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I take his hand and pump just once. “And you are?”
“Mayor Tribble.” His smile is smarmy and makes it so I drop my hand to my pants and wipe off his residue when he releases me..
Setting Tim’s coffee mug on the edge of my desk, I shake my hair back and paste on my fakest of all smiles. “Mayor Tribble. Hello.”
“I trust you’ve heard of our family tragedy?”
“Of course.” Instead of participating in a pissing match or demanding he walk away from my chair, I take back my power and instead extend a hand, offering it to him. “Take a seat, Mayor. I’m very sorry for your tragic loss.”
“Tragic it most certainly is.” He sits again and ignores the other three who loiter by the door. “Louisa is technically my second cousin. Though I consider her my niece.”
“Of course.”
“She was hurt, Ms—”
“Doctor.” I’m not here to play games, and Tribble’s already been filed underol’ boys clubin my mind. “I want to assure you and your family that Louisa is mine now. She’s in my lab, in my care, and I won’t stop until I know exactly who hurt her.”Your cousin did it, you filthy sleazebag. “I won’t stop, Mayor. I promise.”
“Very good.” Sitting back, Tribble sends my chair into a squeaking frenzy, then he clasps his hands and rests them on his over-large stomach. “What have you got so far, Ms—” He stops himself, grinning like his willpower is heroic. “Doctor. What do you have so far that will bring justice to my niece’s senseless murder?”
IfeelArcher move behind me. Ifeelhis disapproval eking into the air, but I shake my head before he can say anything, and look Tribble in the eye. Red and unhealthy as they are.
“I cannot disclose the details of an ongoing case, Mayor. It would put the entire case in jeopardy, and if I were to do that, if I were the reason Louisa’s killer got away with their crimes, I could never forgive myself.”
“I am the mayor of this city, Mayet.” His tone is cold, but he speaks calmly and slowly. “I hold a higher rank than anyone in this room. So if I ask for an update on a case, I expect to get answers.”
“But, Mayor, she is your niece. That connection is surely proof that you’re unable to think or act impartially when it comes to the information we collect.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion.” He stands and attempts to tower over me. “I didn’t ask for yourfeelings. I asked for a report on my niece’s brutal murder. If you find yourself unable to provide such information, then I might be led to think we’ve appointed an inept chief medical examiner.”
He stops and forces his lips into a grin. But curving one’s lips doesn’t remove the viciousness from their eyes. “I demand answers, Mayet. Or I’ll put you back on a plane for New York before lunchtime.”
“Louisa Thoma,” I grit out. “Ten years old, was murdered, brutalized, sodomized, and violated in all the worst ways, at around seven o’clock last evening. My initial testing says she died somewhere within ninety minutes of my team arriving on scene. Despite the damage done to her body, I will say she died of asphyxiation. I have sent for pathology, but as you know, this case came in late last night, and our techs have a backlog of work to get through. The moment I have more information for you, I will copy you in my correspondence.”
“Good.” Stepping around my desk, he stops in front of me so the mask of kindness falls away. “Anything else?”
“Nothing of substance anyone couldn’t deduce from what I just told you. Your niece was raped, Mayor. She was hurt badly, and then she was killed. The moment I have more information for you, I’ll pass it on.”
“See that you do.” Pursing his lips, he looks past me to Archer, then across to a wary Fletcher. “Officers.”
Walking away, Tribble pushes through the glass door and leaves behind the stench of tobacco and cheap aftershave.
The moment the door shuts and locks noise out, I rush around to my side of the desk and growl when I find my computer already on, the monitor fired up and a ‘incorrect password’ warning on the screen. “That asshole.”
I enter the correct code and breathe a sigh of relief knowing he didn’t get in.
“That’s our mayor?” I look past Archer and straight to Aubree. “You told me about Torres’ Doberman and Kirk’s ass-kissing, but you didn’t mention our boss was a total prick?”
“I didn’t expect him to be in your office on your second day!” She pushes away from Fletch and drops into the visitor chair opposite me. “The fact is he almost never comes down here. In all my years at the George Stanley, I think I’ve seen him maybe five times total. He doesn’t bother himself with the worker ants.”
“Well, that obviously changed when his niece was murdered. How did Chant communicate with him before? She would have had to provide quarterly data at the very least. How did she do that?”
Aubree’s cheeks warm. Her eyes go to her hands in her lap, then she coughs out, “In a trench coat and red lingerie. She didn’t email her reports, Minka. She had him swipe his card in person.”
Fletcher chokes on a laugh while my lips curl back in disgust.
“Is Tribble married?”
“Aren’t they all?” Aubree snorts. “Doesn’t seem to factor into those types of decisions.”
