“You didn’t tell him about it?”
“No,” I said, giving him a brief glare.
Nick nodded, his face unmoving.
Even so, I caught a faint glimmer of satisfaction there.
Four
ARCHANGEL
BLACK SHOWED UP while we were in the morgue.
Someone must have told him where to go, because he got there not long after we did and walked through the door unaccompanied. He looked really different to me than he had when I’d last seen him, or even how I remembered him before that––in spite of the fact that he was now wearing what I thought of as his “uniform.”
The uniform consisted of casual but expensive-looking clothes, kind of like what you might see on a lot of young-end tech moguls and hedge fund managers.
A black, form-fitting and probably tailored shirt clung to his body above black pants that also looked tailored given his height and how well they fit. Below the pants he wore a light version of combat or motorcycle boots made to more closely resemble dress shoes. Over the shirt, he wore a collar-less leather motorcycle jacket with midnight blue racing stripes on the sleeves and across his chest, which made me wonder how he’d gotten here.
He got a head turn and a stare from the coroner’s lead investigator who happened to be assigned to the Medical Examiner that day, a woman maybe in her late twenties who had been introduced to us when we walked in as Dr. Jaipa. From the way Dr. Jaipa looked at the Medical Examiner, a total prick named Korhonen, she hated working for the guy as much as I hated having to deal with him any time we came down here.
Despite that sister-bond, her stare at Black didn’t thrill me.
Especially given her long, wavy black hair and athletic build that still showed off some pretty impressive curves. I watched her watch Black, her full lips parted below dark, liquid eyes as she followed his course across the room.
I bristled more when I saw her pupils dilate somewhere in the middle of that stare.
I knew Black had that effect on a lot of women.
I knew I had to get used to it, if he and I had a chance in hell of making things work––but I wasn’t there yet. Obviously.
Black himself didn’t seem to notice.
I wasn’t sure if that comforted me or not. Especially since I knew part of the reason it didn’t register for him was that he got it so often it was likely background noise.
He walked directly up to where Nick and I stood over the corpse with Korhonen, the aforementioned prick and Medical Examiner, who’d already managed to make a few cracks around my being there at all. Korhonen must be tipping into his mid-sixties if I had to guess. Rail thin with a receding white hairline, he wore dark-rimmed glasses and a look on his face like he always smelled something bad––which maybe made sense, given where he worked.
I don’t think I’d ever even heard his first name. He’d only ever introduced himself as “Dr. Korhonen.” I’d never heard anyone else call him anything different, either.
Like I said, he was kind of an asshole.
He stared at Black, too, but I didn’t see his pupils dilate.
Rather, he looked at Black like he was some kind of invading vermin contaminating the sacrosanct space of his lab by his very presence.
“Who is this?” Ignoring me, he turned to Nick, pushing his glasses up his nose with a glove-covered knuckle. “Is he cleared to be in here? Or is it just a free-for-all now?”
“Consultant.” Nick spat the word like it tasted bad in his mouth.
Black gave Nick a nod without making eye contact and glanced sideways at me, like he wasn’t sure how to deal with me either, at least not in front of the others. He ended up walking to Nick’s side of the stainless steel table. I saw Nick stiffen when he did, but Black barely seemed to notice. He gazed down at the body, seemingly unmoved by the state of the corpse.
“What kind of blade?” he said, after a few seconds.
Korhonen gave a dismissive sniff.
Nice to know I wasn’t the only one who evoked that reaction in him.
“Approximately 3/15th of an inch thick, three inches wide,” Korhonen said, sniffing again. “We’re working on models, but it’s likely a sword, as suspected, or a similar-type weapon. We found microscopic fragments of high carbon steel in the neck wound, which supports the sword theory, as well... along with embedded brine and salt... but they’re running simulations to estimate the weight of the blade, height of the person wielding it, exact angle––”
“But he was cut against a wooden pile, right?” Black said.
“Correct. Well, evidence so far suggests that––”
“So how would they determine height?” Black said, looking at him. “Or do you mean height from which the blow was swung?”
Korhonen sniffed, but looked a bit taken aback.
“Obviously,” he said coldly.
“Is that a standard size for anything?” Black said. He remained bent over the corpse, staring at the neck wound “The blade you just described.”
“Roughly the size of a Medieval long sword,” Korhonen said. “But the lab boys think it might have been modified... even hand made. As in forged. It’s longer than most swords from that time period. They think it might be heavier, too.”
Black glanced at him a second time. “What about an executioner’s blade?”
Korhonen looked startled at that question, too. He glanced at Nick, as if looking for help, but recovered quickly, giving another condescending sniff. “They’re looking at that, too... but I’m told those weren’t in common use in that time period. Generally they used a regular combat sword or a guillotine.”
“You’re assuming he’d adhere strictly to historical accuracy,” Black said.
“If he’s as obsessed with the time period as the federal profilers’ report I was given claims, then it is probable he would want to be as accurate as possible, yes.”
I noticed he hit that word “federal” pretty hard, and fought not to smile.
Black only shrugged. “But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding...” he muttered.
