The accent didn’t help, either — he was from Texas originally, somewhere way out, and the Southern lilt had never left his voice. Altogether, the impression was … well, not dissimilar from Captain America, who was, of course, his all-time favorite superhero. He even had a poster of him from the recent movies stuck up in his cubicle — the guys teased him about it constantly, but somehow the ribbing just slid right off his back. But he was a sweet guy, overall. Shame he was married, Elena often thought — there was a tension between them that stopped just shy of making working together a problem. And who could blame her? He was sweet, gorgeous… and a good two inches taller than her, which she liked. But she also liked his wife, a curvy, vivacious young woman he’d met in Baltimore his first week in town. Mary was always sending unbelievably delicious baked goods along to the station with her husband — she was everyone’s favorite.
“This is a big one, huh?” Billy asked as they headed for the conference room to meet with the Captain and the Sergeant. “Serious bad guys, serious work.”
“Serious paperwork,” Elena grumbled, her mind still on the tedious way she’d spent the morning. “But it’ll be good to do some proper investigation again.”
“Totally. How’s your dad, by the way?”
She smiled a little. Billy had an unerring knack for remembering every little thing he was told — she’d mentioned in passing that she was having lunch with her dad earlier that morning, so of course he was following up.
“He’s fine.” She shrugged, not really wanting to get into the whole story of him not approving of her career nearly as much as she’d have liked him to. “He’s just moved into a new place, my brother got him the hook-up —”
“Now which brother is that?” Billy interrupted.
She couldn’t help but grin. They’d been working together for five years now and he was still doing his level best to keep track of all her brothers.
“Harrison’s the lawyer, so it’s… David who works in real estate? Is that right?”
“Yep. Jakey’s the government guy and Ben’s the traveler,” Elena coached him, grinning a little at the way he punched the air in triumph.
“One of these days I’ll meet ‘em.”
“Yeah, don’t count on it. None of them spend much time in town. Jakey’s in DC now, Ben’s… last I checked he was in Tunisia, but don’t hold me to that one, David lives out of town, and Harrison… well, he and his wife are both lawyers, so…”
They both wrinkled their faces in mock horror. But the conversation was quickly interrupted by the arrival of the Captain and the Sergeant. They both rose to their feet and saluted — it was a formal meeting, after all — before Captain Jacques and Sergeant Taylor took a seat opposite.
Captain Jacques had hired Elena, so she’d always have a soft spot for the intimidating woman. Nobody could figure out how old she was — she could be anything from her early 40s to her 70s. A very thin woman (she’d been a dancer as a young woman, the rumors went — not that anyone could get any concrete information about her whatsoever), she smoked like a chimney, and her face was a network of fine wrinkles that somehow made her piercing green eyes even more intimidating. But because she always looked intimidating, she never was… or at least, the effect had worn off the more Elena had gotten to know her. Because no matter how scary the Captain might have seemed, Elena had a sneaking suspicion that she liked her.
Billy, unfortunately, had never gotten over his initial apprehension about their intense Captain. He got very nervous around her, often spilling whatever he was drinking or knocking things off desks in his effort to hide his discomfiture. Like a cat, Captain Jacques seemed to be drawn to this — she’d appear behind him unexpectedly, and if Elena didn’t know any better she’d swear the woman was doing it deliberately.
Sergeant Taylor began briefing them in his no-nonsense way. The Sergeant was a blustery, gruff man in his early 30s, a stickler for rules and order with a profound disinterest in being liked by anyone around him. Oddly enough, this made him incredibly likable. It was something to do with there being no agenda, with him — he just wanted to get his job done and done well. And he was always friendly enough to Elena, whose neat handwriting made her paperwork easy to read and process … that was the key to Captain Taylor’s heart. Nobody knew what he did outside of work — he never came to drinks, never hung out with anyone outside of work hours. Fair enough, too. Elena felt like she spent her whole life at work sometimes — she didn’t doubt it was worse for higher-ranked officers. Good on him for maintaining a work-life balance.
The details of the case, no matter how matter-of-fact Taylor was trying to be, were deeply unsettling. There were two victims so far, which wasn’t usually enough to draw much of a connection — but they’d died in such an unusual way — and such a similar one — that they were being treated as connected. It didn’t help that both victims had lived on the same block, either.
“Any other information?” Elena asked, staring down at the photos of the two men who’d been killed. They both looked emaciated and miserable, as though they’d been starved before they’d died. They’d both been found in the basement of a tenement building, too, though there were no signs that they’d been held there against their will for any length of time — which could have meant they’d been held somewhere else before being transported to the tenement, dead or alive.
“Not much,” Taylor said, shrugging. “A local called in with a tip about a woman who’d been seen around there a bunch. Tall woman, skinny, long red braid down her back.”
“Wasn’t me, was it?” She knew the address — it was a block she’d been keeping an eye on for a while, aware of some sketchy teenagers who’d been frequenting a lot and whom she suspected of dealing drugs. “I’ve spent some time there. Not that I’d call myself skinny,” she added, a little defensively.
