My cell phone buzzes, and I pull it out of my jacket pocket. I’ve got a voicemail from an unknown number with a West Virginia area code. I don’t know anyone from there, but I do know someone obsessed with routing her calls through different area codes, particularly ones with funny town names.
I hit the redial, and someone picks up instantly. “Hey, Mina.”
“Ram, what the fuck is going on?” she squawks loud enough for the grunts in the hall to hear.
“Shhhh,” I say and duck into the stairwell for privacy.
“I get a hit on your name in a bulletin outta New Rome. And then another a few hours later? What the hell are you doing over there?”
“You got a search on my name?”
“I have a search on all my friends’ names. And my enemies.”
I grin. That is so Mina. “Which one am I?”
“Friend, duh. Good friend. I still want you to come back to L.A.”
My breath catches. I don’t have friends. I’ve been so careful not to get close to anyone. “What, so we can get a beer after hours?” Mina and I have never met in person.
She snorts. “No, so we can work cases together.” That’s what I thought. Mina and I always shared a connection, but as far as I know, she never leaves her computer cave. She’s more of a loner than I am, which is just as well. I can’t risk her getting too close. “Come on, you’re the only one who bribes me properly.”
“Gummy bears, the small ones. Your favorite is the pineapple flavor.”
“See? No one sends me those anymore. They just yell at me to do my job. You have to come back.”
“No can do. I’m one of New Rome’s finest now.”
“You’ve certainly had a first-hand seat to the rising crime stats. Is your plan to solve cases by being an eyewitness to as many as possible?”
It’s pretty much what Cuccinelli said, but only Mina’s allowed to give me shit.
“Just a streak of bad luck.”
“No such thing. You know there’s a connection.”
“Yeah, the vic was probably coming to bang on my door when he got ganked.” I repeat the detective’s working theory.
“But why you?”
“Just random.” Even as I say it, the back of my neck prickles. Like Mina, I have the sense that there’s something more going on.
But I don’t tell Mina that. She’s already spinning out on conspiracy theories. “Maybe the brass lured you there to target you so they could solve the crimes?—”
“So the Chief of Police is involved? I hope you’re not on a work phone.”
“Hell, no, who do you think you’re talking to? I routed this call through seven states and a NASA satellite. Good thing, too, because if you’re being targeted?—”
“Mina, it’s a coincidence. Correlation doesn’t equal causation.”
“Oh yes, baby, talk nerdy to me.” She fake moans.
“Oh my god.” I fake disgust even though I’m living for this conversation. It’s been too long since I’ve bantered with her. “I have to go.”
“Hot date?”
I arch my back, stretching in a way that makes my bruises shriek. Mina is the only one I’ve trusted with the knowledge of my kinky side. Mainly because she’s kinkier than a poorly stored garden hose and proud of it. “No. I’ve been ordered to attend a fundraiser with the brass. A gala. Black tie.”
“Ugh.”
