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MINKA
Moving off the elevator on the ninth floor of the George Stanley, I walk just a step ahead of Archer and head toward my office to find Fletcher and Aubree already waiting for us.
They probably would have been here anyway, but a quick phone call before leaving my apartment ensured they would be, and now we can save time instead of waiting around.
Aubree lounges on the sole couch that remains in my office. Literally, she lies back so her pink-sneakered feet rest on one end of the couch, and her head is on a pillow on the other. She wears jeans today, and a top thatdoesn’tbelong to me. She fusses with a Rubik’s Cube and grins as she places the next square in a line.
Behind her, Fletcher stands at the floor-to-ceiling window, unaware of our arrival, and looks out at the city with his hands on his hips. His feet are shoulder-width apart. His back, muscular and defined even under his jacket. A gun sits strapped to it, and another rests on his hip.
With that, I glance back at Archer and spy the weapon strapped around his thigh. Another hidden beneath his hip-length coat.
“Don’t look at him then glance back to compare,” Archer snarls. “Don’t look at him at all.”
Sniggering under my breath, I fix my bag in my hand and push into my office with a flourish I’m kinda hoping will erase the weirdness with which I left our last meet. “Get your feet off my couch, Emeri.”
I cross my office as Fletcher turns at the window, and Archer follows me through the door. Setting my bag on the desk, I turn to face the room while I peel out of my jacket. My blouse underneath is long-sleeved, which means the marks on my wrists remain invisible to everyone but the man who shared my bed last night.
The man who took care of me, when he truly didn’t have to.
“I’d like to discuss where we’re up to on the Thoma case.” I look to my second. “Aubree?”
“Pathology is working on the skin beneath Louisa’s nails today. They were dragging their feet because of budgets.”
Annoyed, I lower to my squeaking chair and rest my hands on my lap. “I’m in charge of budget now. I ordered the tests. Whose feet were dragging?”
“Well…” She pushes up to sit and places the Rubik’s on the cushion to her left. “Chant was a stickler for money being wasted on things like that, and the mayor throwing a hissy fit in the lobby last night kinda made the techs hit pause for a minute.”
“The mayor was here last night?” Following my lead—as innotdiscussing my morbidities in front of a crowd—Archer comes to perch on the edge of my desk. “Neither of you let me know.”
“We didn’t know till we came in this morning,” Aubree answers. “Apparently, he dropped by after we’d all left. Night shift is notorious for not talking to the daytime shift, so I only got it from kitchen chatter when I went in to make coffee. Tribble was in here trying to get an update on the case.”
“What happened?” I sit forward and rest my arms on the desk. “Who did he speak with?”
“Patten. She’s the you of night shift,” she explains. “And pretty decent. Hard-ass that tolerates no one’s shit. She’s technically your subordinate, since you’re the new head hoo-haa, but she’s on nights and hasn’t needed direction in a long time.”
“Well, as headhoo-haa,” I try out the word, “I beg to differ. Night shift doesn’t communicate with day? Means we have a problem. What did Tribble see?”
Aubree shrugs. “Files are secure. Computers are password protected. Your office doesn’t lock, so he might’ve come in here, but if he did—”
“Computers are protected.” Sitting back, I consider my options. “Did anyone show him the body?”
“No. Louisa is ours.”
Aubree pushes up to stand, only to come by my desk and snag her half-consumed cup of coffee. She smirks as she passes Archer, a flirty little wink that makes my eyes narrow and my stomach tighten, then she continues back in Fletcher’s direction.
“No one else has clearance to mess with Louisa—especiallysince she’s an ongoing homicide case. Tribble apparently tried to pull the mayor card, but rules are rules, and Patten is a tyrant for those.”
“The diary entry?”
“Stayed with me all night.” Fletcher reaches into his jacket pocket and takes out Louisa’s handwritten page, wrapped in plastic. “I should have checked it in at the precinct, but I never got there.”
“That’s fine with me. Can you guys search the Thoma house yet? Do you have a warrant?”
Fletch carefully holds the paper and looks to Archer. “I was thinking we could head down this morning and apply a little pressure. If we can’t get anyone to buckle on our own, we could probably pull the chief in.”
“Chief is employed by the mayor too.” I press my fingers to my eyelids and groan. “How can one man hold so much power?” Releasing my eyes, I glance up. “How is it this man controls so many, so if he has a friend or a lover or a—”
“Cousin,” Aubree inserts.
