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“Yes ma’am.”
“And you have experience in a station, though I understand it was at a college campus.”
“Yes ma’am. It was still a full station. My chief and lieutenant are still there if you need a reference.”
“I’ve already spoken with them, along with your supervising sergeant. They had the impression you were stepping away from police work.”
It wasn’t until that moment that Anastacia realized how much she wanted this opportunity, not for Mel but for herself. She enjoyed the work and was damn good at it. This job was made for her, but at the mention of the sergeant, Anastacia felt all hope for the position drain from her body. He had been one of the people who had made her life hell. To say they had parted on bad terms was an understatement.
“I was until recent events. Not to say I’m any better suited than the officers here, but I’m observant and willing to put in the energy and effort into helping resolve any cases.”
“Even though you barely have any connection to the victim?”
“To be blunt, no one deserves the fate he received in that alleyway, ma’am.”
Grindel leaned back into her office chair and considered Anastacia a few moments before she nodded. “I like you. You’re calm under pressure. You’re to the point, observant, and don’t apologize for what others may have seen as shortcomings. Your degree is valid and your scores are impressive. I’m willing to try you as a consultant for this case. Understand it is only for one case and this agreement can disintegrate at any point and time. Your pay would be thirty dollars per hour, and the hours will be decided on by Detective Knight. Agreed?”
“Agreed. Thank you, ma’am.”
Grindel finally smiled with a nod to Knight. “Here’s her temp ID. Stop by human resources to sign the paperwork and get processed for her pay. She’ll also need a real ID at some point. Please, remind them of that. And be sure to introduce her to the others out there. Good luck.”
Grabbing the ID on a lanyard, Knight rushed Anastacia out of the office and back to his desk. “Welcome to the team.”
“I imagined the interview process much differently. Who were the others the captain was telling you to introduce me to?” She grabbed the card labeling her only as “Consultant” and hung it around her neck.
“Not so much an introduction as a warning on the characters we got out here.” Spinning her around with a firm grip on her shoulders, she faced the collection of desks in the room. The first person he pointed out was a dark-skinned woman at a desk similar to his own. Her short black hair was wild around her face, dark eyes focused on her computer screen. Her eyes flicked up to them. Knight waved at her until she went back to the computer screen.
“Detective Brenda Baker. Smart as a whip and just as punishing. Sharp tongue and suspicious of everyone, probably why she’s so good at her job. Don’t take it personally. She’s also part of the homicide unit.”
“Is she your partner?”
“No, she’s Jameson’s problem.” Knight chuckled and pointed to a tall thin man by the coffee machine trying to balance two mugs and an armful of paperwork. “They’re working on a big case, according to Jameson. I’m on my own for the time being. My partner passed away a few weeks ago.”
He turned her to face a small memorial set up on one table between two large windows. An older, solemn face stared at her from a police portrait with notes and flowers around the base.
“My condolences.” Anastacia looked around the station quickly in case she saw a lingering spirit of the detective. Her eyes caught Mel’s and he shook his head to tell her he caught no spirits around either. Maybe it was a quick passing and crossing.
“Yeah, thanks. Quint was a bit of a pain in the ass, but I miss him.”
Anastacia caught a small paper placard at the side of his portrait. “There’s a Robert Quint charity?”
“A small thing being raised for his family. I’m trying to head the damn thing, but it’s above my head. Had to hire a number guy and everything.” Knight chuckled with a helpless grin.
“That’s nice of you. I’m sure the family appreciates it.” Anastacia read the placard a few times before she turned back to Knight. “Anyone else?”
“A few officers here and there. Brennan, Causins, Franz, and Bublio are in here often, but they shouldn’t be in the mix for this investigation. They got their own things to do and should only be in and out.”
“Okay. Shall we start?”
“Let’s go over what we have.” Knight leaned back and pulled the board over for easy reach. Pointing to a business picture of Mel and then to one of his body in the alleyway, Knight paused for a moment to look back at her. “Crime scene photos of him won’t disturb you?”
Controlling the urge to pick up the business photo, she noticed the way Mel’s lips crooked naturally to the left a bit giving him a perpetually cocky look. Even in the photo, his blue eyes sparkled with life. A wave of sadness lapped at her heart, but she pushed it away. “I appreciate your concern. I’ll make do.”
“I’m glad I was gone after the second shot.” Mel leaned so close to the photo of his body that his nose nearly touched it, his lips curled in over his teeth. Anastacia could almost swear there was the shine of tears in his eyes. He stood, squaring his shoulders, but his gaze didn’t move from the image. “I’m really glad the blood didn’t translate to how you see me. Could you imagine?”
Knight’s voice rolled right over Mel’s. Still, Anastacia fought the urge to tell Knight to give Mel a moment. Instead, she kept her eyes trained on the company photo of Mel as Knight continued. “We don’t know too much about him other than he was a recent transplant into the city. Mother has been out of the picture for years now and father is on a business trip out of the country. It will be a while until we can make contact, based on the attempts we’ve tried so far. From what we understand, the victim just finished his paperwork on a rental agreement for an apartment on the Eastern side of town only on a month-to-month basis. According to his girlfriend, he was going to look at other options once the business started up. She didn’t know where— in fact, she barely knew where his current apartment was.”
Anastacia hummed and took a quick look at Mel for any kind of answer.
