With a mutter and a heavy sigh, the officer shuffled down the hall to an office marked Records.
Nico leaned against the desk and crossed one heel over the other. He watched as officers brought handcuffed people through the bullpen. A couple of prostitutes sat petulantly in chairs as officers wrote their reports. Some hulking men were in the back Nico recognized.
And then, a woman dressed all in black with strawberry blonde hair walked with a tall, muscled African American man into an office on the other side of the bullpen.
It was as if he had tunnel vision as he stared at her. It was the first time he’d seen her in this police station. Was she a recruit? She couldn’t be. She’d had a special badge hooked onto the bottom of her shirt.
FBI?
“Here we go.” Bernadette set a thin file folder before Nico. “Not much yet. It’s only the beginning of the case. Mr. Casale should realize that being a criminal and all himself.”
Nico blinked back at Bernadette. He looked down at the file and opened it. He skimmed all the technical bullshit and frowned. “Is this accurate?” The media had not given details of his younger cousin's death, and now he knew why. A muscle ticked in his jaw.
The officer let go of her stern expression. She leaned over the desk and spoke in a hushed tone. “It’s supposed to be on the down low. I heard it was terrible. There’s a rumor one of the criminal analysts had a freak out. Poor thing.”
He scanned the report more thoroughly. He stopped at the end. “It’s an ongoing investigation.” He slapped the cover. “I don’t know how good these criminal analysts can be when they can’t even find their suspect.”
“It’s a little more complicated than apprehending a known suspect.”
Nico glanced to the right, noticing the woman in black was now standing next to him. Her chin lifted, and he saw a scar down the side of her nose.
“Do you mind telling me how hard it is?” Nico’s smile was all teeth.
“There’s paperwork involved. Searching through similar cases and finding similarities. It’s not an open textbook kind of case.” If possible, the woman tried looking down her nose at Nico when he was a good head taller than she was.
“I’m assuming you’re one of these criminal analysts?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.” She eyed him up and down, then moved back to his face. “Who are you to question my expertise?”
“I’m Nico Scala.” His eyes moved to her mouth. As if he was watching her lips move, the woman licked her lips. Nico’s eyes moved to hers. Bright color stained her cheeks. “And your name would be…?”
“Check the report, I’m sure you know how to read, correct?”
One of Nico’s lips hitched up. Damn, this woman had a sharp tongue. He opened the file, his eyes still on her. He looked at the page where it gave the names of everyone involved in the case. “You must be Autumn Taylor.”
Autumn’s eyebrow rose, “So, the Lady Killer can read. Impressive.”
Nico gave her a full-fledged smile, “Among other things,” he murmured back to her.
Amber’s eyes widened, then her eyelashes fluttered. Color pinched her cheeks again, and she looked away as she cleared her throat. “I’ll be back in a while, Bernie. Hererra has my number if he needs something.”
Nico had been so in tune with the woman in black- Autumn Taylor- that he forgot where he was.
“I’ll let him know, honey.”
Autumn didn’t give a backward glance.
Nico watched her hips sway. He could tell it was a natural movement and didn’t even realize she was doing it.
“I’ve seen that look before.”
Nico looked back at Bernadette, blinking back at the woman. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He smoothed the papers in the file, tapped it on the desk and held it in the crook of his arms.
Bernadette raised an eyebrow, “Mhm. You have that look in your eye, Mr. Scala.”
“What look?”
Bernadette rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched. “That look that says when you want something, you get it.”
