Chapter 17
Callie
Behind us,the yellow crime scene tape fluttered in the cold wind that blew in through the broken windows. Just this morning the place had been a busy convenient store, with dozens of customers rushing through to grab their coffees and newspapers. Now it was the host to three dead bodies, all sporting matching bullet holes in the center of theirforeheads.
Detective Cage kicked at a candy bar wrapper that lay empty next to one of the bodies. One piece was still clutched in the victim's hand, while another part oozed in a chocolaty mess from his bluishlips.
“I’d hate that to be my last meal.” He looked up at me seriously. “Dark chocolate is disgusting. Now a Snickers, on the other hand, that'll reallysatisfy."
“Shut up, asshole,” Detective Dean Fury said as he knelt in front of the body closest to the register. “Everybody knows M&Ms are thebest.”
“Yeah, well that’s because you like it when shit melts in your mouth, and not in your hands,” Ryanquipped.
"Okay, enough! This party isn't going to be over until mugshots are taken. Let’s get some answers here,” Sergeant Kannon reprimanded. He glanced in my direction and jutted his chin in the direction of the back offices. “Ward, let’s see if they found anything on the securityfootage.”
I followed him into the back hallway, where we found a small office lined with computer monitors against the back wall. Two officers were inside, pointing to one of the screens, discussing thesituation.
"Hey, Boss," the taller of the two said as Max walked inside. The officer's eyes flitted briefly to mine, and his smile widened. “Detective Ward,” hegreeted.
Officer Kevin Ramsey. I spent a few Saturdays with him. He was a fun guy, had a sweet demeanor, and was always up for no-strings-attachedhookups.
"Hey, Ram. Whatchagot?"
“Looks like a lone gunman. We can see him here," Kevin said, pointing to the screen all the way to the left of us with a still shot of a silver Lexus parked outside. "He pulls up and parks in the back. Then he waits for the victims to drive up, park, and walk into thestore."
“So he knew they were going to be there, if this was a hit,” I mumbled to Max. “Let’s make sure we get their cellphones.”
“There’s more here,” Ramsey said, smiling at me. “We got a full view of his face when he leaves.” He pressed play on the console, and the killer's face was in full frontalview.
My phone buzzed in my pocket the same time I heard Ryan rushing down the hall, whistling for Kannon. “We just got a call. Someone says their boyfriend is holed up in their house. Says she thinks he just killed three guys. We got cars already on theway.”
Kannon sighed next to me. “That’s too perfect.” He waved his index finger in the air. “Let’sgo.”
I pulled out my phone as I followed Ryan and Max out of the smallroom.
“Hey, Callie?” Ramsey asked before I stepped through thedoorway.
I spun around, smiling. “Yeah?”
“Want to get dinner tonight?” he asked, giving me a slow, sexysmile.
“Sure,” Isaid.
That was exactly what I needed today: to go out and keep trying to forget about all the things I shouldn’t be thinking about. Like warmmarriedhands caressing my neck or how I make it hard for people to want to stayfaithful.
He smiled wider. “I’ll call you when I getoff.”
I nodded and stepped out of the room. “See you later,” I called back tohim.
My phone buzzed again in my hands, alerting me of the missed text. I walked out of the hallway and crunched my way over broken glass to exit the building as I opened themessage.
Dylan: I’m sorry if I said or did anything wrong lastnight.
Callie: You didn’t. Noworries.
Dylan: I hope I didn’t mess up yourdate.
Callie: It wasn’t aproblem.
