“We can come back later,” Riley said, looking everywhere but the studded leather collar that accented Josie’s neck tattoos.
“No. We can’t,” Weber insisted. “Sorry for the interruption. But we’ve got official police business.”
Nick’s cousin Brian appeared, wheeling into the living room with a goofy smile on his face. He was shirtless but wearing pants. His blond hair was standing up on end in tufts, and his glasses were askew. “We’re kind of in the middle of…stuff, man.”
“Yeah. You’re interrupting my ovulation,” Josie said, blowing Brian a kiss that seemed both affectionate and threatening.
“You’re gonna have a lot of baby proofing to do in here,” Nick mused, admiring Josie’s newest throwing spear.
“Not if you guys don’t let us get back to business,” Brian complained.
“Believe me, I have nothing but empathy for your interrupted sex,” Nick assured his cousin. “But this douchebag who’s secretly dating my mom has a proposition for you.”
Brian peered in the detective’s direction. “Man, I was in the middle of a much better proposition.”
“You can get back to that as soon as you hear me out,” Weber promised. “I need your help with a case.”
“It’ll cost you,” said Josie, always a mercenary. She drummed black fingernails against her biceps. “We’re making babies here. Babies are expensive.”
“I’m authorized to hire you as a civilian consultant. Our digital forensics unit is backlogged by three months. We can’t wait that long.”
“We need to figure out how two deaths are connected.”
“Both homicides?” Brian asked.
Weber nodded. “One death was officially ruled a homicide. The other is now under investigation. Body was picked up from the morgue. We need a link besides the fact that your cousin’s psychic girlfriend says the deaths are related.”
“Don’t forget the glitter bombs,” Riley added, looking up from Josie’s brass knuckles display. “Both victims received glitter bombs in the mail within two weeks of their deaths.”
Brian adjusted his glasses and grinned at Riley. “Let me guess. Your nose twitched, and now you need something tangible.”
“Something that won’t get laughed out of court,” she told him.
Nick squeezed her hand.
“Let’s talk downstairs,” Brian suggested.
“You have thirty minutes,” Josie warned. “After that, I don’t care if we have an audience.”
His cousin grinned at his wife. “You got it, babe.”
They followed Brian to the back of the house, where he opened a door to reveal the cleverly disguised elevator.
The basement of the bungalow was a Tony Stark-style lair that had even Weber salivating. There was a workstation with six monitors in one corner, a movie screen and projector, a bar, two arcade games, and a sauna off the bathroom.
Nick had serious lair envy.
“Show me what you’ve got,” Brian said, wheeling over to the workstation. Weber followed and unloaded the contents of the boxes on the long, low countertop.
“Personal electronics were stolen from both scenes,” he explained. “No phones, tablets, laptops. Victim two was a part-time assistant manager over at the Game Emporium, and when I stopped by to ask the staff some questions, they said our victim hung out in the back office on the store laptop.” He handed over a laptop covered in gaming stickers.
“So you want me to work my magic to figure out what Dead Guy was doing online all day?” Brian clarified.
Weber slid two case folders across the counter. “Bonus points if you can connect dead body number one to dead body number two.”
Brian opened both folders. “Sounds fun. I’m in. For my usual fee, of course.”
“Usual fee?” Nick demanded.
