“Two actually quit the force after working with her. Another was injured when a car ran over him. Permanent disability. And Kaplan, your predecessor, jumped out of a two-story window and broke both legs.”
“Why in the world did he jump?”
“He was following her.”
Samantha’s eyebrows shot up. “
She
jumped out of a two-story window?”
“Yes.” Then he grinned. “Just like the movies. Jumped to the fire escape, swung down the railing, bounced off the trash Dumpster and caught the perp.”
“Great,” she murmured. Definitely a nutcase.
He stood, motioning her to do the same.
“Let me introduce you around. A couple of things, but you’ll find out soon enough yourself: Adams is old-school. You’re a woman and he won’t give you the time of day. And Sikes, he fancies himself a ladies’ man. He
will
give you the time of day. Every day. But there’s no love lost between them and Hunter. In fact, Ramirez is the only one that gets on well with Hunter. A mild case of hero worship or a crush or something.” He stopped before opening his door. “Don’t you dare tell either of them I said that.”
“No, sir.”
He motioned her out the door, then followed, stopping in the middle of the squad room.
“Listen up, people.”
All heads popped up except Tori’s. She continued with her phone conversation, ignoring the Lieutenant and the young woman.
“Detective Kennedy’s been assigned to us from Assault. She’ll be replacing Kaplan.”
He pointed around the room and Samantha followed his introductions.
“Richard Adams and Matthew Donaldson. John Sikes and Tony Ramirez over there. Sergeant Fisk out front there. And Tori Hunter. That’s our team.”
Samantha nodded at them, murmuring hellos, her eyes finally landing on the woman who would be her new partner, landing on her profile anyway. The woman had yet to look her way.
“Make her feel at home.” Then, to Samantha, “Come on. I’ll introduce you personally.”
Tori hung up the phone just as Malone walked over.
“Hunter, this is Detective Kennedy. She’s been assigned to you. Try to play nice,” he said with just a hint of a threat.
Tori looked over the blond woman in front of her, with her pressed slacks and neat jacket. No jewelry, save the watch and earrings. Hesitant green eyes peered back at her, then the woman offered her hand.
“Nice to meet you, Detective Hunter,” she said pleasantly.
“Yeah. A real pleasure,” she said dryly. The woman looked like an attorney, not a cop. She wondered if she’d ever done fieldwork or just sat behind a desk. “That’s yours,” she said, pointing to the desk butting up against her own. At least the woman would be nicer to look at than Kaplan’s old sour puss.
Samantha looked quickly at Lieutenant Malone, who smiled apologetically and squeezed her shoulder.
“You’ll be fine,” he said quietly, then left them alone.
Samantha looked back to the other woman, who had already picked up the phone again. Great. Just great. She hates me already, she thought.
“Sit down.”
She stared at the woman, who had the phone cradled against her shoulder, and took the file she handed her. She sat, her eyes still on the dark-haired woman.
“Yeah, this is Hunter. I need the lab results.” A pause. “You said it would be this morning.” Another pause. “It’s goddamn nine o’clock! That is morning.”
Samantha raised her eyebrows.
“Fine. If you meant noon, then say noon.” Tori slammed the phone down. “Idiots,” she murmured.
Samantha watched, her apprehension growing with each passing second. She should have stayed in Assault. She should have requested CIU.
“Teenage girl found in a trash Dumpster on the East Side. Jane Doe,” Tori said, pointing to the file she’d handed Kennedy. “Hooker, most likely. Consensus is a john killed her. But I don’t think so.”
“If a john killed her, why would he go to all the trouble of dumping her body? Why not leave it?”
Tori looked up, startled. That was her theory as well.
“Maybe if he left her at the scene, there would be too much evidence that would point to him,” Tori said.
“Motels that rent by the hour? Come on. You could get hundreds of prints.”
Tori nodded.
“Okay. Her pimp?”
“That would be logical, but we can’t find anyone who recognizes her.”
“Then maybe she’s not from East Dallas,” Samantha said. “Downtown?”
“Probably. There’s a small area on the West End and Little Mexico. That’s about it.”
“She was black. I doubt she worked Little Mexico,” Samantha said.
Tori leaned back and studied the other woman. She looked young.
“How long have you been a detective?”
