by Nyxie Marrs
“Sure. Food poisoning is always great to have. What do you want? Hope you got your coffee, because you’re going to need the energy to amp up this search.” I don’t think I can clench my teeth any harder without a serious fracture. That demeaning look on his face is about to change though. I’ll make sure of that.
He laughs. He fucking laughs. I take a deep breath and look around this lobby. There’s too many witnesses. Just too damn many. I try to shake that thought out, but it’s looking like the better option here. I know he wants to rile me up, to make me screw up so I’m off of this case. Unfortunately, it’s working.
“We’ll see. There’s not much to this case.” Brad chimes in.
I wonder if I can permanently get rid of these guys. No one would notice them missing, right? I look around and see Redmond talking to Miles, both of them watching me looking ready to interfere. I’m sure they can see my anger, and I know Miles can see what I’m thinking.
“You know what, Brad. You can just fuck off. The four of you really. I can’t believe they let the most misogynistic assholes on this case. You four should just burn in hell for that kind of thinking. Women are missing, one shows up dead and you’re apathetic to the whole thing. Jesus, I can’t believe you assholes actually have a fucking job.” I nearly scream and growl at the same time. I’ve had enough. I’m tired of their lack of concern for these missing women, and I’m determined to finish this case without these bastards getting in my way.
The tension in my body increases and I’m about to find a way to swing and make contact with their faces. I just can’t decide who’s first, the order these guys can go down swims through my head. Each one of them is going to get what they damn well need. Knocked down a few notches.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Miles and Redmond rush to me. Like that’s going to stop this. I know if I make that contact, my job is gone. But what do I really have to lose?
Cole and Rocky stand their ground with a confident smile like they doubt I’d do it. Brad cowers a bit, but Dante. His psychotic stare definitely shows he’s not happy about this situation, that’s for sure. No worry, that look won’t stay on his face for long.
Just as I raise my arm, prepped and damn giddy to get this going, Miles wraps around me and pushes me out of the building. Asshole number two is back and damn strong.
“Vega. Seriously?” He whispers in my ear. Pushing me away slightly to look at my eyes. “Do you want to lose your job?” Damn his concern. Making me rethink my actions in there. Yeah, thinking I should have just done it instead of pick the order.
I shake his hands off of me and run my fingers through my hair, letting out a frustrated growl.
“What the-. Ugh! What am I going to do?” I pull my phone out and start an email. I let out a soft maniacal chuckle as I rapidly type into my phone.
“What are you doing?” The look on his face as the silence stretched is appealing.
I send off my email feeling very satisfied and I look to Miles with a smirk. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a friend that may make this a hell of a lot more difficult for those bastards in there. Should have done it sooner.”
Redmond rushes out heading straight for us. “Miles. Got another.”
“Damn.” He mutters.
Chapter 24
Miles
Her face turned gray the second she registered what he said. That threatening look of hers faded fast and went right back into strict work mode.
She shakes her head. “I’m going with you guys before they interfere.”
Should I be concerned that she put that anger away quickly? When you have a situation like this, it’s important to pocket outside emotions and focus on the case, but damn. Vega did that in an instant.
We drive to a small park just before the city limits. Vega bolts out of the car before I completely stop, Red pulls in behind us. Her eyes are focused on the few officers at scene as she hurries her steps.
“Vega.” She stops as I quietly call out. Turning her head slightly so she can see me as I walk to her side. Her muscles tighten, and her fists curl, she’s eager to see who this woman was and to get as much information as possible.
“Vega, do you want me to go over there?” She looks like she’s going to rip my head off at that statement. I hold my hands up and follow her closely. I am not going to stop her. That deadly look means my life will be in danger if I interfere.
Red isn’t too far behind us as he gathers a few papers and met us at the scene where three uniforms are already taking notes. She growls at them as they try greeting her. All taking a small step back from her path.
“Dave, Pete.” I nod as we walk by.
“Waiting for forensics.” Dave says as he keeps his eyes on Vega. His smile fades fast the second he looks back to me. I’m not going to tolerate something like that. This woman has a hell of a lot to do and I’m not going to have anyone looking at her if I can help it.
“I’m Officer James Miller.” He approaches me while watching Vega. She pauses as she reaches the body, taking a deep breath before continuing. There’s a small gleam in his eyes as his mouth twitched almost in a smile. Like I said, I’m not having anyone look at her, especially like that. I grab his hand as he holds it out to shake mine, pulling him towards me harshly. I need to make sure no one is going to mess with her.
This man is tall, short brown hair and an expression of hate stuck on his face. Definitely a man that doesn’t take shit. Maybe I can have him keep the idiot crew away for a bit, but I will not let anyone watch Vega.
Breaking away from her thoughts, she nearly jumps to the body and checks the woman’s face. The worry in her eyes slightly fade when she looks up to me. She relaxes, breathes again, and shakes her head. That can only mean it’s not Elara.
Even I breathe a sigh of relief. I have no idea how I would handle Vega if it was her sister. Red hands her a notepad and a pen, pulling them out of his hands and hastily makes notes.
