down right away.” The fear from earlier crept back into his expression.

  “You thought because you had a crush on her, we’d pin this on you?”

  “I figured you’d turn this into some sort of jealousy plot, and it’s not. I’m not. I wasn’t interested in her, not like that. She was a good lady and didn’t deserve what happened to her.” He ran his fingers over his eyes, pinching his nose.

  Sophie raised her eyebrows in confusion. “A good lady?”

  “You didn’t even know her, Clark.” Scott pointed out.

  Clark’s blush deepened, and he took a deep breath through his nose.

  “Do you know the boyfriend’s name?” Scott kept his tone even. No one they’d talked to so far had mentioned a boyfriend. From what they knew of her, she didn’t have anyone in her corner.

  “That’s the other thing.” His hands clenched together again, and the vein on the side of his neck throbbed with his pulse. “He’s a cop.” The sentence came out like a moan. Like he didn’t want to say it. Understandable, walking into a precinct uninvited to accuse an officer of murder. Now his fear really became palpable.

  “What’s his name?” Scott asked again. His tone didn’t change, but she’d seen the tension build in his muscles.

  “Look, Clark, you came in to see us. We didn’t come find you. And I know it’s hard coming into a police station pointing the finger at a cop. It takes a lot of strength to do that.” She reached across the table and placed a gentle hand on top of his hand.

  At first, she’d thought he only wanted to deal with Scott because he had a strong sexist gene flowing through his dick, but Clark was just a guy who didn’t have the balls to talk to women, no matter how attractive he found them. It was probably worse with the attractive ones. He found Scott less scary because he was a guy. She couldn’t completely blame him. It wasn’t like Clark had seen Scott carrying a flogger with that intense glare of his. And she did tend to give off a bitch vibe when in the interrogation room.

  Clark dragged his gaze up Sophie’s arm to meet her eyes. The fear eased away a fraction, but she could still see the hesitation.

  “You’ve come this far, not telling us now would be such a waste, wouldn’t it? And if he’s really the guy who did it, who hurt her, we might not get him without your help. None of our current leads are getting us very far.”

  He took in a shaky breath and nodded. “His name is Steve Renner.”

  Scott tensed beside her, but she didn’t let on she noticed. She kept her eyes steady on Clark, he visibly relaxed.

  “I’m not sure which station he works out of.” He added, his tone softening. He’d just tossed a boulder off his shoulders.

  Unfortunately, he’d tossed it onto theirs.

  Chapter 13

  “I’m telling you it’s weird. He had such a rose-colored view of Susan. Nothing like we’d heard yet. How could he get such a nice piece of her when everyone else got megabitch?” Sophie said as they walked down the street toward the first precinct. Scott had parked the car a block down, wanting a few more minutes with her before they headed inside. And the slight winter chill turned her nose a sweet pink.

  “Well, it’s not like he actually knew her. He just let himself get caught up in his attraction to her. Probably fantasized about her more than he even actually spoke to her,” Scott offered. His hand brushed hers as they walked. Taking her hand would be the natural thing for him to do, but she wouldn’t let him, he was sure. Not so close to the precinct. The exact house she transferred out of because of Travis Dixon.

  As though he needed another reason to hate that prick of a man. Getting through the academy hadn’t been hard for Scott, not after all his military training. Making it through graduation without ruining everything by turning his weapon on the creep had been challenging. Whatever made Sophie consider dating the asshole in the first place?

  He hadn’t brought it up after their scene on Friday night. She’d given him the answer he required, and digging into her past relationships hadn’t been part of the deal. If she had said any other name, he wouldn’t pry, so he let go for the time being.

  “I doubt a woman like her would ever go for a man like him. He was nearly pissing himself to see me walk into the room with you. He is not confident enough to take on a woman like Susan James. Besides, we’ve interviewed co-workers and neighbors, and not a single one had a nice thing to say about her. Hell, her own sister hasn’t shown up to claim her body or get the memorial ready.”

  Sophie stopped in front of the precinct doors and took a deep breath.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he assured her, rubbing her back.

  “It’s going to be awkward as hell. I know the captain said he called and got the okay to come over to question Steve, but my history here makes this even more awkward.” She unzipped her coat— one of those long down coats that made it feel like it was springtime but looked like you rolled yourself in a sleeping bag. She could have wrapped herself in potato sacks, though, and he’d be able to see the beauty beneath.

  “Well then, let’s get it over with. I’m getting hungry.”

  She shot him a snarky grin over her shoulder. “For food?”

  “Not if you’re with me.” He winked, reached around her to pull the door open, and gave her a gentle shove to get her going. “Now stop trying to eye fuck me. We’re on the job.”

  Her snort made him smile.

  They had just stepped into the back offices of the building when Steve Renner greeted them.

  “Hey, Sophie.” He flashed a smile at her first before turning to Scott. “Russo.” He gave him a brief nod.

  “Thanks for talking with us.” Scott offered his hand. Steven responded in kind with a sympathetic nod.

  “No problem. It probably looks bad. Happy to help any way I can.” He hooked his fingers in his duty belt, obviously ready start his shift on the street in his full uniform.

  “Want to use a room, or is here okay?” He signaled to where they stood.

  “Up to you.” Sophie’s smile was forced. The little crevice in her right cheek when she gave a genuine smile wasn’t there.
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  “Here’s fine,” he said and leaned against the desk.

  “Okay, then. We’re investigating the murder of Susan James, and we were told you and she dated a little while back?”

  “Susan. Yeah, we did. I was sorry to hear what happened.” Other than a grimace when Scott said her name, he didn’t give the appearance of being overly sorry. Much like everyone else they’d talked with regarding her death.

  “A witness reported he saw you and her having an argument outside her office building about two weeks before the murder,” Sophie stated. “Any truth to that?” She used her professional voice, but Scott detected the little waver in her tone. She knew this guy. They’d been in the same stationhouse. It couldn’t be easy to question him like any other creep on the street.

  “Yeah, we did. She was a hothead, that one. Nothing made her happy. Everything I did was barely acceptable to her. I mean, she was hot but, I’m not chasing after any woman the way she wanted to be chased.”

  “How do you mean?” Scott asked.

  “She wanted to be completely adored. Like there was no one else in the damn world. Which works fine, if, you know, there’s no one else in the damn world. She’d get pissed if my shift ran long, or if I had to work a crime scene. Everything was about her. Too much. And we’d only been dating maybe a month. Neither of us were having fun, so I broke it off.”

  “That was a few weeks ago?” Scott clarified.

  “No, that was two months ago. But I ran into her a few weeks ago. She acted like she didn’t even know me. I admit I got a little pissed off. When we broke it off, to be honest, I don’t think she cared.”

  “So why argue?” Sophie questioned.

  “Not really a plus for the male ego to be forgotten so easily.” He smirked. “I thought she was playing with me, acting like she didn’t know who I was. I thought it was a game. She liked those.” He shrugged. “So, I kissed her, you know, to jog her memory.” The smile faded slightly. “But either she really didn’t remember me or she had upped her role-playing talent. After I pulled away, she smacked me one. I took the hint and left it. I hadn’t talked to her since.”