by Cass Sellars
“So what you’re saying is we have a law enforcement victim no one is paying attention to who was killed by one of the most common guns shooting one of the most common bullets.” Mack stared at her and rubbed her fingers across her forehead.
“That’s what I’m saying. I’m sorry I don’t have better news.”
Parker watched Darcy lock eyes on Sydney for no particular reason since she was speaking to Mack. Her silky blond hair fell in chunky layers around her face as she talked, and Parker tried to imagine Syd with her intimately, until she realized she didn’t really want the image in her head.
“What about her cell phone GPS?” Jen asked cautiously.
Darcy regarded her appreciatively. “Good question. Unfortunately, that usually comes from a detective and I haven’t seen anything from the new detectives yet.”
“These guys are so green, they’re probably still looking for their cars,” Mack grumbled.
Darcy nodded and flicked her hair behind her shoulders. “Her MCT was still running but the location record said her car hadn’t moved in over three and a half hours. The phone GPS is the only thing that could confirm that Sandy’s whereabouts may have been different from her car’s.” She looked at Mack.
“I requested those records before I was booted and never got a callback from the division.”
“Did it look like someone tried to take the gun? Maybe if the killer came back?” Darcy asked.
“I can’t say. It was snapped into her holster, and her right arm was lying next to her holster on the seat.”
“Maybe it was someone just walking by who saw an opportunity but got scared when they had to move a body.” Parker avoided qualifying whose body it was for Mack’s sake.
“Another possibility but you would think if they got that far, they would just take it,” Mack replied.
“What’s the VBCI’s say?” Syd asked. “They were on scene, right?”
“Jonas.” Mack looked at Syd, who made a disgusted noise and ran her long fingers through her military short hair.
Mack rolled her eyes. “Exactly. Jonas was standing there shooting the shit like someone just stole a street sign.” The outrage in Mack’s voice was clear. “Williams told me he would get me a supplement and then I get transferred before anything ever came through. I wonder if it ever got written. Jonas pretty much said that he would just translate what the major told him.”
“Stellar police work,” Syd commented sarcastically.
“Tell me about it.” Mack sat and shifted to lean on her knees. “I waited until they both were gone and I sort of snuck into the building over here, facing the car.” She spoke quietly about what she had done without authorization, leaning back to point at the image of the warehouse. “I put the footage on a Jumpdrive I gave Syd tonight.”
“What made you want to go in?” Parker said what she imagined everyone was thinking.
“First, because Williams said it was locked up tight and there was nothing to see. Which turned out not to be true. Second, because it looked like there were fresh deep tire tracks near the loading dock on the street side of the warehouse that bordered the lot.” Mack stepped over to tap the front of the warehouse now pictured on the screen. “Since it was supposedly under construction and vacant, I wanted to be sure that it had nothing to do with Sandy. I couldn’t find anything obvious to do with the shooting, but I tend to lack the trust I should have for this situation. I took some quick video scans and got out. Right after I was transferred, I was denied the warrant to make official entry.”
“How can they stop you from coming into their warehouse?” Parker was confused.
“They didn’t. I mean, it never made it to a judge. Someone stopped it in transit before it even left the PD.”
Jen said quietly, “You don’t really think someone from the department killed Sandy, do you, Mack?”
Everyone heard the worry in Jenny’s voice.
“No. I don’t.” Mack answered quickly. “I just think everyone’s incompetence is covering someone’s tracks, maybe intentionally or maybe not. Maybe we’re just all perfecting doing crappy police work. Either way, leaving this case in the hands of two rookies ensures that we’ll never know what really happened.”
“Darcy, are you okay with being part of this unofficial inquiry?” Mack glanced over at the lab manager. “You’re new here and, let’s be honest, if anyone figures out I’m still looking…”
“Look, I think we probably have some extremely lazy cops here. But if we have dirty cops? It doesn’t seem likely, but I want to know. Most of all I don’t want some scumbag to get away with murder because we did a shoddy job. The latter seems like what we’re looking at if we don’t do something.” Darcy sounded suddenly angry.
