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Now, after sixteen years apart, his band of brothers have reunited. Well, three out of five, anyway. And the other two drop in on a semi regular basis. They’re dysfunctional and dangerous and, plainly put, weird. But it’s the bond the Malones have: imperfections on full display.
However, none of this has time to fully bloom in my mind for dissection, because Archer’s phone trills in the brief silence.
The sharp sound brings us both up short and pulls our attention to something entirely different from the bickering we’ve enjoyed since waking this morning.
His phone ringing doesn’t necessarily mean someone is dead. But when mine trills too, vibrating on the counter and beckoning me closer, I know it’s a done deal. “Shit.”
I cross the small kitchen, while Archer goes the opposite way to get his. Cato watches us both, serious now, which only proves to me he’s entirely capable and not nearly as impulsive as he’d have us believe.
I snatch up my phone, but frown at the name flashing on my screen.
Not one I expected.
Swiping to answer, I bring the device to my ear. “Mayor Lawrence?” I glance up to the clock on my wall. “It’s barely seven in the morning. Is everything okay?”
“Chief Mayet?” He’s deadly serious, and formidable in a way I rarely pay attention to.
To the rest of the city, he’s the mayor. Untouchable. Intimidating. Not always all that nice. But to me, he’s like a surrogate father I never asked for, and still don’t quite accept in my life.
“I’ve just been made aware of an unattended death uptown,” he reports. “Detectives Malone and Fletcher are being placed as primary.”
“Uptown? Why are Archer and Fletch being assigned a case that should go to the other precinct? And why are you calling me about it?”
“Because I said they would be primary,” he bites out. “As mayor, that was my decision.”
“And me?” I ask cautiously. “Why are you asking me?”
“Because I want you on as medical examiner. I’m not asking,” he presses, before I get a chance to argue. “I’mtellingyou.”
“But…” Curiosity, intrigue, and a million questions flitter through my brain, as though I’m the cop instead of Archer. But I can’t ask them and not sully what is already a seemingly complicated case.We haven’t even begun yet, and I already know it’s going to be chaos.“Why, Mayor? What’s your connection to this?”
“I knew the victim,” he rasps, emotion tearing through his voice. “I knew her quite well.”
‘Her’? ‘Quite well’?
Shit.
“Take care of it, Mayet.” He clears his throat and hardens his tone. “Keep me informed on every step of this investigation.”
ARCHER
“Her name is Anna Switzer.”
I speak on the record, in a multi-million-dollar mansion atop the hills that overlook the city, standing in a popstar’s bedroom. Silk linens. Four-poster bed. A-billion-thread count sheets. Money dripping from every surface and filling every drawer.
But on the bed, as though at rest, Anna Switzer lies with her ankles crossed, like she’s leisurely napping in a sunny meadow. Her hands are folded together on her belly. Her expression, entirely peaceful. Her hair, combed and styled. And her face, perfect—the way it is on every poster, album cover, press photo, and headshot that she sells and signs for her millions of fans.
She looks to be completely relaxed and at ease. An image of serenity.
If not for the bottle of prescription meds spilled by her right hip, pills littering the silky sheets she lies upon.
“Prescription bottle says her name.” Detective Charlie Fletcher, my partner and best friend, more brother to me than my actual blood-related brothers, cautiously leans over Anna’s body and picks up the bottle with gloved fingers.
He’s careful not to disturb the scene, as our medical examiners, Aubree and Minka, document details for their own records. Aubree snaps photographs, while Minka studies the body.
“Oxy,” he reads from the side of the bottle. “For pain relief. Take as needed. No more than four pills a day.”
“We’ll need a full medical workup.” Minka speaks firmly, confidently, but with none of the intonation she tossed at me and Cato back at the apartment. “Why was our vic prescribed pain relief this strong? And how long has she been using it?”
