Authors: Ronica Black
“Good to meet you, Detective,” she said, matching her colleague’s stare with one of her own.
He looked away first and started coughing in a wheezy manner. He wasn’t happy about her presence, that much was evident. It was a different story with the younger detective. Jeff Hernandez was a friend from earlier days at the Academy and knew she was one of the most credible vice officers in the department.
On his knees next to the DOA, he looked up and met her smile, pulling down his surgical mask to do so. Casting an eye in Stewart’s direction, he said, “Just ignore him. He’s pissed because you’re invading his crime scene and because he quit smoking last week. How are ya, Mac?” He let go of his mask and it snapped back into place.
“I’m not here to step on anyone’s toes.” She knelt next to him and they both glanced toward the red-faced man scowling and leaning against the Valle Luna P.D. crime scene van.
“He’s pretty much an asshole all of the time,” Jeff said. “Don’t take it personally.”
“I’ll watch my step.” Erin laughed softly. Stewart was obviously a lost cause and she didn’t want to get into a pissing contest with him over territory. She knew she was being thrown into their turf and the fact she was female didn’t help matters any. She tucked one hand into her black slacks. “So, what have we got here?”
“This poor bastard was one Jonathon Bale. Got I.D. from the wallet we found in his pants over there.” A pair of expensive-looking tailored pants lay next to the body, turned inside out with the underwear exposed as if they had been pulled off quickly. “Fifty-two-year-old from Scottsdale, married with two adult sons. Wealthy business owner. One prior for a DUI two years ago.”
“Who found him?” Erin put her shades back on. It was two in the afternoon and the desert sun pierced her eyes.
They both stood and moved away from the stinking body.
“Fourteen-year-old kid was out this morning riding his dirt bike.” Jeff yanked the sweltering mask from his face and tossed it into the van, audibly drawing a deep breath of the fresher air. “Looks like number three.”
“You do know what he means by ‘number three,’ don’t you?” Stewart asked in a not-so-friendly tone. Without waiting for her to respond, he explained, as if talking to a slow learner, “You do know about the serial killings, don’t you? This guy makes
numero tres
.” He held up three stubby freckled fingers just in case she needed to count them in order to understand.
Erin took a breath in through her nose, controlling her flaring temper. She hated assholes like this, who spoke to her as if she were a little girl. “Yes, I am aware of the recent killings.”
Stewart puffed out his chest. “Well, then I guess you know that Hernandez and I are assigned to those cases and to this one as well.”
Aha. So there it is. Territory. He might as well lift his leg and pee on the dead body.
“Yes, I’m aware of that, also.” She knew what he wanted, complete acceptance from her that they called the shots.
Stewart folded his arms above his belly. It was like a standoff at high noon. Erin almost waited for a tumbleweed to roll slowly by to add to the effect. It occurred to her that Stewart didn’t seem to know she’d been assigned to the case as of this morning. From the way Jeff was smiling, she suspected he had some idea. Either that, or he was merely enjoying the banter between his colleagues.
She decided to lay her cards on the table for the both of them. “As of today, gentlemen, I have been assigned to the serial killings as well.”
“No fucking way,” Stewart erupted. He began pacing like a mad dog and mumbling to himself.
“I need to get up to speed pretty fast.” Erin directed her comments to Jeff. “I need to know everything that’s entailed in these killings. So I’m counting on you to fill me in on the details.”
This stopped Stewart in his tracks. “Well no shit, Miss Fancy Pants! We’re all wanting to know everything there is to know!” A throbbing vein on his forehead pulsed at her.
Erin glanced down at her pants.
Fancy Pants?
They were nice pants, but she wouldn’t call them fancy. Jeff caught on, laughing at her gentle mockery of the clueless Stewart.
“Look. All I was told is that I’m going undercover on this case,” she said. “That’s as much as I know at this point.”
Stewart stopped pacing and looked from her to Jeff, the slow-creaking wheels of his brain working loudly. “Adams?” he muttered almost to himself.