“I agree.” Mack looked defeated for a moment. “This has already left a stain on the department. If we can’t protect ourselves, it’s not a long leap for the public to think we can’t protect them.”
“I’ll see what I can do on the cell phone stuff. I’ll have to tread lightly since I’m new here,” Darcy said as Syd began saving files and closing the stacks of computer windows. “The official photos should be back in the morning, although I can’t imagine seeing anything new.”
Syd glanced over the room. “Obviously, this meeting never happened.”
Parker heaved herself up and broke the tension. “Would everyone like another drink? Maybe we could sit in the living room and talk about rainbows and butterflies for a while so I can sleep,” she joked to the group who seemed to be relieved by the change of topic. Sydney slid an arm around Parker and moved a lock of hair away from her eye.
* * *
They migrated downstairs. Jen settled against Mack on the sofa and closed her eyes. Syd guided Parker to sit next to her on the opposite corner and drew her legs over her lap. Even if Parker didn’t need the intimate connection at that moment, Sydney did. She watched Darcy shift into a club chair opposite them and slide a foot casually over the ottoman.
“So.” Darcy grinned as she broke the awkward silence. “Guess you haven’t got my picture up anywhere, huh, SyFi?” She pretended to scan the large room.
“Okay, first, stop calling me that, and no, the life-sized portrait of your ego was just too big. I think the ceilings in here are only twenty-five feet.” Sydney’s wry tone was soothed briefly by Parker as she massaged her fingers down her neck.
“Got it,” Darcy replied tensely. She seemed to be searching for a new entry into a conversation. “Well, I guess I’ll answer the burning question since SyF—Syd must not have mentioned me. A few years ago Sydney and I were together, you know, in a relationship.” She glanced at her audience as if anticipating a reaction she didn’t get. “It was about a year and half, right, babe?”
Syd felt Parker’s fingers twitch against her neck at the term of endearment. Sydney placed Parker’s other hand into her lap and drew lazy circles over her wrist with her fingers.
Then she turned to address only Parker, instead of returning the volley in the uncomfortable verbal tennis match with Darcy. “Darcy Dean is the person I told you about, Park. You know, my only other long-term thing until she cheated on me with her drunk ex-girlfriend?”
Syd didn’t bother to look at the woman who had wasted nineteen months of her life many more years ago than Darcy wanted it to seem. All of it a distant memory as far as she was concerned. Sydney often wondered how her universe was suddenly so different, unrecognizable from this time last year, let alone from the time she’d lived with Darcy Dean.
Darcy’s mock pout was intended to be cute, Syd supposed, but she thought it transparently forced and superficial. She could respect her as a colleague, but after this case was done, she had no intention of inviting her to tea. She briefly considered how an inch had once seemed too much distance from Darcy, but now a mile seemed too little.
“Sydney, we were young, I was still finding myself, and you were just starting out in the business. In fact, you didn’t even officially have your own bus
iness. What does DRIFT stand for anyway?”
Parker straightened as she addressed her lover’s ex. “Digital Reconstruction and Independent Forensic Technology. Syd does remarkable work. She was an expert witness for the Walters trial last year. Did you see it?”
Darcy tapped her chin as if to store the information away. “Huh, I’ll have to Google you, Syd. I don’t do that nearly as much as I used to right after you left.” Darcy looked carefully at Syd.
Syd thought about the Darcy who had captured her heart more than a decade before and wondered now what she had seen in her. When she had come home early to find a boozed-up Darcy hosting an intimate night in their bed with her ex, it had been enough for her. Despite admitting to carrying on for a while, Darcy had sworn it was Syd she really loved. The next conversation they had was through the bedroom door as Syd packed everything she owned. After she drove away from DC, Darcy simply became a part of her distant memory that, until tonight, had faded into the grays of her past.
