At first it had throbbed like blazes but not so much anymore. Daily ibuprofen helped. What didn’t help was Rapp putting his giant thumb on her face, however gently. He made her uncomfortable in a weird way she didn’t want to think about.
“I’m fine. Stop, already.” She took out her phone, saw he’d brushedmoremakeup from her injury, and hurriedly fixed it with the beige powder pack tucked into her jacket.
“Do I need to put you on a safety watch?”
“Huh?”
“From now on, you don’t go anywhere alone.”
There was no way he could enforce a “safety watch.” Whatever that entailed. “Right now, we only have my suspicions about Neck Tattoo. The parking lot isn’t a sure thing.”
“What is a sure thing is that we have a problem with you not sharing. You should have told me about the parking lot right after it happened. Not later.”
He didn’t look pleased.
Whatever he meant to add had to wait. A large guy covered in tattoos grinned as he neared. “Yo, Gunther, my man, what’s up?”
“We’re not finished with this,” Rapp murmured before embracing the tattoo artist in a manly hug, the kind that involved a lot of hard patting on the back.
She wanted to find his concern annoying, but part of her liked that her boss—not boss, coworker—felt responsible for her.
This is what I should feel working for Scott, who is obviously a bad supervisor.
Jane followed Rapp and his friend into the tattoo shop, more determined than ever to solve the issue of SSA Scott.
“Jane, this is Irv. Irv, Agent Jane Cannon.”
“Well, hel-lo.” Irv smiled, and she had to admit he was handsome in an I’ll-crush-you-and-not-feel-an-ounce-of-guilt kind of way.
“Irv, focus,” Rapp growled, and she had to wonder how these two had met.
“Sorry. Shoot, Jane. Tell me about the tat.”
She described the sophisticated tattoo, her keen attention to detail one she’d been developing for years. Though small, the lion-dragon tattoo had been crafted by someone experienced with intricate work.
Irv shook his head. “Are you in luck! I knowexactlywhat you’re looking for.”
“Seriously?” Rapp didn’t seem to have expected such sudden success.
Excited, Jane waited while Irv dug out a binder from below the front desk and found the exact photo of the tattoo.
He placed the binder on the counter. “This it?”
“Yes. That’s it.”
He tapped the photo, carefully preserved under a sheet of plastic, and pulled it out. “It’s the Momo Dragon, from that popular anime.”
Rapp frowned. “Which one?”
The way he said that made Jane wonder. “Do you watch anime?”
Rapp turned red. “It’s helped in a few cases, believe it or not.”
“Yeah,that’swhy he watched it.” Irv snorted.
Rapp glared at Irv and sneered. “Zip it,Irving.”
“The secrets I could tell you about this guy.” Irv laughed, not impressed by Rapp’s glower. “Anyways, my cousin did your tattoo, though he normally works in the University District. I remember this tat because he was so proud of himself for nailing the details and because he crushed it while filling in for KJ.” Irv flipped the photo over. “Looks like Harding Fellows is your guy. And yeah, that’s his actual name. He was supposedly a total tool, but he paid on time. Hold on while I grab his address for you. I guarantee he didn’t pay cash for that. Not with all those lines and colors. As small as it is, it’s outstanding work, right?” Irv stepped away to wake up his computer and muttered, “Kid gets all his talent from my side of the family.”