“Unless you’ve taken to wearing a, uh — clinging green dress — instead of your uniform…”
“Definitely not.” Elena didn’t even own a green dress — much less would she wear one in such a sketchy area. This woman, whoever she was, was asking for trouble.
“The bodies were drained of blood,” Taylor said.
Despite his matter-of-fact tone she felt a shiver run down her spine. Beside her, Billy shivered too. He was a little squeamish when it came to bodily fluids and the like — he didn’t faint or anything, but he did make a habit of excusing himself when it came to gorier scenes or more violent altercations.
“Any idea why?”
“None,” Taylor said, shrugging.
“Any suspects?”
“None.”
“Any leads at all?”
“Guess,” Billy said under his breath.
“None.” Taylor gave her partner a beady-eyed stare.
Captain Jacques cleared her throat. “Which is why we’re putting you two on it. Best to check out the building, do some asking around, see if this red-haired woman is known around the place.”
“Will do,” Elena said, nodding. It was as good a place to start as any.
“Keep us in the loop,” Jacques said. “Last thing we want is this turning into a serial case. Get it under control quickly.”
Elena nodded, resisting the urge to puff her chest out a little. They’d been trusted with an important case — a case that the Captain thought could get worse. She trusted her and Billy to get on top of it quickly.
“Is it too late to head out to the tenement now?” Elena asked Billy as they headed back toward their desks.
Her partner frowned, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “It’s a ways away… and with school traffic, this time of day… might be worth leaving it to tomorrow, honestly, Elena. I know you wanna get started, but I wouldn’t mind a chance to read over the crime scene report.”
“You’re right,” Elena said, though her hands were itching with the desire to get started on the case as soon as possible. “You’re right, you’re right. I should have a proper read of everything, too.” She�
��d skimmed the paperwork briefly, but there was a lot to be gained by reading and re-reading. The more familiar you were with the details, the better. That was something her father had taught her — one of the few pieces of advice he’d given her that was still applicable these days.
God, I need to stop brooding over that conversation with Dad, she thought irritably, finding herself distracted from her work. She had more important things to get to.
Like a murder investigation.
Chapter 3
Elena spent the rest of the day reading — she even stayed back later, so absorbed was she in the case file. And once the precinct had started to empty out, she felt a temptation to get cracking on the rest of her paperwork. She wanted a clean slate to get started on this investigation, to really make sure she could dedicate her full attention to it all, and that wasn’t going to happen if she had a million reports left to finish in between working on the case. Taylor left right on quitting time, as always, giving her a firm nod as he left. He worked like a machine during work hours, that man, which meant he never had to stay late — he was allergic to overtime, it seemed, and no matter how busy the precinct got, he seemed to get through all his work during work hours. Theories abounded about why he was so determined to keep his free time to himself — a secret second career, a vigilante crime-fighting persona — but Elena’s suspicions were a little more quotidian. He wore a wedding band. The man just wanted to get home to his family. Who could blame him?
Maybe I’d feel the same, if I had a family to get back to, she mused as she worked long into the night. As it was, her tiny little apartment was barely worth going back to at night. Her bed was comfy, of course, and her fridge was full of good snacks, but there was nobody to go home to. Not even a pet. It was just her and Netflix… then work again. Married to the job, she supposed. Though it hadn’t always been that way. She’d dated — or at least she’d tried. All that stuff didn’t come easy to her. When she found someone attractive, she immediately became almost useless… it was a miracle she got on with Billy at all. Certainly, there’d been some awkward times during the early stages of the crush she’d nursed on him for a little while.
Well, she wasn’t dating anymore … or she wasn’t dating at the moment, that was for sure. Too much hassle, she’d decided… and besides, she needed to spend some time not thinking about men. Her last relationship had been a disaster. She’d rarely felt so disappointed in a man… well, so disappointed in a man who wasn’t her father. The conversation from earlier was still gnawing away at her. Well, she was going to catch a serial murderer. A woman in a clinging green dress… once she got her into custody and made the newspapers, her father would sit up and take notice. Not that fame or respect are why I do the job, she thought hastily, feeling a little guilty for wanting fame… but still, a bit of recognition would be nice.
Of course, I’ll have to catch this woman first, she thought to herself as she donned her coat and headed off into the now-dark Baltimore streets. She lived close enough to the precinct to walk to and from home — it was the major reason she’d chosen her apartment. The streets weren’t busy — it was Monday night and not an especially warm night, most people were home and settled in already. She felt a strange pang of loneliness as she walked past well-lit windows, thinking of all the little families who were inside, having dinner together and talking about their days. Lonely, but satisfied. Thanks to her and the people she worked with, those families were safer than they would have been otherwise. The police force was hardly perfect, she’d be the first one to admit that, but she was proud of the work she did.
