“No, it’s not very common, but even if it were, you are under no obligation to say yes.”
My silence must have been an indicator of my hesitation, because she spoke again before I had the chance.
“Why don’t you think about it for a few days and let me know? The family can’t come out ‘til the weekend anyway, so take your time. You have my cell phone now. Just text me one way or another, and I can arrange it if I need to.”
“Okay,” I responded. “Thank you for telling me. I’m happy you were able to figure out who she was.”
“Same. It will make the investigation a little easier.”
I hadn’t thought of that, but she was probably right. I thanked her for calling and hung up. I was feeling all the emotions as I walked back into the common area. Happiness that they identified the body. Sorrow that such a young woman had died. Anger that she didn’t get to live a very long life. Shock and amazement that they could use a surgical implant to identify bodies. Grief for her family.
I was so deep in my emotional roller coaster that I hadn’t realized everyone was staring at me when I walked in.
“Everything okay?” Christine asked, clearly worried.
I don’t know why, but I wasn’t ready to share the news I had just received, so I just brushed it off. “Yeah, it was the agent calling to just follow up on some questions. No big deal.”
They all either believed me or decided to cut me some slack, because they moved on.
“So,” Leah said, clapping her hands conspiratorially. “Who is this Hector guy you interviewed? Christine and Ben said you guys knew each other and that he was super-hot.”
“I didnotsay he was hot,” Ben protested.
“No, but you didn’t disagree with Christine when she said it, which is basically guy code forhe’s hot,” Leah rebutted.
Ben just rolled his eyes as Christine chuckled.
“Describe him to me, andIwill decide if he’s hot,” Calvin directed.
I did my best to explain not only Hector’s good looks, but also his broody demeanor and standoffish nature.
“Ooooh. We should call him Hector the Convector,” Christine yelled out and then laughed at her own joke. “You know, because he’s all stormy like a convective thunderstorm.”
“He can’t have that name because Australia already owns the rights to it,” Ben countered. “Hector the Convector is literally the most famous storm in all of Australia.”
“I don’t think Australia would mind sharing it with a hunky guy,” Christine refuted.
“Maybe you should call Hector and see if he likes the nickname,” Leah added and smirked at me.
“All of you are nuts,” Ben said, rolling his eyes. “My shift is over, so I’m taking my leftover food from earlier and heading home. See you weirdos tomorrow.”
He waved goodbye as he left. Calvin departed shortly after, as his shift had just ended too.
Leah and Christine came over to the desk I was sitting at, clearly ready to have more girl talk now that the guys had left.
“Christine said the other guy at the lake seemed to take an interest in you. What about him?” Leah asked.
“Who?” I asked, trying to remember who she was referring to.
“Who?” Christine looked at me like I was crazy. “Lieutenant Patrick Michaels. You know, the hottie Coast Guard guy you interviewed?”
Oh yeah. I’d kind of forgotten all about him.
“I guess when you see dead body parts, it kind of distracts your brain,” I told them, but Christine clearly didn’t believe it.
“That, or you were so focused on Hector that you didn’t notice the other man. The one who spent a good portion of the interview sneaking looks at your butt.”
“Shut up! Did he really?” Leah asked Christine.