Some of the color drained from Jeff’s face. “No way.”
“Who’s Adams?” Erin asked.
Stewart laughed heartily. “Holy shit. She’ll eat this little tart alive.” He walked away toward an approaching black coroner’s van, mumbling, “’Bout fucking time.”
Jeff stared off into the distance in silence.
“Jeff, who’s Adams?” Erin asked him softly.
“Our main suspect in these killings.”
Erin was slightly shocked. “A woman?” She looked over at the mutilated body. The killing seemed angry, violent, and very personal. “A woman did that?”
“Yeah, we’re pretty sure. And she’s flaunting it in our face too. Only we can’t get anything to stick to her.”
“Well, I have to admit that going in after a woman doesn’t sound so bad.” Her mind eased a little at the thought. At least she wouldn’t be throwing herself at some horrible man who would try to screw
her
while she tried to screw information out of him.
Jeff laughed a little. It was a nervous laugh. “Listen, Mac, this is no ordinary woman. She’s as cunning as they get and I’m betting she doesn’t have a conscience bone in her fantastic body.”
Erin scoffed at his reference to the woman’s body. She had never heard him talk like that about a female.
Picking up on her reaction, he said, “Yeah, she’s good looking. Hell, she’s gorgeous. And uses it to her full advantage. But there’s a cold heart beating underneath that hot package, and if I’m right,” Jeff paused on a sigh, “the team is going to send you in as bait.”
Erin recoiled at the statement, completely thrown. “Bait?” She shoved her hands nervously in her pockets. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
Jeff grinned. “She’s a lesbian.”
Erin shook her head. To think, she had kidded herself into believing that she wouldn’t have to prostitute herself on this undercover assignment, that she had been chosen for her skills this time. Why did she always have to seduce someone in order to get information out of them?
“This is crazy. How am I supposed to bait a woman?”
What in the world do they expect me to do?
Jeff eyed her with obvious appreciation. “Trust me, Mac, what you got, she’s gonna want.”
Detective Patricia Henderson tapped her pen nervously against her notepad and glanced at the other four detectives sitting in silence around the conference table.
They were waiting for their sergeant to begin the briefing, the first of many that would involve this team and the recent serial killings. A larger task force was in the works, which would likely include the FBI. But as the investigation stood right now, their small team was closest to the case.
Directly across from her, Jeff Hernandez sipped on a cup of coffee. Patricia had trained him in the Arizona Law Enforcement Academy just a few years before and she trusted him completely. Jeff was hardworking and honorable. He seemed to truly feel for each victim he came across, going out of his way to comfort their grieving families and working whatever hours necessary to solve each case. Her eyes drifted over to Martin Stewart. The difference between the two men was like night and day. Stewart was married, he was from New Jersey, and he was one of the best homicide detectives in the state. He was also an asshole. She liked to think that behind his tough-guy façade, there lurked a sensitive, decent human being with a good heart. But it seemed doubtful.
Arms folded, he leaned back in his chair with a toothpick dancing across his thick lips. A pack of gum and a steaming cup of coffee sat on the table in front of him. Apparently, since he had quit smoking, he was popping all sorts of things in his mouth to distract himself from the nicotine cravings.
He glanced over at her and she quickly looked away and concentrated on the detectives seated directly next to her. Erin McKenzie and Gary Jacobs were deep in conversation, poring over the homicide files. The two had been working closely with Hernandez and Stewart since the third killing, much to Stewart’s dismay.
Patricia had been Erin’s self-defense instructor as well. Extensively trained in martial arts, she had been assigned to teach at the Academy, something she’d enjoyed doing up until a couple of years ago, when she was promoted to homicide, a position she had always hoped to achieve. She fingered her small silver hoop earrings and returned a polite smile from Erin. She noticed that the large diamond ring Erin used to wear on her left hand was missing. Jeff had mentioned the young detective’s recent separation from her husband. Patricia eyed her own barren third finger and wondered if someday she would wear a ring there signifying commitment.
