This is why I don’t get close to people, but not the only reason or the most important one. My gift is a curse and sets me apart. It marks me as different and puts me on a separate course, alone.
“Maybe I have a great imagination.” Like Tesla or Einstein, though I doubt he’d understand the reference. “I’m just able to piece together more of the scene from the facts I have.”
He’s not buying it. I have to give him something, or he’ll stand here questioning me all day, and I’ll never get a chance to review the scene like I need to.
“Do you believe in the gods?”
He nods. Most citizens of New Rome believe in the pantheon, even if they’re not really devout enough to go to the temples.
“Maybe I just have a connection to one of them.” I hold his gaze until he looks away. Finally, I can do my work. I walk around the body, searching for more clues. Under the chemical smell, I get another hit of that cologne—the one that reminds me of the dom. It’s faint and isn’t coming from the body. I don’t mention it in case I’m imagining it.
Stop thinking of HIM.
“Have you talked to building security?” I ask.
“They’ve been interviewed. But there were none up here. Gregory Martin liked to be left alone.”
“And he didn’t have anything on his calendar? No hint that he might be meeting someone up here?”
Burgess shrugs. “Tony and Jim are taking care of that.” He’s talking about Tony Cuccinelli and Jim Bonds, the lead detectives assigned to the case. The ones we’re meant to assist, although Burgess doesn’t seem to take his duties seriously. I make a mental note to interview the employees and assistants myself.
A shadow darts across the corner of my eye. A big shape, huge but silent. A predator.
I turn to follow it, but it’s gone. A figment of my imagination. A hit of intuition.
My psychic abilities coming to life.
Burgess turns with me, but of course he sees nothing. I keep my expression blank, scanning the hallway.
“Any sign of the murder weapon?” I ask to cover my sudden pivot.
“None. Probably a knife. Autopsy will tell us more.”
“What about cameras?” I’ve scanned the corners, but it doesn’t look like there are any in here. “Any on this floor?”
“Nope. We’re getting the feed from the ones in the lobby to maybe get eyes on the fucker.”
I shake my head. “The killer didn’t come through the front door.” I start down the hall.
“How do you know?” Burgess asks, but I’m already leaving him behind to follow the dark shape hovering in the hall, the darkness beckoning me forward.
It’s not real, of course. But it’s something that will lead me to a clue.
This is why I’m here. My extra senses, my ability to find the darkness and follow it until I find a killer. It’s how I’ve solved so many cases and gotten justice for the deceased.
I don’t know why the gods chose me for this gift, this curse. All I know is it’s what I’m good at, what I’m made for. My calling, my mission, my entire life.
This is why I won’t try to reconnect with the dom. Other people have lives and friends and families. I have this. The crime scenes and the connection with the victims. The hunt for justice.
That’s all I have.
It has to be enough.
“Where’s the closest fire escape?” I don’t wait for an answer before heading down the hall to find it. Diego comes out of a cubicle to stand beside me, facing a heavy door.
“Alarm’s not disabled,” I note. The killer would’ve had to bypass the alarm if he entered this way. Which he did, I’m almost sure of it. “Let’s open the door, see if it triggers.”
He nods and pushes the heavy door open with his gloved hands.
