Shaking her head, Soph tips her chin along her line of staff. “Preston Danes.”
He waves to confirm he is, in fact, Preston Danes.
“Pres will be your contact after we’re done. You shouldn’t have any issues, since our install will be faultless, but operator error is rife amongst nerds who skipped the computer nerd gene.”
“Pretty sure you’re dissing us right now,” Raquel teases. “Are you dissing us?”
“If you don’t know, then I’m not inclined to confirm. Pres will be available to you seven days a week—” But she pauses and stares to push her point home. “Within reason. We’ll leave you with detailed instructions, so if your question is ‘I don’t know how to access Spotify on my shiny new computer’, he’s gonna cut you off and block your number for a while. But if you need help that a simpleturn it off and back on againwon’t solve, he’s your guy. He’ll make time to sit with each of you on Thursday, log you in, run you through the basics, and answer your questions. Then we’ll clear out and your lives will go back to normal.”
“But abetternormal.” Kirk practically pants for the computer nerds. “A faster, more technologically advanced normal. Mr. Griffin, sir?”
I swear to God, he performs a tiptoe dance right there in front of his idol.
“Can I get your autograph? Please.”
“Oh, geez.” I stride around my desk and shake my head. “No one is getting anyone’s autograph.” I meet Soph’s gaze. “Are we good now?”
“Yeah. I have others in the building already. I’ll introduce them when needed.” She lifts her chin and orders her team, even without words, to back away. They have a military-like stiffness. A formation I could swear I’ve only ever seen in old black and white war movies. Then they’re gone, all except Soph. “I’ll come find you later, Chief. We have much to discuss.”
Spinning on her heels and inadvertently showing off her ballerina skills, she strides to the elevator and ducks under Jay’s arm.
The doors close.
Then they’re gone.
“Do you think they hire based on brains, Chief, or good looks?” Raquel fans her face. “Secondly, do you think they need a toxicologist on staff? Because I’m not saying my coworkers don’t haveit, but I’m saying hersdo.”
“Oh, shut up.” I circle my desk and whip my top drawer open. Snatching out my ruler, I plop back onto my chair and cross my legs. “Don’t lose focus today because of the chaos outside of your autopsysuites. If Sophia or one of her crew intrudes on what you’re doing, protect your DB first and foremost. What Idon’twant to do is explain to a judge in a year or two why a particular case has been compromised by building dust or computer chips or…” Again, I roll my wrist. “Whatever it is they do. Doctor Patten?”
She swings her focus away from the elevator and back to me. “Yes, Chief?”
“Stop ogling the beautiful people. What arrived overnight? Where are you up to? What still needs to be assigned? Once you’ve told me, you can go home and catch some sleep.”
“Right! Yep.”
It’s entirely possible she’s practicing for her interview with Checkmate, because she snaps her spine straight and salutes me.
“Five new DBs rolled in since shift began last night. Add them to the four left over from day shift, plus the stack from a long, ridiculously hot weekend, and we’re a little backed up. But we’ve had worse by a long shot. My team pushed through three each overnight, started, and or finished their preliminary reports, and are currently waiting to be dismissed. We’ve got seven freshies in the fridge not yet allocated. Quick glance tells me four of them are older folks who succumbed to the heat. PD’s following them up, since they were unattended deaths, but no one’s looking at them like they’re suspicious. Fifth DB is real messy… twenty-four-year-old female vic meets city bus.”
“Accidental or self-inflicted?”
“Cops are leaning toward accidental. Slipped off the curb and,” she claps her hands. “Splat. One drowning victim. A handful of teens were cooling off at the bay late last night, things got wild. Fortunately-unfortunately, one friend caught the whole incident on his phone. I haven’t seen the footage, but I heard whispers she jumped off the bridge, as teens are apt to do, landed funny, and by the time her buddies caught up to her, it was too late.”
Aubree’s brows fold into a severe frown. “That’s sad.”
“Mm. And body number seven is a little less certain. I didn’t get a peek at them yet, so I don’t actually know what’s up.”
“Alright.” I wave toward the door. “Goodnight, Doctor Patten.”
“Night!” She bolts like her ass is on fire and shouts for the rest of her crew. “Pack it up! We’re done.”
I bring my attention back to mine. “Does anyone have anything they’d like to discuss, since I was away yesterday? Anything you need from me?”
Raquel’s hand shoots confidently into the air.
“Anything that isn’t gonna take a chunk out of our budget?”
She lowers it again.
