“I’m told he had no I.D. on him,” Ronan jumped in, his tone all business and his look serious as he gazed at the corpse. “Appears he was a vagrant.”
“That’s certainly what his appearance indicates,” Cassidy concurred.
Diego was about to weigh in on the observation when he focused on the victim’s hands. He got down on his knees to take a closer look, and at the fingers in particular. He held out his own hand without looking up.
“Can I borrow some gloves?”
“Sure.” Cassidy slapped surgical gloves in his open palm.
Sliding them on both hands, he picked up the victim’s and held it up for scrutiny. With rigor already setting, it was hard to lift it too close, so Diego stayed bent down.
“What’s up?” Ronan asked.
“Take a look at his fingernails.” Diego moved to his left to give Ronan room to slide closer. “As dirty as he is, his nails aren’t torn. They look recently groomed, you know like with a nail clipper.”
Ronan dropped to his knees and hunched over the hand. He nodded. “You’re right.” Scooting back, he gestured to the head that was angled back given the gaping hinge across the neck. “Can you please pull back his lips?” he asked Cassidy.
She did so gingerly, and Ronan peered at the teeth revealed. Ronan looked at Diego and gestured with his own head. “Take a look at his teeth.”
Diego braced a hand on the ground and leaned over. While they weren’t the best set of choppers he’d ever seen, the victim appeared to have all of them and they’d been cleaned on a regular basis.
“If this guy was homeless, it was a recent event in his life,” Diego observed.
Ronan nodded his head. “I agree. Interesting. How quickly can you do the autopsy on smiley here?” he asked Cassidy.
She looked back and forth between the two of them, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I’ll put it at the top of my list.”
Ronan shot her a megawatt smile that turned his boyish charm up to an eleven, the bastard. “Thanks. Let me give you my number so you can text me when you have the preliminary results.”
As he watched the exchange of information, Diego reminded himself they were working a case, not a bar, and that his focus needed to be on the victim, not his sudden desire to pound his new partner’s face into the ground.
Chapter Two
Ronan cranked the A.C. in the car as he loosened his tie. After spending a couple of hours going over the crime scene and interviewing the jogger who’d spotted the body, he was as hot, sticky, and sweaty as he’d been earlier after his jog. His new partner, on the other hand, still had his suit jacket on and looked fresh as a daisy. Ronan eyed him with distrust. He wasn’t sure the guy was human, and it was just one more point against him. Being from New York and undoubtedly a Yankee’s fan had been the first strike. Eyeing the new M.E. with obvious male interest was another.
Cassidy Barnes was an unexpected treat and a far cry from the other pathologists he’d worked with. He’d spotted her before he even reached the cadaver and had wrangled her deets from one of the other crime scene investigators before he introduced himself. Word was that she was not only new but had serious medical credentials and could practice anywhere she wanted. She was also really nice to everyone, patient with subordinates, and funny in an unexpected way. She was also, of course, gorgeous. He’d seen that fact for himself. And, drumroll please, not married, engaged, or even dating as far as anyone knew.
Maybe she was gay, but he didn’t think so. He knew when a woman was into him, and the vibe from Dr. Barnes was a sexy “hi there” one. He was sure of it. Unfortunately, he was equally as sure she felt the same way about his partner. The look in her eye when she stared up at Diego held the same gleam she’d aimed at Ronan, and that sucked. Either she was playing games or she liked them both. Neither possibility appealed to him. Plus, when he looked at Diego, it was like looking into a mirror. The guy held the same “I want to go there” expression as Ronan knew he did himself.
He pulled out into the heavy traffic of Storrow Drive with a hard yank of the wheel and grinned inwardly in satisfaction as his partner grabbed onto his “oh shit” handle. Ronan decided it was a good idea to put thoughts of Cassidy aside and concentrate on the case for a while. “So what do you think?”
“I think our victim either fell on hard times within the last forty-eight hours or so and turned into an instant homeless man or there’s something more going on here.”
Damn, although Ronan was inclined to find fault with the transplanted New Yorker and potential dating rival, he had to admit the man had excellent police skills. The observation about the fingernails had been dead, so to speak, on.