Vega looks this woman over, taking notes of what little clothing is left, kneeling closer to get a detailed description of every abrasion she can see. Finally moving to get a better look at the woman’s face, she drops the pad and pen.
“Fuck.” She breathes like the air is pushed out of her lungs.
I hold her steady as she tries to stand. I need to make sure she isn’t going to pass out with how quickly her balance was thrown off.
“It’s thirty.” All the expression leaves her voice, and all she can do is look this woman’s body over with fear forming into shock in her eyes. I can feel a tremble in her body the longer she looks at this woman. “This looks like he uses them and abuses them until they stop. That means there’s thirty women who’ve been dumped like this, looks like numerical order so far. And we’ve only found two. Miles. Elara is thirty-eight.” The quiver in her voice is taking over her whole body. Her wide eyes jolt me, and I want nothing more than to solve this case and make that worry fade.
Her body stiffens the second I hear a car door close. By the change in expression on her face, I know who just pulled up. Her eyes narrow as she turns back to the crime scene, shaking me off and regaining composure and strength to finish. Red and I watch those four men as they walk up. Hell, I’m not sure if we should hold Vega back, or refuse to let them near her.
“Do you think this one is related to the case?” Cole asks as they walk up watching Vega work. Red stands in front of them to block their eyes as much as he can. I can’t tell if they’re intimidated by what happened with her earlier and don’t want to chance being in arms reach of her, or if they really are that apathetic and are blowing this off.
“Pretty sure, Cole. Do the numbers burned into their body mean nothing to you? Funny how they can possibly relate to the numbers on the drink glasses we’ve found from the bars.” Red says with animosity. I understand why Vega wanted to hit them, we've been wavering on it ourselves, but I can’t have her lose her job over those men.
“Miles.” Her quiet voice snags my attention qui
ckly, I will make sure she gets anything she needs. I gently hold onto her arm helping her stand up, hearing Rocky and the others scoff. There’s no need for attitude like that around here.
Red told me what they had to say when he spoke about her to them. She’s right, these misogynistic men never gave her a chance. To be honest, I don’t understand how people with such a limited view can be put on a case as sensitive as this one.
“Yeah?” Hoping to keep a more professional tone with her while these people are around. I don’t want to sound harsh, or sympathetic. I can’t elude to my regard for her safety, but I made sure to keep a low, soft tone.
“Miles, I’ve got this information. All I need is the M.E. report to put together a profile. That’s what these guys are waiting for. I’m going to try and push it back a bit longer because the e-mail I sent will definitely ruffle some feathers.” She attempts a chuckle but couldn’t quite push it through. Whatever she did, I hope it makes them actually work.
I place my hands on her shoulders, redirecting her focus to me. “Do you need to be here?”
She glares at those four men like she’ll murder them. I’d let her at this point, and help her hide the bodies.
“Nope. I can wait for Anya’s report.” She flips them off as we walk by and a small, quiet chuckle leaves her. I have no idea what’s gotten into her but, I didn’t expect that.
“Hey, Miles. Everything okay?” Red asks as he met us at the car.
“Not really. Between finding this woman and the others showing up, Vega isn’t exactly going to do well around others right now.” That’s apparent with her tense body, narrowed eyes and what seems to be a constant growl. “Figured we’d leave before it gets any worse. Like her losing her job.”
“No problem. I’ll stop by when I’ve got everything together, I’ll wait for the Examiner’s report.” Of course he will. Speaking about the head examiner brings a smile to that man’s eyes. How did I not notice that before?
“You ask Anya out yet?” I smile.
He turns away and laughs, shaking his head as he walks back to the scene. I wonder why he’s never mentioned her. Generally I can’t get him to stop talking about a woman who has his interest.
“Before you ask. I’m fine. Stop asking.” She rolls her eyes as I start heading to my house.
“Well, sorry for being concerned. This case is a bad one and you have a personal involvement.” I consider those valid reasons to be concerned.
“I get it. Seriously though, stop it. Where are we going?”
“Back to our place of course. Set up your information and add this new one. I assume you have this woman’s file and information?” Not intentionally trying to piss her off, but she is living with me for a few days at least.
“Miles. Keep that up and I’ll just go my own way. It’s your place.” She snaps back, but I’m not going to let that stop me.
“Well, we can at least take a look at these files you have. I’d love to see more of your research, and process. Look at all the women you’ve kept track of, see if there’s anything we can find.” I would have missed it if I didn’t glance at her, but the smallest attempt at a smile held shape on her lips before she brushed it off.
***
“Okay.” Vega says as she walks back into the living room. She changed out of her jeans and t-shirt, now in soft cotton sweats and tank top, with her hair a mess. Damnit, Vega. That’s a distractingly sexy look. Her soft skin grazes me as she sits, sending a spark through me. I try to read through a file, but that thin top is teasing.
“Pizza will be here shortly. Hope you don’t mind.” She makes herself comfortable against the couch as she picks up a file. Not even caring how she’s dressed around me, her focus is strictly on this case and these women, but my focus is on her.