“What?” Korhonen said, sharper.
“Gnostic verses.” Black glanced up, smiling faintly. “Job 32:8.”
Korhonen stared at him.
Black bent back over the corpse, narrowing his gaze at the ragged flesh around the neck wound. “Means he might not be adhering to the chronological history of man so much as what he perceives to be the divine symbolism behind his actions, doctor...”
“I know what you meant,” Korhonen snapped.
Black nodded, but only seemed to be half-listening.
I glanced at Nick, who now also appeared to be trying not to laugh. I couldn’t help being bewildered Black knew any part of the Bible, gnostic or otherwise.
Watching him, I also found myself thinking he was doing something––meaning with his psychic sight––as he looked at the body. If he was, I couldn’t figure out what it was.
Even as I thought it, he glanced at the Medical Examiner again.
“Show me the symbols,” he said.
He must have talked to Glen. Clearly he knew the bare bones of the case.
He seemed to know as much as I did, anyway.
Nick and I hadn’t gotten as far as the symbols yet, but now Korhonen handed rubber gloves with baby powder on them to Black. He seemed to have accepted Black as competent somewhere in their back and forth––maybe because of his question about the sword, or maybe simply because he was obviously male, knew something about the case, and had an ego that rivaled Korhonen’s. Either way, he stopped sniffing in Black’s general direction, and seemed to be looking to him as the one in charge here, even more than Nick.
Nick and I grabbed two more sets of powdered gloves out of the open box, even as Dr. Jaipa moved closer to us as well, maybe in the thought she might assist Korhonen in moving the body. Whatever she told herself she was doing, I saw her eyes returning continually to Black’s face and torso. I also saw her check
out his ass.
I had to bite my lip when she walked to his side of the table and deliberately pressed up against him to help Korhonen shift the body to one side.
Black sidestepped her easily. He paused just long enough to give her a fleeting look, but barely seemed to notice her that time, either.
I couldn’t quite keep my own anger in check.
When Dr. Jaipa brushed up against him a second time, that anger in me flared hotter.
That, Black must have felt.
I averted my gaze as soon as his gold eyes flickered towards mine.
For a long-feeling few seconds, he continued to stare at me, although I wouldn’t return his look. I saw him glance at Dr. Jaipa then, who he’d already sidestepped marginally, probably more in habit and instinct than conscious thought. I practically felt him debating whether to say anything. Then he walked deliberately around to the other side of Nick, so that he stood directly between Nick and Korhonen.
Korhonen didn’t notice any of it.
Nick gave him a brief scowl, likely from Black’s sudden physical proximity, but I saw puzzlement there too, even before he glanced at me. Clearly Nick hadn’t noticed any of the interaction with Dr. Jaipa, or my subsequent glare at Black.
With Dr. Jaipa and Nick’s help, Korhonen shifted the body to its side, exposing the headless back. I couldn’t help grimacing when I found myself staring down into Jeffrey Norberg’s severed neck and the visible nub of bone and cartilage and coagulated blood.
“There,” Korhonen said. He looked up at Black, smugly at first, then visibly disappointed when Black showed no sign of reacting to the gore. “...We have detailed drawings,” Korhonen said, a little more peevishly. “But Detective Tanaka said he wanted that... woman... to see the actual cuts. Something to do with a previous case.”
Black looked sharply at Korhonen for the first time.
I saw anger rise to his gold eyes, right before they darted towards me. He looked back at Korhonen, his stare machine-like.
“What woman would that be...?” he said coldly.
“Black,” I murmured.
Black continued to stare at Korhonen, who returned his gaze, startled. He seemed surprised that the man he’d just decided to give the professional nod towards would turn on him. He gave me a bare glance and sniffed.
“That one. Her. Tanaka’s ‘friend.’”
The implication behind that word wasn’t meant to go unnoticed either.
Black’s glare grew significantly colder.
“You know why this fucker got iced, cousin?” he said, his voice now dangerously soft.
“Black,” my voice was even lower, but now held a faint warning.
Black didn’t even look at me. “...He was a female-hating parasite,” he finished, still staring at Korhonen. “...One of those who hides behind his cock to mask his own feelings of inadequacy.”
His words held more of that strange accent of his than normal.
As I watched his features and those flecked gold eyes, he looked incredibly not-human to me in that moment. I wondered if he’d even noticed he’d called Korhonen “cousin.” He’d told me that seers often referred to humans as “cousins” on his home world.
There were less flattering words too, from what he told me.
Black, I murmured in his mind. It’s all right... I’m used to it.
You shouldn’t be used to it. Fucker needs a lesson in manners–– he began coldly.
––One that would go entirely over his head. I sighed, sending him a pulse of warmth. I love you for trying, but he’s not interested in an education. You’re just scaring him.
Black flinched, his gold eyes shifting towards me. Even as I realized what I’d said, a much stronger flare of heat came off him––strong enough to make me take half a step back.
You love me? he sent softly.
I felt my face grow hot.
Only for this, doc? Or for other things, too?
Nick cleared his throat.