“Yeah, I agree. On the surface, he looked like every other dead vagrant I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen quite a few. It’s too easy for them to die of exposure or get hit by a train or to end up in a deadly fight over booze or even shoes. I hate how we do such a lousy job taking care of our own, especially the vets. This guy could have easily been one if you looked at only the clothes and the layer of dirt. You were right, though, about the grooming underneath the grime. And it wasn’t just the nails and the teeth. Did you look at his hair?”
Diego nodded. “It was unkempt, but not matted and not very long. It had been trimmed recently.”
“Yeah.”
He cut over to exit off Storrow and head to the precinct. He was hoping to have a chance to change his shirt and clean up a little before the lovely Cassidy was ready to see them. He always kept spare clothing in his locker, and he wanted to look his best when he went to the morgue. He was hoping to have a chance to ask her out. That is, if his partner didn’t get his shot in first.
Stealing a glance at his passenger, Ronan could see why a woman would be interested. Diego was handsome in an exotic way, with short dark hair, olive-toned skin, and brown eyes. Ronan’s hair was equally dark, and he knew his blue eyes made for a nice contrast to that. But his skin tended to be too pale if he didn’t spend some time in the sun. He had a few inches on Diego, although the other man was more muscular.
And, comparing himself to another man was more “Mean Girls” than macho, so he should knock it the fuck off.
“The question is,” he said to get his thoughts back on track. “If the guy wasn’t really homeless, who the hell would go to the trouble of trying to make him look as if he were? Or was this some kind of weird-ass version of slumming it for him and the game got a little too real when an actual homeless man killed him for his money?”
“Perhaps the poor guy was mentally ill or suffering from dementia and wandered away from home,” Diego offered.
“That’s an interesting angle.” Ronan pulled into the precinct lot. “Look, I need to change. Standing out in that heat has turned me into a melting Popsicle. Why don’t you check on the missing person files while I head to the locker room? I’ll be quick about it and come give you a hand. Something might pop there before we get word from Cassidy.”
“Sure. That’s a good idea.”
It rankled, even though it shouldn’t, that while his new partner was the senior man of the two of them, he didn’t pull rank and nix the plan because Ronan had suggested it. The guy was obviously secure in his position and didn’t feel the need to throw his weight around. That was a good thing, so why did it irk him?
He shook off the feeling as he headed into the locker room and made short work of cleaning up. By the time he returned to his desk, Diego was in deep concentration on his computer.
“Nothing’s popped so far,” Diego said without looking up from the screen. “If the vic went missing recently, it wasn’t from Boston or the surrounding area.”
Ronan plopped into his chair and booted up his own computer. “Maybe he hopped a train from somewhere else.”
Diego looked over at him skeptically. “Does anyone actually do that anymore?”
“Sure,” Ronan replied with a shrug. “It’s harder these days, but it happens.”
Diego rocked back in his chair. “Did you notice the shoes?”
“What about them?”
“He wasn’t wearing any socks, so it was easy to see how they fit on his feet and they looked about a size too big to me.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Homeless people make do with what they can.”
“True, but it will be interesting to see if the vic’s feet show problems from wearing the wrong size. That’s something that should be in the M.E.’s report.”
Coincidently with the mention of the lovely Cassidy, Ronan’s phone pinged. Pulling it out, he read the text and grinned. “Post-mortem’s about done. Cassidy says to come over any time, and she’ll give us the run down.”
“Cassidy?” Diego said with his eyebrows raised.
“Dr. Barnes, if you prefer.” Ronan gave him a pointed look.
Diego returned it. “I prefer Cassidy, myself.”
“Then we’re of a mind, there.”
They sat staring at each other for a few seconds, stupidly and with way more testosterone than should permeate any room in the twenty-first century, but there it was. Diego glanced away first as he stood up. Ronan in no way took that as a sign of the other man’s weakness or capitulation. He stood, too, and followed his partner silently out to the car. By unspoken agreement, they didn’t talk about anything on the way to the morgue. When they entered the chilly and creepy room where Cassidy had their vic laid out, she greeted them with a friendly smile and a wave for them to come join her by the corpse.