With these thoughts on her mind, she almost didn’t realize that there was someone standing on her porch until she was almost on top of him. Her apartment was a walk-up, third floor, and there was a door downstairs that locked, keeping the residents of the building safe. And standing in front of the buzzers, clearly having been waiting there for a while, was none other than her ex-boyfriend, Nick Cobb.
She stared at him for a moment, completely taken aback at seeing him. They’d only broken up a couple of months ago, but she was pretty sure they’d gotten through the worst of the breakup — she’d certainly gotten over her late-night urges to call him and patch things up, they’d given each other their things back, and she’d only gotten one embarrassing drunk voice mail from him, which she’d deleted almost immediately and only listened to twice. What is he doing here? Had he forgotten something in her apartment? She’d been pretty thorough when she gathered up his things… maybe she’d left something at his place? But why wait until now to bring it by?
“Elena,” he said, and she resisted the urge to groan at the tone in his voice. She recognized it instantly. It was his High Drama voice — the voice he used when he was being very serious and emotional. For a man with almost no emotional intelligence to speak of, he certainly talked about his feelings a lot.
She gritted her teeth.
“I have to talk to you. We have to talk.”
“Are you pregnant or something?” she tried to joke, and it fell woefully flat. He maintained his serious, dour expression. God, she just wasn’t in the mood for this. “What do you want, Nick?”
“Can I come inside?”
“I think it’d be better if you didn’t,” she said, folding her arms and leaning a little bit on her cop persona to make the statement stick. Once he weaseled his way into her apartment it would be impossible to get rid of him. On the street, she had more control.
“Please. I really need to talk to you.”
“And I really need to keep my apartment to myself,” she said levelly, “so you’ll understand if I’d like to hear you say your piece out here.” God, why was he like this? Everything had to be an argument — even something as simple as her asserting her boundaries. “It’s been months, Nick. What do you have to say that you couldn’t have said on the phone?”
“We made a mistake,” he said, in the kind of tone that suggested he’d been practicing this little speech.
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Didn’t want to give him an excuse to lecture her about being condescending. That had been a big part of their relationship — fun little lectures about her conduct. She supposed she should have expected that, getting into a relationship with a college professor… but he taught math. Surely etiquette should have been out of his wheelhouse. But he had no shortage of things he thought he knew better than her about — up to and including her own career.
“Did we?” she asked, stressing the pronoun. It hadn’t been a mutual breakup, which he knew full well. Interesting move, to refer to it in the plural.
“Yes. I’m here to propose we get back together. Can I come up for tea?”
“No, like I’ve already said twice, Nick.”
He raised his hands defensively. “Okay, okay. Sure. Fine. You always had a problem with me not listening to you, or seeming not to listen to you, because you don’t understand my body language when it comes to listening, and that’s fine, I’m more than willing to work on that, okay, Elena? I’m willing to work on that. Let’s not throw away everything good that we had just because we’re scared of doing a little bit of work.”
She gritted her teeth. “I’m not the one who’s scared of work, Nick —”
“And neither am I! So it’s perfect. Look, this really would be a better conversation to have sitting down. If you like I can order takeout. My treat,” he added magnanimously.
She gritted her teeth again. Finances had been a sore spot in the relationship. While it was true that he made more money than her — he was a tenured professor at the University of Maryland, of course he did — it always felt like he was keen to rub that in her face. And she hadn’t been sure of why that was… not until the conversation they’d had that had heralded the end of their relationship. Thank God she’d finally seen all the red flags she’d been ignoring… who knew how much more time she could have wasted on this man?
“I’m not going to tell you again that you’re n
ot coming into my house,” she said levelly, “so if I were you I’d stop asking about it. Seriously, Nick.”
“Fine,” he said irritably. “But I think you should reconsider my proposal. Neither of us is getting any younger, we get on well, we had a great time together…”
“No, Nick, I’m not reconsidering. Have you reconsidered your bullshit opinion about my career?”
Nick seemed to have been waiting for that one. He stiffened. “I have, actually. I understand, now, that your job is an important way that you demonstrate your independence. I was wrong to assume that we’d be getting married,” he said quickly. “And I have apologized for that, and I do apologize for that, but I wanted you to know that I took the relationship and our future together seriously. I still do.”
Even though we’ve been broken up for two months? she wanted to ask. Even though I made it abundantly clear that it was over, and I never wanted to see you again? It was almost a good thing that he’d waited this long — if he’d come in the weeks after they’d broken up, she might have faltered and taken him back. As it was, she’d had lots of time to stew, to really turn her anger with him into something strong and long-lasting. “It wasn’t the idea that we’d eventually get married that I didn’t like,” she said now, trying to reason with him. The quicker she got him off her porch, the quicker she could be on her couch with a glass of red wine. Lonely as she’d felt earlier, right now the prospect of solitude was a deeply inviting one. “It was your assumption that I’d quit my job when we did.”
Swept By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance-Highlander Forever Book 3 Page 2
