AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As they approached the building, the lone uniformed officer outside gave them a wary look. Ryan flashed his badge.
“What’s the story, Officer?” he asked.
Considering the time constraints, Jessie was surprised that Ryan was stopping at all. The young African-American officer, who couldn’t have been more than twenty-five, had a nervous expression and the name tag Burnside.
“Sir,” he answered, his voice cracking slightly, “we’ve got a Caucasian female, seventeen, multiple stab wounds to her chest and abdomen. She was found in her bed by her roommate.”
“Are the Valley Bureau detectives on scene yet?” Ryan asked.
“No sir.”
“Who’s in charge then?”
“That would be my boss, Sergeant Costabile from Van Nuys Station,” the officer answered as he pointed back to the right. “He’s inside. It’s apartment 116.”
“Thanks,” Ryan said briskly, grimacing slightly as he walked by with Jessie right behind.
“Do you know Costabile?” Jessie asked as she hurried to match his pace.
“Only by reputation,” Ryan said. “Hank Costabile’s not just old school, he’s ancient. And from what I hear, he’s a pit bull.”
“Pit bulls are actually agreeable by nature,” Jessie said a little indignantly.
“Point taken,” Ryan said. “But you know what I’m saying. He’s known to be…difficult. This could get ugly so be prepared.”
“What does that mean?” Jessie demanded.
But before he could answer they had reached the door. A burly officer named Lester stood just outside the taped off unit. He looked as wary as the cop outside but less nervous. Jessie observed that Ryan didn’t show his badge to this guy.
“This area is off limits,” Officer Lester said brusquely. “Police business. The officer outside should have told you.”
“Oh yeah?” Ryan whispered in a curious, very un-detectivelike tone. “What happened? You can tell me.”
“I’m not at liberty to say,” Lester snapped. “Are you a resident of this building, sir? Because we can’t have civilians just wandering through a crime scene.”
“Oh no, we wouldn’t want that,” Ryan agreed smarmily. “That’d be almost as bad as removing a dead body before the assigned detectives got a chance to evaluate the scene. Am I right?”
The officer narrowed his eyes at the question, now fully aware that something unusual was going on.
“Who are you, sir?” he asked, his brusqueness now laced with a hint of apprehension.
“I’m sure as hell not a Valley Bureau detective,” Ryan said, his voice booming.
“Sir…” the officer began, clearly flummoxed.
“It’s okay, Lester,” said a bald, barrel-chested officer who walked up behind him. “Don’t you know who that is? It’s the famed detective Ryan Hernandez from Central Station. You can let him in. But be sure to get his autograph before he leaves.”
“Sergeant Costabile, I assume?” Ryan asked, his eyebrows raised.
“That’s right,” Costabile said with a sneering grin. “To what do we owe the honor of your presence, Detective? Showing your long-legged, pretty lady friend how the other half lives out here in the Valley?”
“My ‘long-legged, pretty lady friend’ is actually criminal profiler Jessie Hunt. You know, she’s the one who catches serial killers almost as often as you catch venereal diseases.”
There was a long, uncomfortable silence in which Jessie thought Costabile might simply pull out his gun and shoot Ryan. The man’s nasty grin faded so that it was now a nasty scowl. After what felt like an eternity, the sergeant gave a loud, forced guffaw.
“I guess I deserved that,” he said, glancing over at Jessie, not sounding even mildly chastened. “It was rude of me to be so dismissive of you, Ms. Hunt. Your reputation precedes you. I can only imagine what law enforcement lottery allowed us to be graced with your singular genius this evening. Pray tell, what brings you here?”
Jessie wanted desperately to respond to the mockery with some of her own but didn’t want to upset whatever plan Ryan clearly had in mind. So she choked down her disdain.
