Page 62 of Dancing in the Dark

“I appreciate your concern, but I think I’ll stay.” He looks at Archer, his gaze turning decidedly chilly. No handshake offered. Then he brings his focus to me. No handshake offered. “Detective Fletcher. I know investigators are rarely thrilled at the prospect of a third-party peeking over their shoulders while they work, but I’m confident professional respect and cooperation will get us where we need to go. You’ll want port security footage and shipping manifests, I assume?”

“We sure will.” Archer squares his shoulders, grinning the way he does right before he tears a motherfucker’s face off. “Maintenance logs and contractor lists, too. The faster the better.”

“Mmhm.” Markum digs his hands into his pockets and rocks onto the backs of his heels. “I’ll take care of that as soon as we receive your formal request.”

“Alright, well…” Minka rubs her hands together. “The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll have answers. Counselor. Ms. Lewis.” She dips her chin and hides the playful smirk teasing her lips. I wonder how much self-control it took for her not to call her Fifi? “Detective Malone? After you?”

“Yep.” He hits Markum with one last look, one that says he won’t forget this interaction anytime soon, then he circles us and meanders toward our DB.

Which leaves three.

“I have nothing to tell you yet, Ms. Lewis.” I’m a professional. We’re all professionals. Ish. “What does Lawrence expect by sending you here today?”

“An overview of what’s happening, who she is, and how she got here. I won’t interfere, Detective. I simply hope to open communications with the investigative team, so when Mayor Lawrence has questions, I’m able to answer them.”

“Communication.” I bite down on the quivering smirk trying tirelessly to curl my lips higher. “Communication is key to every successful relationship, I’ve heard.”

A rosy blush blooms on her cheeks. But she’s good at hiding it, dropping her chin and glancing down at her shoes. “I concur. I’ll stick around for the next hour or so, if that’s alright with you and Detective Malone. I’ll stay out of everyone’s way.”

“Fine with me.” I glance Markum’s way and fight the urge to shatter his eye socket. I hardly know the dude, and my interactions with him up to this point have always been brief and mostly forgettable. I have no valid reason for wanting to break a little cartilage in his face, and yet…

“Counselor. We’d appreciate it if you could get us those manifests as quickly as possible.”

“Like I said, once your formal request has arrived, I can get you what you need.”

“Mmhm.” You good-for-nothing cum sock. I take out my phone and make a show of unlocking my screen, but instead of navigating to my email inbox, I go to my texts instead, and hope Sera’s phone is on silent. “I’ll be over there.” I hook a thumb over my shoulder. “Working. Take care, Ms. Lewis.” Spinning on my heels, I head toward my vic and tap out a text.

Me:

I was gonna ask if we could talk in private, but Markum looks like that annoying kid in class who refused to mind his own fuckin’ business. Figured this was best.

You look pretty, by the way.

I’ll be right here if you need me. For your own sake, probably don’t look too closely. We’ll flip our DB soon, and this is the kinda shit that sticks in a person’s brain. Like Greg.

“What’s up with that cum stain?” Archer glances around at my approach, his emerald stare burning with the murderous temper he got directly from his father. “I miss the old Port Authority guy. He wasn’t such a weasel bitch, and though he was quiet, at least he was decent and had a lick of common sense.”

“Old guy retired, I think.” I cast a cautious glance over my shoulder and glimpse Sera tapping away at her phone. Good. “Markum got a promotion and an ego bigger than he can safely carry.”

“Let’s run the scene before we lose the daylight.” Minka tugs on a pair of gloves and carefully peels a stiff-from-the-saltwater lock of hair off our vic’s face. “Damn, she’s young.” She exhales a sad sigh. “Really young.”

“Early twenties?” Archer lowers into a crouch. “Can’t be much more than that.”

“Mmhm. Brown hair with natural blonde highlights. A little longer than shoulder-length. Caucasian, female. She’s still wearing her makeup from last night. Black lace panties. Matching black lace bra. No outer clothes.”

“Still has her jewelry,” Archer adds. “Looks like she was dressed up for a night on the town. Fresh manicure. Fresh pedicure.”

My phone vibrates and draws my eyes down.

Sera:

Thank you for not making a scene in front of Anderson. He’s exactly as you described him: the annoying kid in class.

I’d really appreciate it if you could tell me what you can, when you can, so I can pass that information on to Justin. He’s hosting the Chinese delegation across town today. So far, they don’t know about that woman, but it’ll come out soon, and when it does, we really need to have a response planned.

I hope whatever happened to her didn’t hurt too much. Also, you might be busy when it’s time for me to leave, and I don’t intend to walk closer or trample your crime scene.

So… ya know. You can call me later if you want. Tell Mia I said hello.