Black and I both looked over. Nick was giving us death stares, his clenched jaw pushing out the side of one cheek.
“Children?” he murmured, his eyes still cold. “Can we get back to what we’re doing here?”
Korhonen was looking at Black with an expression of untold offense on his face, like Black had just insulted his entire family lineage.
I also saw flickers of that fear I’d referenced.
Conversely, Dr. Jaipa was looking at Black with unabashed adoration. A warm smile teased her lips, although she seemed to be trying to suppress it, probably so Korhonen wouldn’t see it. From her expression, I suspected she had a fair-few personal reasons for appreciating Black’s smack-down of Korhonen, even apart from the fact that she clearly found Black attractive. I could only imagine what it must be like for her, working with Korhonen day in and day out.
I couldn’t help giving her an annoyed look anyway.
I focused back on the symbols carved into Norberg’s back.
Unlike Black, I winced. The flesh was pretty torn up. I couldn’t really make out much, but some of what I saw looked vaguely familiar, like maybe I’d seen it somewhere before. It didn’t look seer to me though, at least from what little I’d seen of seer language and symbols.
But really, only Black would know that for sure.
Black walked around the body, telling them to turn it one way and then the other. He also spent some time looking at the corpse’s feet, and then the hands.
“This going through forensics too?” he said. “This mud here?”
Korhonen sniffed again. “Of course. Along with his clothes.” Clearly, whatever good faith Black was granted for his knowledge of medieval weaponry and arcane Bible passages had been revoked.
Black nodded, but barely seemed to hear him.
He made one more circuit of the body, then looked at Nick.
“You saw that some of this is writing, right?”
Nick nodded, pulling out a pad of paper. Frowning, he read it aloud. “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.”
“Revelations,” Black said. “Also from a gnostic version of the text. You have detailed drawings of the designs?”
Nick nodded, watching Black warily now, like he was trying to figure out what he was doing, or maybe where he was going with all of this. He glanced at me, but I couldn’t really help him. I didn’t really know what Black was doing either.
I was still blown away that he could quote the Bible.
“You need anything else, doc?” Black said, looking at me.
I shook my head. “No.”
Black nodded, then looked at Nick. “We should talk.” He glanced at Korhonen. “Away from this jackass,” he added, his voice a touch louder.
Korhonen flinched. He opened his mouth then shut it.
He looked at Black like he couldn’t believe what he’d just said.
Sniffing loudly and derisively a few more times, he turned bright red when Black didn’t react, or even so much as glance at him. After another few expressive sniffs, Korhonen walked away from the table altogether. He seemed about to leave the room then must have changed his mind, probably because he realized he would inconvenience us more by staying. He stomped over to the sink standing behind Nick and Black, where he began noisily moving around instruments and stainless steel trays inside the deep basin, clanging and rattling them together as he turned the water on full blast.
He was still standing there when he yelled for Dr. Jaipa.
“Anna! This prep area is a mess! This is totally unacceptable!”
She jumped a little, gave Black another quick smile, then hurried over to her boss.
Korhonen’s face was still bright red as he dumped soap on the steel pans.
Nick lifted an eyebrow at Black, but I saw a smile toy at the edge of his lips, almost like he couldn’t help himself.
�
��Making friends as usual, I see, Black,” he murmured.
Black gave him a level stare, then quirked his own eyebrow.
As if giving in, Nick shook his head, giving a low snort.
Then he jerked his head towards the door, motioning for us to follow him out.
“ALL RIGHT,” NICK said, plunking his weight down in a gray cloth chair and staring across the table at Black. “Let’s hear it. Astound me.”
Nick brought us to a different room to talk than where he and Glen questioned me earlier. This room was a lot smaller, and looked like it used to be someone’s office and now doubled as a storage room. Glancing around the cramped space, I figured he must have chosen it primarily because he didn’t want anyone walking in on us while we talked.
He probably also didn’t want anything we said recorded or overheard.
We’d all grabbed sandwiches and drinks at the deli across the street on our way up, so now the three of us sat at a square folding table tucked in the corner of the room. I’d suggested leaving the police station altogether to go somewhere to eat and talk, but Nick checked his watch and said the two detectives from L.A. were supposed to be there within the hour, so he wanted to be on hand for when they showed.
I strongly got the sense he didn’t want to miss anything when Glen talked to Mozar, especially. Nick could be territorial as hell when it came to his cases.
At the thought, I found myself wondering what Nick planned on telling Glen about this little meeting, if anything.
Or about me and Black at all, when it came down to it.
I took a bite of my roast beef sandwich and immediately felt Black’s eyes on me. Glancing at him, I saw heat there, right before he looked away. I had a sudden memory of him telling me he got off on watching me eat, that that was some kind of “seer” thing too, making associations of that kind. The thought made me flush and look down, although I didn’t stop chewing the roast beef. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so famished.
I can feel it, doc, he told me quietly.
That heat grew stronger briefly. I felt him consciously pull it back.
I also felt a whisper of something else on him.
Black Is Back (Quentin Black Mystery #4) Page 6