“Five years. Why?”
“You barely look thirty,” Tori said.
“Thirty-four, but does it matter?”
“Of course it matters. No one takes a woman seriously, especially when she looks like she’s fresh out of college.”
“Why, thank you. I knew there was a compliment in there somewhere,” Samantha said sarcastically.
Tori Hunter stood and grabbed her coffee cup and walked away. Samantha stared after her. She was taller than Samantha, but only by a few inches. Short dark hair, dark eyes. She wouldn’t call her boyish, she was too attractive for that. Definitely moody. Why the sudden change? Did she answer one of the questions wrong?
“Don’t worry about her, honey. She’s just being her usual bitchy self,” John Sikes told her as he walked over.
“Excuse me?”
“Hunter,” he explained.
“No. Honey? Were you talking to me?”
He flashed her a charming smile and sat on the corner of her desk.
“Sorry. No offense.” He stuck out his hand. “John Sikes, at your service,” he said.
She took his hand, then dropped it quickly as he squeezed.
“No offense, John, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me honey. I’ll try to refrain from calling you names as well.”
He laughed and she smiled at him. He really was attractive, she had to admit.
“So, you’re stuck with Hunter. Sorry about that. I wish you luck.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she said.
“Well, if you need anything…
anything
at all, you just let me know.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Tori came back with two steaming cups of coffee and set one on Samantha’s desk. She flicked her eyes to Sikes.
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“Just introducing myself, Hunter. Don’t get excited.”
“Trust me, you don’t excite me.”
He laughed again, then pulled himself off of Samantha’s desk, ignoring Tori. “So, Samantha, you want to maybe get dinner some night? I can fill you in on all the local gossip,” he offered.
“No thanks. I’m involved with someone. I doubt he’d appreciate that,” she said.
He shrugged. “You never know. Offer is always open,” he said as he walked away.
“Stay away from him,” Tori said. “He’s a jerk.”
Samantha smiled. Yes, she agreed.
“Does anyone here like you?” she asked.
“No.”
“Why?”
“I don’t bullshit, I don’t play games.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t be friends with the people you work with,” Samantha said.
“Friends? With those guys?” Tori leaned forward. “Adams hates me because I’m a woman. He could care less about my job performance. I’m just a woman. Donaldson, his partner, follows his lead, even though Adams barely tolerates him because he’s black. Ramirez is the only one who shows me even the slightest consideration and because of that, he has to listen to ridicule from the others, especially Sikes, his partner.”
“That can’t all be because you’re a woman.”
“No, not just because I’m a woman. Because I’m a woman and I’m better at the job than they are.”
“Oh. Well, it’s good to know you’re not in the least conceited,” Samantha said with a smile.
“Why are you here?”
“Excuse me?”
“Did they ask you or did you volunteer?”
“I requested a transfer months ago. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tori nodded and sipped from her coffee. “So, you have a boyfriend?”
“Yes. Why?”
Tori shrugged. “It’ll make it easier on you. Sikes will only hit on you every other day. Adams will at least think there’s hope you’ll get married and pregnant and get out of his territory.”
“You paint a very bleak picture of this office, Hunter. I’ve worked around men my whole career. I’ve never had a problem with them. I doubt I will here, either. I do a good job.”
Tori shrugged again. She was probably right. She was straight and attractive. She was no threat to them. Unlike herself.
“I’m going to go down to Central and show our girl’s picture around. Maybe she’s been hauled in before. Want to come?”
“As opposed to staying here and being leered at by Sikes?”
Chapter Three
It was after six when Samantha walked into her apartment and collapsed on her sofa. It had been a mentally trying day and she was exhausted. She glanced over at the phone. Three messages. Kicking off her shoes, she stretched out, hitting her voice mail as she lay down.
“It’s me, sweetheart. I wanted to see if you were up to dinner. Can’t wait to hear about your first day. Call me when you get in.”
She nodded, waiting for the beep.
“It’s me. So how did it go? If you can sneak away from Robert one night, why don’t we get dinner. It’s been awhile.”
She nodded again, mentally making a note to call Amy later.
“Sorry, Samantha, can’t do dinner tonight after all. I’ve got a late meeting. I’ll call you when I’m done. Maybe I can swing by.”
