“Come in.”
When she pushed it open, she walked in like she owned the place. It always set the pace. She’d figure out how big of a douche he was on the fly. Already, she wasn’t thrilled with how the cops behaved in his precinct.
Was he just a ‘flirt with the ladies’ douche?
Was he a ‘assert his will over a woman’ douche?
Or was he so down and dirty, she was going to make him wish he never fell out of his mother’s womb all of those years ago?
Time would tell.
Yeah, she was feisty today.
“Director Blackhawk,” he said, standing to shake her hand.
She shook his outstretched hand, giving him the opportunity to prove she wasn’t going to have to be maniacal. Because she would be.
“I’m Captain Frank Volvia. Call me Cap, or Frank,” he said, shaking Ethan’s hand next. “It’s a pleasure.”
Oh, she was betting it wouldn’t be.
But who knew?
“Thank you, Frank. It’s just Elizabeth,” she said. “I’m sure you recognize my profiler, Doctor Blackhawk. He’s Doctor, or…Doctor.”
The man nodded, taking the hint.
“It’s a pleasure, Doctor. Thank you for coming here. I appreciate you getting here as quickly as you did. I hope my detectives have been helpful.”
Oh, they had been.
Only, she didn’t buy the nice guy façade. She’d played the game plenty of times with other men in power, and if it walked like an asshole, and it behaved like an asshole, it was, indeed, an asshole, nine times out of ten.
She didn’t think Tora and Mac were making shit up. Likely, he wouldn’t say shit to her.
Why?
Her reputation preceded her.
Through a door.
Through a room.
Throughout life.
“They’ve been invaluable. Thank you for getting in contact with us. This is going to be a rough one. You did the right thing by getting ahead of it. I can tell that you are a good cop trying to get justice,” she said.
From where he stood, Ethan knew his wife was sugarcoating this shit to keep the case. This was how she did the dance.
Ego stroking.
Immediately, the man smiled.
“Can I offer you guys coffee?” he asked.
Elizabeth nodded.
“Please. Black for him, cream for me,” she said, playing nice.