That smile hit Ronan low in the gut, putting a momentary hitch to his stride. Even all suited up in her protective autopsy gear, her figure was on full display. She wasn’t very tall even for a woman, but she possessed the traditionally sexy hourglass curves. He liked the look, never having developed a taste for tall and thin. The way her breasts filled out the top of her scrubs made his palms itch. He reflexively curled his fingers, as if grabbing a handful. A small exhalation of air beside him confirmed Diego had a similar reaction. The fucker.
Ignoring his partner, Ronan poured on the charm, greeting Cassidy back with a wide smile. “Hey, Doc, what do you have for us?”
Turning back toward the body, Cassidy started her report. “I can definitely confirm he was killed by a single slash to his throat that cut through his trachea. Given the one-shot precision of the swipe, I’d say the killer knew what they were doing.”
“They?” Diego asked as he and Ronan walked to the other side of the table.
“Sorry, I’m being gender neutral in my assumptions in a grammatically incorrect way. I have no reason to believe there was more than one person involved. There were no signs of a struggle, no bruising or abrasions.”
“He knew his killer,” Ronan surmised.
“Or they caught him by surprise,” Diego amended.
Cassidy nodded. “One or the other. The contents of his stomach indicate he had a nice last meal, fish and vegetables. There appears to be alcohol in his system, but I won’t know how much or whether he ingested any drugs until the tox screen results come back. You know that takes a while.” She wrinkled her nose in an adorable fashion. “My gut’s telling me he wasn’t drinking for long, and his body shows no signs of alcoholism.”
“You mean he was in good health?” Diego asked.
“Fairly, yes, given his age. There’re no signs of cirrhosis or other liver disease. He has some plaque in his heart, but no more than a lot of guys his age. His muscle tone was good, although he could have stood to lose about twenty pounds.”
“What was the condition of his feet?” Diego prodded some more.
Cassidy shrugged. “He could have used a pedicure, I suppose. Again, nothing out of the ordinary for a man his age.”
“So, it didn’t look as if he’d been wearing shoes that didn’t fit for a long time?”
“No, and I did notice the shoes and his clothes in general didn’t fit him well.”
Leaning into the body more, Ronan peered at the guy’s face. “I haven’t seen too many homeless men that are well fed.” He cocked his head to get a better look. “This guy looks familiar to me.”
Diego moved closer to Ronan and scrutinized the guy, too. “You mean you busted him once or maybe just rousted him from someplace when you were in uniform?”
“Maybe.” There was this weird niggling in the back of his head that said this man was important in some way. The memory of when, where, and how he might have seen him slipped away as soon as he tried to take hold of it. It was maddening.
Finally, Ronan gave up and straightened. “It’s not coming to me. Hopefully, we’ll get a hit on his fingerprints on the Fed’s IAFIS.” He flashed a smile at Cassidy. “Anything else you can tell us?”
Cassidy blinked back at Ronan stupidly for a second or two, the force of the guy’s smile killing a few brain cells.
Well, yes
.
When you smile at me like that, my heartbeat speeds up and my knees go weak. Classic signs of arousal.
Despite the cool temperature of the autopsy room, her cheeks felt flushed and she was damp between the legs. This was so not good. She’d told herself her reaction to these men had been some bizarre aberration brought on by the gruesomeness of the corpse and the ungodly weather of the day. That excuse wasn’t going to cut it now. She was well acquainted with Mr. John Doe at this point, and there was no heat and humidity inside to blame. It was libido, pure and simple.
Except nothing was simple about finding herself simultaneously attracted to two men. Perhaps her reaction was a rebound effect from dumping her fiancé of five years. She had studiously ignored the attractiveness of men who were not Thomas, being the good girl as always. She’d especially given overtly masculine men a wide berth, telling herself she preferred quiet intellectuals who went to the gym just enough to stay a healthy weight, but not so much to develop obvious muscle. Yeah, that had been a big fat lie. Men with strong physiques were her go-to fantasies these days.
These two cops were something right out of those fantasies, too. Ronan Callaghan was tall and sleekly muscled, the picture of boyish beauty with dark hair that was too long and curled around his ears and the nape of his neck. He looked like a guy who’d just rolled out of bed. His bright blue eyes actually twinkled when he turned his attention on her, which so far was non-stop since they’d met. The guy was full of Irish charm, and if there was a woman on the planet who could resist him, she’d be very surprised.