She shook her head. She was too tired. She was actually thankful Robert had a meeting. She pushed off the sofa, taking her clothes off as she headed to the bathroom. A long, hot shower helped revive her somewhat. Unfortunately, her refrigerator didn’t miraculously contain dinner. Sorting through the frozen meals in her freezer, she grabbed one and popped it in the microwave. Her refrigerator did, however, contain a bottle of wine.
She took a glass and the entire bottle into the living room, settling into her recliner.
“Ahh,” she murmured as she put her feet up. She grabbed the phone, and with her thumb, punched out Amy’s number.
“It’s me,” she said when her best friend answered.
“Well, hello, Detective. How’d it go?”
Samantha smiled and sipped from her wine.
“I survived… barely,” she said. “I’m afraid it’s dangerously close to a mental ward, but I survived.”
“That bad, huh?”
“I’ve never in my life seen so many egos and that much testosterone in one place before.”
Amy laughed. “I told you to stay put. The boys in Homicide don’t mess around with little girls.”
“My partner’s a woman,” Samantha said.
“You’re kidding? What? They lump you both together so you won’t get in the way?”
“You may have heard of her. Tori Hunter.”
“Jesus Christ! She’s the nut that jumped out of the two-story building. We’re defending the guy she nabbed,” Amy said.
“Yes, that’s her. So, you got the case?”
“No, Michaels does. It’s a dead end, though. He’s going to plea.”
“She’s supposedly very good at her job,” Samantha said. “She doesn’t exactly fare too well with partners, though. I’m not sure we’re going to get along.”
“Oh, you’ll do fine. Everyone likes you.”
“Yes. But not everyone likes her. It’s going to be difficult. She’s moody as hell and she resents me being assigned to her.”
“I’m sure you’ll win her over. Where’s Robert?”
“Meeting. Thankfully. I was too tired for dinner. In fact, I’m too tired for company, period.”
“So how are things going with you guys?”
“Okay.”
“Okay? You’ve been seeing him for two years. When are you going to talk marriage?”
“Marriage? I don’t think we’re at that stage, Amy.” In fact, she knew she wasn’t. Robert had hinted they might move in together, but she’d balked. She liked her privacy and her time alone. He didn’t really understand but he didn’t push. Not much, anyway.
“He’s a good guy, Samantha. You could do a lot worse.”
“Yes, I know. He’s a sweetheart. I’m just not ready to get married.”
“You think it’ll interfere with your career?”
“Well, there’s that,” she said. “He hates it now when I’m out nights. Can you imagine if we were married?”
“And working Homicide, you’ll be out nights more often,” Amy said.
“Most likely. So, how are you doing? Still seeing Eric?” Samantha asked, thankful to change the subject.
“Yes. I wish I could say I’m in love with him, but I’m not. He’s just so damn attractive. I keep thinking it’ll come,” she said with a laugh.
Samantha shook her head. Amy had always been swayed by a pretty face. In that, Samantha was lucky. Robert was handsome and she was… well, she loved him. Was she in love with him? Maybe. At least she thought she should be.
They really had a great relationship. They rarely argued. When they did, it was usually over cases. He was a defense attorney. Thankfully, they had never worked the same case.
She was asleep on the sofa when he called later that evening. He wanted to come over.
“Robert, I’m really exhausted. Can we hook up tomorrow?” she asked.
“Of course. How did it go today?”
“It went… okay,” she said. “It’ll be different, that’s for sure,” she said around a yawn. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.
“That’s okay. Go back to sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
She wanted to burrow deeper into the sofa, but she made herself get up and into bed.
Chapter Four
Samantha felt refreshed when her alarm went off at six. She showered quickly, deciding to grab coffee on the way. She wanted to be early. For some reason, she felt the need to beat Tori Hunter to work.
It was a sunny morning and warm for March. Of course, that was relative. March in Dallas was either hinting at summer or hanging on to winter. Spring lasted but a few weeks.
She was early enough to beat traffic and she stopped at a coffeehouse on the corner of Commerce and Oakland. She eyed the pastries before deciding on a croissant. Ham and cheese filled, but still better than a pastry, she reasoned. She ate while she drove the two blocks to the station. She was early. The lot was only half full.