Shaking the loneliness from her mind, she lifted her gaze to her longtime partner, Gary Jacobs. Gary was a serious, no-nonsense kind of cop, someone who rarely cracked a smile. He was always well mannered and polite, but she had always found it hard to get him to laugh. She grinned as she remembered a time not so long ago when someone had hired a drag queen to come in and sing happy birthday to Stewart. She had been in tears with laughter as the better-than-Cher look-alike straddled a red-faced Stewart and rubbed his bald head while she sang. Gary had sat and watched from his desk with a blank expression on his face, almost as if he were watching grass grow.
Patricia tossed down her pen and rubbed her temples. The headache she had awoken with was not letting up. Sleep had not come easy the night before. She had stayed up late going over the victim files until she knew them by heart. Then, she had studied their main suspect, Elizabeth Adams. With all that she’d read and all she knew, she was worried for Erin McKenzie.
The Homicide Department had pulled Erin from Narcotics, specifically to work on the Adams case. It seemed she had quite a reputation for her undercover work, having obtained the key evidence that put several major drug dealers away. Of course, now she’d have to prove herself all over again in Homicide, and this was what concerned Patricia. A young detective trying to show she could handle herself on a tough new assignment might be tempted to take more risks than she should. Elizabeth Adams was a dangerous target, a skilled seductress who would not only take full advantage of an innocent but would enjoy doing so. And if she suspected Erin was a cop…Patricia didn’t want to think about that possibility.
“Good morning, everyone.” Sergeant Eric Ruiz marched in with a smile on his face.
Ignoring the unenthusiastic group reply, he slapped a thick stack of files down on the end of the table and adjusted his wire-rim glasses. He was a shorter man, about five eight, with a head full of thick black hair threaded with silver. Despite his modest stature, the overzealous Ruiz managed to intimidate almost everyone, Patricia included. He demanded a lot from his detectives and had a fiery temper with a very short fuse when things didn’t go as planned.
“Okay. You all know why you’re here, so let’s get to it.” He rubbed his hands together and began his infamous pacing. The man did not know the meaning of sitting still. “McKenzie, how are you feeling about all this?”
Erin sat up straighter in her chair. “Fine, sir.”
“Think you can be ready to roll by Saturday?”
“Yes, sir.”
Patricia watched the young detective squirm and doubted that she was as fine or as confident as she claimed. Stirring slightly in her own seat, she directed a question to Ruiz. “What, exactly, is the plan for Saturday, sir?”
He stopped at the question, but only briefly, before resuming his pacing. “We introduce Mac onto the scene at Adams’s nightclub, La Femme
.
And we hope Adams shows an immediate interest.”
Visions of the elite lesbian nightclub flashed across Patricia’s mind. Adams had owned the popular club for eight years and also operated a small production company known for lesbian-themed films. Patricia’s eyes strayed to Erin and, not for the first time, she felt uncertain whether the newcomer was ready or even right for this assignment. Certainly she had the looks. With her shoulder-length light brown hair pulled into a ponytail, exposing high cheekbones and a graceful neckline, she had exactly the kind of sexy vulnerability Adams found exciting. Oddly, that unsettled Patricia.
She locked eyes with Ruiz. “How far are we willing to let her go on Saturday?”
Erin’s face flooded with red, and Stewart about choked on his shredded toothpick. It flew out of his mouth and he looked around the table like a fourteen-year-old boy talking about porn, an excited grin on his face. None of the other detectives found the question humorous.
“You think we’ll need to resolve that now? Adams will move that quickly?” Ruiz pointed the question back to her.
“Absolutely, sir.”
“Then what do you suggest?” He tossed the ball into her court.
“Ideally, she should establish trust with the target and permit a credible level of physical contact, kissing perhaps. Some fondling. It will depend on what she’s comfortable with, and the circumstances at the time. We just need to make sure she’s fully prepared.”