mask… .”
That sounded ugly. I was not thinking of my own safety, but of fifteen innocent people penned in the mall with a killer who must be undergoing a mental episode or something.
“ I thought as the scene is fresh, you might pick something up,” Mike continued.
Mike thought as well as receiving messages from the recently dead, I saw ethereal images of violent criminal acts which resulted in death, like imprints on the atmosphere. And he worked that out all by himself. Clever man. I hoped I never had to disabuse him of the notion.
“ Okay, I’m in. Am I driving up with you?”
“ We’ll take a copter. Meet me on the roof in fifteen.”
Fifteen minutes? I groaned as the coffeemaker cheerily announced a full pot of perfectly brewed coffee.
“ You okay, Tiff?”
“ I’m fine,” I snapped. I took in a breath. “Just tired, Mike. I’ll be there.”
I dropped the phone in the cradle and gave the coffeemaker an evil look.
Mel stood at my shoulder, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “What, what, what?”
I gave her and Jack an abbreviated version as I got my biggest travel mug from the cabinet above the stove. Of course this wasn’t enough for either of them - they wanted me to solve the case without leaving the house. I firmed my jaw and tried to be patient, but I was not in the mood. When I stopped talking and just plain glared, they finally quit, moodily going to the west windows, leaving me in peace. It would not last.
I filled the mug with coffee and sipped it black and scalding as I went upstairs to my bedroom. Shucking my robe off, I kicked my slippers across the room, then pulled the first pair of jeans my hand fell on from the closet. One knee was ripped, but hey, it’s fashionable, isn’t it? A winter-weight T-shirt. Boots, boots, where are my boots?
I sat on the edge of the bed and organized my thoughts . If you’re wearing boots, you need socks, Tiff. One pair of socks coming right up.
More or less decently clad, I clomped down the stairs, took my green jacket and matching scarf off the coat-rack, tucked my Ruger in my back pocket, and headed out.
I looked up at the snowcapped peaks which surround Clarion, breathing in air with more than a nip to it. I pulled my collar up around my neck. The first snowfall, quickly come and gone, nonetheless surprised everyone when it arrived in mid-October, and now the gray sky seemed to hang low. More snow would fall in the next forty-eight hours. I hoped we were not going to have another bad winter. The Subaru needed new tires, but I couldn’t afford them.
The advantage of living in a small city is getting anywhere fast takes practically no time at all. Seven minutes after Mike called, I was dressed and running the electric toothbrush over my teeth. A couple of minutes later and I had the Subaru out of the garage, and after a six minute drive I pounded up the steps of the Court House, clutching my travel mug of coffee like only death could separate us.
I headed for the desk sergeant, but she saw me coming and pointed to the escalator, so I veered across the hall, trotting between groups of people who gave me funny looks, as if they thought I had a nerve, haring madly through such hallowed ground. I went up the escalator two steps at a time. A couple of patrolmen held an elevator for me at the top.
Wow. Did I feel special.
I still had to slog up a flight of steps to get to the roof. The pilot fired up the copter when he saw me step on the flattop. Mike was already belted in and waiting for me. He leaned to give me a hand, and hauled me inside.
I fastened the seatbelt and settled back. “Can you get those sixteen people near where someone died?”
The copter juddered a little and lifted off. “Half the victims were shot in the stores around the food court.”
We didn’t talk for a while. I sipped and watched the landscape sweeping beneath us. Mike finally broke the silence. “Your Coralinda had a damaged heart. From the fluid around her
That sounded ugly. I was not thinking of my own safety, but of fifteen innocent people penned in the mall with a killer who must be undergoing a mental episode or something.
“ I thought as the scene is fresh, you might pick something up,” Mike continued.
Mike thought as well as receiving messages from the recently dead, I saw ethereal images of violent criminal acts which resulted in death, like imprints on the atmosphere. And he worked that out all by himself. Clever man. I hoped I never had to disabuse him of the notion.
“ Okay, I’m in. Am I driving up with you?”
“ We’ll take a copter. Meet me on the roof in fifteen.”
Fifteen minutes? I groaned as the coffeemaker cheerily announced a full pot of perfectly brewed coffee.
“ You okay, Tiff?”
“ I’m fine,” I snapped. I took in a breath. “Just tired, Mike. I’ll be there.”
I dropped the phone in the cradle and gave the coffeemaker an evil look.
Mel stood at my shoulder, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “What, what, what?”
I gave her and Jack an abbreviated version as I got my biggest travel mug from the cabinet above the stove. Of course this wasn’t enough for either of them - they wanted me to solve the case without leaving the house. I firmed my jaw and tried to be patient, but I was not in the mood. When I stopped talking and just plain glared, they finally quit, moodily going to the west windows, leaving me in peace. It would not last.
I filled the mug with coffee and sipped it black and scalding as I went upstairs to my bedroom. Shucking my robe off, I kicked my slippers across the room, then pulled the first pair of jeans my hand fell on from the closet. One knee was ripped, but hey, it’s fashionable, isn’t it? A winter-weight T-shirt. Boots, boots, where are my boots?
I sat on the edge of the bed and organized my thoughts . If you’re wearing boots, you need socks, Tiff. One pair of socks coming right up.
More or less decently clad, I clomped down the stairs, took my green jacket and matching scarf off the coat-rack, tucked my Ruger in my back pocket, and headed out.
I looked up at the snowcapped peaks which surround Clarion, breathing in air with more than a nip to it. I pulled my collar up around my neck. The first snowfall, quickly come and gone, nonetheless surprised everyone when it arrived in mid-October, and now the gray sky seemed to hang low. More snow would fall in the next forty-eight hours. I hoped we were not going to have another bad winter. The Subaru needed new tires, but I couldn’t afford them.
The advantage of living in a small city is getting anywhere fast takes practically no time at all. Seven minutes after Mike called, I was dressed and running the electric toothbrush over my teeth. A couple of minutes later and I had the Subaru out of the garage, and after a six minute drive I pounded up the steps of the Court House, clutching my travel mug of coffee like only death could separate us.
I headed for the desk sergeant, but she saw me coming and pointed to the escalator, so I veered across the hall, trotting between groups of people who gave me funny looks, as if they thought I had a nerve, haring madly through such hallowed ground. I went up the escalator two steps at a time. A couple of patrolmen held an elevator for me at the top.
Wow. Did I feel special.
I still had to slog up a flight of steps to get to the roof. The pilot fired up the copter when he saw me step on the flattop. Mike was already belted in and waiting for me. He leaned to give me a hand, and hauled me inside.
I fastened the seatbelt and settled back. “Can you get those sixteen people near where someone died?”
The copter juddered a little and lifted off. “Half the victims were shot in the stores around the food court.”
We didn’t talk for a while. I sipped and watched the landscape sweeping beneath us. Mike finally broke the silence. “Your Coralinda had a damaged heart. From the fluid around her
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