“Ready to head back, Darcy?” Mack seemed to sense that it was time to break up the reunion. “Jen and I need to get the baby home before it gets too late.”
“Sure. Thanks. I guess we’ll all meet somewhere when we have something new to report.”
“I think it will be better to just meet here for a while,” Syd said. “If it starts to heat up we may need to have a plan B, but for right now I’m good with this, if Parker is. This is her home, too.” She looked at Parker who nodded her okay. “As soon as I finish integrating Darcy’s pictures and the video from Mack’s phone, let’s regroup.” Syd walked toward the door with a possessive arm around Parker’s waist.
Darcy moved toward them and dragged her body against Syd’s. The move was meant to look like a hug. Syd didn’t react and she was relieved to see no response on Parker’s face. They’d be alone soon.
* * *
“Love you guys,” Parker called after their friends, sliding the door closed quickly, intentionally avoiding eye contact with Darcy. As the latch engaged, Sydney spun Parker until she faced into her. Capturing her in a deep kiss, Sydney lifted her against her chest and Parker folded her arms around Syd’s neck, returning the kiss.
“What was that for?” Parker breathed quickly as Syd returned her to her feet but did not release her hold.
“I just wanted you to know how much I love you. And that I’m sorry you had to deal with Mean Dean in our home.”
Parker laughed at her lover’s concerned face. “Do I have anything to worry about with Darcy?” she asked lightly, already knowing the answer.
“Not a thing. You know you are my world, baby.” Syd’s tone conveyed that she meant the words with every cell in her body.
“Then you don’t have to be sorry. She does, however, still have feelings for you, just in case you didn’t notice.”
“It’s been years, Parker.” Syd looked dubious.
“Let’s go to bed and I’ll explain the competitive lesbian I-want-what-you-have disease to you. Think of it as a bedtime story.” She smiled up at Syd who followed after her.
“You know I respond much better to live demonstrations.”
Parker turned and walked backward as she lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it at Sydney. She caught it as Parker reached behind her and snapped open the clasp of her bra exposing her ample breasts to her lover. “Do you now.”
“I think I’m feeling much more enlightened.” Syd was looking at her intently as Parker stepped out of her remaining clothing and cast them in a heap onto a chair.
“Show me.” Parker’s voice was intentionally seductive when she felt the backs of her knees skim the mattress.
Syd reached a hand to hold her firmly at the waist and kissed her languidly before removing her own clothing and pushing Parker back on the bed. Syd heard Parker take a ragged breath as she knelt over her. Gently grazing her fingertips over Parker’s smooth skin, she grappled with the rush of her own hunger for Parker. She bent to course her tongue over the path her fingers had just drawn, stopping to slowly pull a now taut nipple between her teeth.
“You mean like this?” Syd sealed her mouth over the puckered point making Parker moan in response.
“God, you’re good at that,” Parker breathed. Syd felt Parker’s nails scrape against her scalp, tensing suddenly when she circled her tongue around Parker’s nipple once more.
“I’m also interested in your opinion of my other talents.” She moved her mouth down Parker’s ribs and nipped at the skin covering her hip, relishing the guttural sounds Parker made in response. “Like maybe this one.”
Parker arched against Sydney’s mouth when she glanced her tongue over her burning core.
“So…very…good,” Parker managed as Syd slid her tongue along the sensitive flesh. Syd looked up to watch Parker’s expression change as she gradually buried her fingers inside her and increased the friction of her mouth around her charged center. Moments later, Parker ground her body against Syd who slowed her movement in order to temper her building intensity.
“Damn it, Syd. Don’t stop.” She scraped her fingers over Syd’s hard shoulder as she rolled her pelvis against her.
“What do you need, baby?” Syd teased her with varying rhythms and patterns as the layers of Parker’s arousal began to consume her completely. “You want to come for me?”
