her out. “ And speaking of time, w e’ ve got plenty of work to do. And very little time . ”
“I’ m ready ,” DeeDee says. “ Captain Meyers has already given me my orders . ”
The hell ? Meyers is already doing everything he can to make my life a living hell. Man hates me. “ Tha t’ s not how this is going to shake down ,” I say. “ Agreed, we both work for Meyers. Agreed, you and I are partners. But I’ m senior on this team. Yo u’ re rookie. I’ m calling the shots . ”
I admire her pluck. Instead of the hurt look some women would fake, the one I’ m expecting, she puts on an amused frown. “ Why, I swear. Aidan Gerard Hawks, you are cold as ice. Cold ,” she repeats, her southern lilt laced with rebuke. Then she fidgets. “ You just took what I said the wrong way, tha t’ s all . ”
“ Did I ? ”
“ I hope you do n’ t curse like that all the time ,” she says. “ I ca n’ t bear cursing . ”
It irritates me the way she uses my full name, like my mother does when sh e’ s upset. Why does she go out of her way to give me a mental wedgie? Why does it bother me? “ Better get used to it ,” I say. “ I fucking love to cuss . ”
“ I like a challenge ,” she says, and then winks.
Wha t’ s with women who feel it okay to wink but lawyer up if a man holds open her door?
“ Be cold to me if you want, bu t ” — she shakes her finge r — “I’ m known to melt ice. . . . ”
I’ m from Cincinnati, but I work in Newport, so I like Kentucky, but natives like DeeDee mak e“ ic e” sound lik e“ ass . ” Right across the river in Cincinnati, women plainly sa y“ ice . ” So on top of everything else, I detest her southern belle accent.
“ I t’s‘ ice , ’ dammit ,” I say ,“ not ass . Now le t’ s get busy . ”
* * *
Being traine d — “ mentore d” as Captain Meyers prefer s— is never a cakewalk for a rookie. I t’ s time to test Ms. Law s ’ mettle. I toss a color photo across the table top. It lands near DeeDe e’ s fruit compote. Sh e’ s been nibbling, so the mostly uneaten grapes and cantaloupe look pretty damn lonely.
“ Hmmm ,” she says.
To her credit, she does n’ t shoot up from the table and run off to vomit. I cut my rookie some slack. Not much, but some. “ Tha t’ s Megalo Do n’ s most recent vic ,” I say.
“ Time of death ? ”
“ Ca n’ t say for sure until the corone r’ s report comes in, but he left her in the alley some time last night or early this morning ,” I say ,“ over near Sixth and Monmouth . ” After I dumped your ass and called Wes, a real cop. I’ d taken DeeDee with me to Oma r’ s to warn the dancers to be careful leaving the bar. I thought the dancers might relate better to a female cop. When I got the call about the body, I sent her back to the cruiser, telling her giving chase on foot to Alaina Colb y— and the bigass Coke truck she and her partner had heiste d— was n’ t my idea of good police work. Tha t’ s when w e’ d had our little argument.
“ Then y’ all are sayi n ’ this per p’ s MO is same as with the last two vic s’? ”
“ Could be ,” I say. “ Both MOs look the same. We found the last one in the same alley. Megalo, if i t’ s him, left her in a commercial grade lawn bag near a dumpster behind Oma r’ s . ”
“ What does Captain Meyers say ?” she asks.
I give her a hard stare and hold back a purely acid though t— What the fuck do I care? The captai n’ s opinion is a sore point with me, one I wo n’ t share with DeeDee. I also do n’ t tell her that, when the second body showed up week before last, Captain Meyers had warned me ,“ Get this mess cleaned up, Detective Hawks. Pronto. Or I’ ll have your badge . ”
Captain Meyers was responding to pressure from Newpor t’ s city council, under pressure from voters to lower the cit y’ s
“I’ m ready ,” DeeDee says. “ Captain Meyers has already given me my orders . ”
The hell ? Meyers is already doing everything he can to make my life a living hell. Man hates me. “ Tha t’ s not how this is going to shake down ,” I say. “ Agreed, we both work for Meyers. Agreed, you and I are partners. But I’ m senior on this team. Yo u’ re rookie. I’ m calling the shots . ”
I admire her pluck. Instead of the hurt look some women would fake, the one I’ m expecting, she puts on an amused frown. “ Why, I swear. Aidan Gerard Hawks, you are cold as ice. Cold ,” she repeats, her southern lilt laced with rebuke. Then she fidgets. “ You just took what I said the wrong way, tha t’ s all . ”
“ Did I ? ”
“ I hope you do n’ t curse like that all the time ,” she says. “ I ca n’ t bear cursing . ”
It irritates me the way she uses my full name, like my mother does when sh e’ s upset. Why does she go out of her way to give me a mental wedgie? Why does it bother me? “ Better get used to it ,” I say. “ I fucking love to cuss . ”
“ I like a challenge ,” she says, and then winks.
Wha t’ s with women who feel it okay to wink but lawyer up if a man holds open her door?
“ Be cold to me if you want, bu t ” — she shakes her finge r — “I’ m known to melt ice. . . . ”
I’ m from Cincinnati, but I work in Newport, so I like Kentucky, but natives like DeeDee mak e“ ic e” sound lik e“ ass . ” Right across the river in Cincinnati, women plainly sa y“ ice . ” So on top of everything else, I detest her southern belle accent.
“ I t’s‘ ice , ’ dammit ,” I say ,“ not ass . Now le t’ s get busy . ”
* * *
Being traine d — “ mentore d” as Captain Meyers prefer s— is never a cakewalk for a rookie. I t’ s time to test Ms. Law s ’ mettle. I toss a color photo across the table top. It lands near DeeDe e’ s fruit compote. Sh e’ s been nibbling, so the mostly uneaten grapes and cantaloupe look pretty damn lonely.
“ Hmmm ,” she says.
To her credit, she does n’ t shoot up from the table and run off to vomit. I cut my rookie some slack. Not much, but some. “ Tha t’ s Megalo Do n’ s most recent vic ,” I say.
“ Time of death ? ”
“ Ca n’ t say for sure until the corone r’ s report comes in, but he left her in the alley some time last night or early this morning ,” I say ,“ over near Sixth and Monmouth . ” After I dumped your ass and called Wes, a real cop. I’ d taken DeeDee with me to Oma r’ s to warn the dancers to be careful leaving the bar. I thought the dancers might relate better to a female cop. When I got the call about the body, I sent her back to the cruiser, telling her giving chase on foot to Alaina Colb y— and the bigass Coke truck she and her partner had heiste d— was n’ t my idea of good police work. Tha t’ s when w e’ d had our little argument.
“ Then y’ all are sayi n ’ this per p’ s MO is same as with the last two vic s’? ”
“ Could be ,” I say. “ Both MOs look the same. We found the last one in the same alley. Megalo, if i t’ s him, left her in a commercial grade lawn bag near a dumpster behind Oma r’ s . ”
“ What does Captain Meyers say ?” she asks.
I give her a hard stare and hold back a purely acid though t— What the fuck do I care? The captai n’ s opinion is a sore point with me, one I wo n’ t share with DeeDee. I also do n’ t tell her that, when the second body showed up week before last, Captain Meyers had warned me ,“ Get this mess cleaned up, Detective Hawks. Pronto. Or I’ ll have your badge . ”
Captain Meyers was responding to pressure from Newpor t’ s city council, under pressure from voters to lower the cit y’ s
Similar Books