“Not a problem.” No. The only problem right now is Vega being completely comfortable in my house. I mentally shake any of those thoughts from my mind. We have important work to do.
“So. Miss Weaver.” I mumble as I read through the information Vega has on her. And trying to avoid her comfortable attire.
“Yeah. She was at this bar just outside of town.” She points at the map on the table. “This woman was the first lone one. She wasn’t with any friends. Her family did mention a breakup shortly before her disappearance.” So she was able to reach out to the family on this one.
“How many were there again? Two women who were at a bar alone?” I ask as she studies the file.
“Yeah. Two. Why?”
“Who was the second?”
“Thirty-two.” She says somberly as she rummages through her papers, handing me the file once she found it.
I sit with both files on my lap trying to go over every detail of these two women. Maybe if I find something else in common with them I can find a pattern for all of these women.
“I’ve looked. Hope you have better luck.” She says like she knows my thoughts as she walks to the door.
Whatever we have going between us right now is effortlessly cozy, and I’m kind of liking it. Seeing her relaxed like this is refreshing. Every so often we seem to hit on each other’s thoughts. I’m not hating this. I wonder if she can pick up on this comfortable connection too.
“Get a piece?” She asks as she takes a seat at the counter with a few papers.
I nod and bring over the two files I’m looking at. “So you have preferences after all?” I say as I grab a piece of what looks like a combination pizza, just minus the mushrooms, bell pepper, and onions. Interesting.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. So, any ideas about bars? Connections? Anything new?”
“Nothing yet. Just that-.” She pauses and looks at me. “Did you ever tell Redmond?”
“Nope. You’re display of aggression at the precinct and the new crime scene took our minds off of that. He’s supposed to be by later actually. I still have the video too.”
A small, smile forms. Yeah, she knows her actions disrupted a lot today. I forgot all about that evidence while everything happened. Getting her out of that situation before she acted impulsively was my sole focus. Oh well. Maybe we’ll find more new information as we go through the rest of these files. I’m sure she’ll look over everything again and find new things.
Chapter 25
Red
Once Miles and Vega left, her group crowded in on this crime scene. They watch the collection of evidence, and they spoke to James. Getting along wonderfully, and they seem pretty content with his general view on this, great. Another idiot to add to the collection.
I make it out of that crime scene unscathed and back to the precinct to wait for Anya’s report.
“Oh! Red, damnit. You scared the hell out of me.” Her soft voice rolls into my ears. Anya walks into her office, her light brown eyes relax and her red lips form into that smile I enjoy. She pushes her black hair away from her soft light brown face. I get out of her chair so she can sit down as I sit on the corner of her desk.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to. Just needed to hide out from Vega's wonderful co-workers. I hope you haven’t met them.” Especially Brad.
I watch her reaction. We’ve been talking for a while, always saying she’s too busy to go out. Doesn’t stop her from keeping my interest by constant communication, and light flirting every time we see each other.
She looks to the door then back at me. “No. Thank God. I’ve heard about them and how they are. I feel so bad for Vega. I’ve heard a few things, definitely indicating they don’t like her around here.” She shakes her head in disbelief. I’m sure everyone here feels the same way about that group now.
“Suppose you didn’t hear about earlier?” I can’t help but smile at that thought. Vega was seconds away from kicking ass.
That small laugh lit up her eyes. I love that brightness and giggle from her. “Oh, I heard about it. My assistant was talking about having fresh specimens on my table if Miles hadn’t interfered.”
“That about sums i
t up. Anyways, that’s why I’m here. I need that report on our recent case before those men get wind of it. Vega's onto something here and she needs to stall those men. Well, that and I wanted to see if you’d like to have dinner with me.” I can see her hesitation, then that sweet smile.
“Come on, Red.” She shyly replies.
“Okay, okay. No dinner. How about we start with a small snack in the break room?” I’m determined to find a way to take her out. I’ll take however small of a step she wants to take to get there. Anya intrigues me, and she consumes my thoughts.
“Relentless, you know that, Red? You are absolutely relentless.”
“Irresistible too, and you like it. What do you say?” My straight forward attitude definitely catches her though. That smile and slight blush every time tells me that. Anya drives me insane and dodges alone time with me, but continues to play into this flirtation. I’m not going to give up.
***
It’s about dusk by the time I’m on Miles’ porch. I had to wait a while for that report, but I wasn’t going to object. Hiding out with Anya most of the day was where I wanted to be.
I knock on the door, and I swear if I didn’t know better I hear a woman laugh. I had no idea a sweet laugh like that can come from Vega. Interesting.
When the door opens, my eyes fall onto a very comfortable looking Vega. Tousled hair, thin articles of clothing that I can see her bra through, and she has no concern. I bet Miles wasn’t complaining one bit either.
“Oh, good. You’re here.” She says as she holds the door open wider. I find Miles relaxed, standing in the kitchen. “Pizza?” She asks like this is her house and she’s making sure I’m comfortable.
I give Miles a confused look as I walk inside and stand next to him. I grab a slice of pizza, and he shrugs. He’s comfortable with Vega here. I’ve never seen him this relaxed with a woman, not even with his ex.