“Yes. Now.” Parker fisted the tangled sheets and thrust against her.
Her response nearly pushed Syd to her own peak as she felt Parker’s body suddenly contract around her, but she was too focused on the experience of guiding and driving her lover through hers to give in.
Hearing her name being called over the deafening sound of Parker’s whispered surrender spurred Syd to coerce Parker’s body further, resulting in a second even more intense explosion.
Syd moved to capture Parker’s mouth in hers as Parker rode the splinters of her shattering release.
Parker kissed her ravenously before guiding her hand between their bodies. Syd knew Parker would instantly feel the searing heat between her thighs.
“I know you’re close, love.” Parker’s voice was ragged and needy in Syd’s ear as she ghosted her fingers tenderly over Sydney’s hard center. Syd gasped at the touch, and pressed reflexively into her hand.
“So close.” Syd barely finished the words when Parker’s tormenting strokes breached her resolve. Her body jerked as the sweeping force of the climax poured through her, the sensations coating her like warm wax.
She pressed Parker to her and floated on the ebbing waves of ecstasy, not ready to experience any distance between them.
“You are everything to me.” Syd barely achieved audible sounds.
“I love you more than anything, Syd.” Parker folded into Syd’s embrace. Syd dissolved into the bliss of sleep and comfort of knowing Parker would always be completely hers.
Chapter Nine
Chief Jayne Provost stalked on high red heels into a tall mirrored glass building overlooking the lake. She wondered if her new office would have a view of the water. She would make sure of it once she took the reins. The company was a powerful player in the business world, having landed some pretty large government contracts in the last several years, but like most big corporations, security was a necessary evil someone always thought about a little too late. While the incumbent CSO had made a mark for the corporation, she knew she could and would do more to make a name for herself.
The selection committee was meeting for the last time with the two final candidates for the job. She wasn’t worried; she had this in her pocket. Her competition, Major Dawn Turner from Raleigh, might hail from a much larger department than the SLPD, but Provost sported the chief title on her resume. Regardless, these people would be lucky to have her.
A dark-haired, middle-aged man strolled down the hall in an overpriced suit and too much jewelry for a guy who wasn’t a pimp or a Mafioso. He smiled at Jayne who thought the feelings behind it were as genuine as the ones she returned. They stepped inside
his large office and he swung the door closed behind them.
“How nice it is to see you. How have you been?” Provost asked. She couldn’t have actually cared less but she could play the game…hell, she’d perfected the game. She just wanted the opportunity to sit in front of the committee to seal the deal.
“It’s great to see you, Jayne. Ready for this?” He sat behind his desk, affirming his power. “Thank you for helping me out when we needed it.”
“Of course.” Her voice was too sweet. “I’ve told you, I can handle anything you throw at me. Emergencies have been my life since I was twenty years old.” She felt smug. “Let’s just make sure that Junior spends more time baking cookies with Great-Aunt Bessie instead of causing his parents so much concern, understood?”
He nodded knowingly.
She continued, “Favors are what friends do for each other, right?”
“Absolutely, Jayne. And they aren’t readily forgotten.”
“I’m counting on that. You might want to make sure he starts learning from his mistakes so he isn’t in trouble anymore, okay?” Jayne reclined in her chair allowing her skirt to subtly slide north as she watched the CSO eagerly attend the show. She had no intention of dipping her toe in those waters, but donning the bathing suit often came in handy. She also thoroughly enjoyed the sport of leading men around by their dicks; unfortunately, it never presented much of a challenge.
The man nodded, his eyes scanning her toned legs intently before he suddenly cleared his throat. “Well, I think they should be just about ready for us.” He checked his watch and stepped around his desk. “This office should be yours in a few weeks.”
She appraised the lake view and the sleek wooden paneled desk. She would make sure she turned the desk to face the water so she could appreciate her achievements as she worked. “Count on it.” She offered him a knowing smile and slid past him out the door.
