here?”
“No, but I didn’t think you’d want to go home on the back of a motorcycle at this time of night.” He’d have one of the officers bring his motorcycle to the station. “The temperature’s dropped down,” he pointed out. At fifty miles an hour, the cold air would sting.
She shook her head and smiled. It had to be one of the saddest smiles he’d ever seen. “I don’t mind. Unless you’d rather not.”
He had no idea why, but he couldn’t think of anything else he would have wanted to do more.
In a gesture intended purely to be comforting rather than intimate, Mike slipped his arm around her shoulders.
“C’mon.” He began to guide her down the long, darkened corridor to the elevator.
Natalya fell into step beside him, glad not to be alone at a time like this.
Chapter 5
T he party for his one-year-old nephew wasn’t until the late afternoon. That gave Mike a little leeway time-wise. Instead of sleeping in, the way he did on most Saturdays, he decided to do a little investigating into the case fate had pushed him into last night.
Whether or not Clancy Donovan’s death could be ruled as accidental or a homicide was still up in the air but he supposed that it didn’t hurt to cross all his t ’s and dot a few i’s. At least he could tell that knockout of a doctor he’d looked into the matter the way he’d promised.
It also gave him a reason to give her a call. He was going to drop by Donovan’s place of work and thenswing by the man’s apartment to nose around. That way, his conscience, professionally and otherwise, would be clear.
As he left his apartment, he thought about calling his partner to let him know what was up. He discarded the thought almost as soon as it occurred to him. This was the weekend. Louis used weekends to play catch-up at being the husband and father his wife wanted him to be. The guy had enough problems. There was no point in dragging him in for what could ultimately be ruled an accidental drug overdose despite what Clancy’s very steadfast, very sexy friend maintained.
As a rule, Mike hated mortuaries, hated being anywhere near them. Mortuaries meant funerals. The only funerals he attended were for people who meant something to him, either personally, or symbolically, like a fellow officer. He didn’t like thinking about death if he didn’t have to.
Mike smiled cynically to himself as he pulled up in the parking lot behind Ellis Brothers Mortuary. The way he felt made the business he was in rather odd. But he was what he was and he was good at it. He liked to think that in the grand scheme of things he sometimes made a difference. He concentrated on the lives he saved by putting killers away. It was what kept him going.
Walter Tolliver had been brought in by the corporation that had bought the Ellis Brothers out several years ago. Tall, thin and courtly looking in an old-world sort of way, to the people who worked for him he was a tough, no-nonsense boss whose main concern was making money. He treated the bereaved with polite, sympathetic kindness, his employees with something a great deal less.
The rehearsed smile on the man’s lips faded the moment Tolliver realized that he wasn’t about to make a sale, but was being asked about Clancy. It was immediately apparent from his manner that Clancy had not been his favorite employee.
Eyes as gray as the suits he favored narrowed. “Clancy leaves a lot to be desired. As a matter of fact—” he tugged on his cuffs one at a time, utilizing a dramatic pause “—I’m thinking of letting him go.”
“Why?” Mike asked mildly.
A cynical smile had found its way to the funeral director’s lips. “Are you thinking of hiring him?”
Mike took out his badge and held it up. Nothing got his ire up faster than a smart mouth. “I’m thinking of getting some answers to my questions. Why would you let Mr. Donovan go?”
The sight of the badge caused Tolliver to sit back at his desk again. “Because he’s
“No, but I didn’t think you’d want to go home on the back of a motorcycle at this time of night.” He’d have one of the officers bring his motorcycle to the station. “The temperature’s dropped down,” he pointed out. At fifty miles an hour, the cold air would sting.
She shook her head and smiled. It had to be one of the saddest smiles he’d ever seen. “I don’t mind. Unless you’d rather not.”
He had no idea why, but he couldn’t think of anything else he would have wanted to do more.
In a gesture intended purely to be comforting rather than intimate, Mike slipped his arm around her shoulders.
“C’mon.” He began to guide her down the long, darkened corridor to the elevator.
Natalya fell into step beside him, glad not to be alone at a time like this.
Chapter 5
T he party for his one-year-old nephew wasn’t until the late afternoon. That gave Mike a little leeway time-wise. Instead of sleeping in, the way he did on most Saturdays, he decided to do a little investigating into the case fate had pushed him into last night.
Whether or not Clancy Donovan’s death could be ruled as accidental or a homicide was still up in the air but he supposed that it didn’t hurt to cross all his t ’s and dot a few i’s. At least he could tell that knockout of a doctor he’d looked into the matter the way he’d promised.
It also gave him a reason to give her a call. He was going to drop by Donovan’s place of work and thenswing by the man’s apartment to nose around. That way, his conscience, professionally and otherwise, would be clear.
As he left his apartment, he thought about calling his partner to let him know what was up. He discarded the thought almost as soon as it occurred to him. This was the weekend. Louis used weekends to play catch-up at being the husband and father his wife wanted him to be. The guy had enough problems. There was no point in dragging him in for what could ultimately be ruled an accidental drug overdose despite what Clancy’s very steadfast, very sexy friend maintained.
As a rule, Mike hated mortuaries, hated being anywhere near them. Mortuaries meant funerals. The only funerals he attended were for people who meant something to him, either personally, or symbolically, like a fellow officer. He didn’t like thinking about death if he didn’t have to.
Mike smiled cynically to himself as he pulled up in the parking lot behind Ellis Brothers Mortuary. The way he felt made the business he was in rather odd. But he was what he was and he was good at it. He liked to think that in the grand scheme of things he sometimes made a difference. He concentrated on the lives he saved by putting killers away. It was what kept him going.
Walter Tolliver had been brought in by the corporation that had bought the Ellis Brothers out several years ago. Tall, thin and courtly looking in an old-world sort of way, to the people who worked for him he was a tough, no-nonsense boss whose main concern was making money. He treated the bereaved with polite, sympathetic kindness, his employees with something a great deal less.
The rehearsed smile on the man’s lips faded the moment Tolliver realized that he wasn’t about to make a sale, but was being asked about Clancy. It was immediately apparent from his manner that Clancy had not been his favorite employee.
Eyes as gray as the suits he favored narrowed. “Clancy leaves a lot to be desired. As a matter of fact—” he tugged on his cuffs one at a time, utilizing a dramatic pause “—I’m thinking of letting him go.”
“Why?” Mike asked mildly.
A cynical smile had found its way to the funeral director’s lips. “Are you thinking of hiring him?”
Mike took out his badge and held it up. Nothing got his ire up faster than a smart mouth. “I’m thinking of getting some answers to my questions. Why would you let Mr. Donovan go?”
The sight of the badge caused Tolliver to sit back at his desk again. “Because he’s
Similar Books
