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"Casey, then. I'm Will Anders."
I detect a slight accent that reminds me of a guy from Philly I dated.
"You'll call me Will," he continues. "Just like you'll call him Eric, no matter what he says."
A snort from Dalton, who takes my bag and heaves it onto the ATV.
"And as much as I'd like to pretend I came roaring out to greet the new hire, it's business." He turns to Dalton. "We found Powys by the streams. Looks like..." Anders glances my way. "Natural causes."
Well, I guess that's my welcome, then--a dead body the moment I arrive.
"Heart failure?" I guess.
"Environmental. When I say natural..."
"You mean nature. Okay. Let's go take a look."
Dalton slaps a hand on the ATV's back seat, blocking me. "Will? Get on. Butler? Take that one."
I glance at the other vehicle. "I can't drive--"
"Station's two minutes that way." Dalton points.
"That's not where the body is."
"But that's where you're going, detective. This isn't a homicide."
"Which is up to me to determine, sir. That's my job."
He doesn't remove his hand from the seat.
"All right, then," I say. "I guess I'm walking."
I don't get more than five steps before Dalton is off his ATV and in my path, so close I nearly ram into him. When I back up, he advances, uncomfortably close.
"Eric..." Anders says, his voice low.
"Did I give you an order, detective?"
"Yes, but--"
"No buts. Either I gave you an order or I didn't, and I don't know how it works down south, but out here, you disobey an order and you'll find yourself in the cell until morning."
Anders steps between us. He shoulders Dalton back, keeping an eye on him, much the way one might ease off a snarling dog.
"He's kidding," Anders says. "He'd only keep you in there until dinner hour." A wry smile, and I'd like to think he's kidding, but I get the feeling he's not.
"I know you'll want to come along," Anders continues, "but you just got here. What we have out there is death by misadventure. Not homicide. Normally, that'd still be your gig. But let's just hold off. We'll bring the body back, I'll explain the situation, and you can take it from there. Reasonable?"
I nod.
He looks at Dalton. "See how that's done?" Then a mock whisper for me. "'Reasonable' isn't really in Eric's vocabulary. You'll get used to it."
The grin he shoots Dalton holds a note of exasperated affection, as if for a sometimes-difficult younger brother. Dalton only snorts and points at the back of the ATV.
"I thought I'd drive today, boss," Anders says. "You hop on back."
Dalton gets on the ATV and revs the engine.
