She sighed. “Well, Lieutenant Bowie…”
Chapter 6
Mitch returned to police headquarters in record time, but when the elevator doors opened for him, two detectives almost ran him over as they emerged, obviously in a hurry. He dodged out of their way and then, with the impulse of a lemming, fell into step with them as they headed for the employee exit. “Where’s the fire?”
“No fire, but two bodies found in Bayou Coeur.”
Barbara Nix was a tall, slender thirty-something, a workout fanatic, and an energetic detective. Soon after John took over the CAP unit, she had applied for a job. Her experience had been limited to smaller police departments, but she’d impressed John, he’d hired her, and she had proven herself to be a valuable asset.
“One male, one female,” she continued as they wove their way through the corridors. “Discovered by a trio of fishermen. Obvious foul play.”
Mitch knew that bayou well. Years back, he and John haddragged out of its sluggish waters the body of an undercover DEA agent named Randy Nelson with whom Mitch had worked. “What about the fishermen?”
“Old geezers,” Nix said. “They’re not suspects.”
“That bayou is outside the city’s jurisdiction.”
“Right,” Nix’s partner said, speaking for the first time. Ed Lear was a veteran investigator who was methodical to the point of being plodding. Nix had spontaneous tendencies; Lear kept a rein on them. Their approaches to solving crimes complemented each other. “Sheriff’s office is handling the investigation, but they asked us to take a look.”
“Who’s the lead?”
“Glenn Darcy.”
Mitch knew the detective well. Their investigations often overlapped. Mitch got to the exit door ahead of the other two and pressed the bar to open it for them. “How come Darcy asked for help?”
Nix answered, “No ID found on either body. Thought we might recognize them.”
“Manner of death?”
Maintaining her ground-eating stride, Nix called back to him over her shoulder. “All we’ve been told so far is that it’s nasty.”
As Mitch watched them go, he had to tamp down the rush of adrenaline he experienced whenever action was called for. His heart rate kicked up. His gut drew taut.
Even as a kid, he’d been attracted to danger. His mother used to say of him, “It’s like he’s got a fire bell inside his head.”
After Angela’s death, danger’s allure had lessened, but every once in a while, like now, he felt its tug and envied the two detectives who were off to investigate a nasty crime scene.
He wondered what Dylan Reede would make of that aspect of his psyche.
He returned to the elevator, then, to expend some adrenaline, opted to jog up the three flights of stairs. As he entered the CAP unit, he saw that the meeting he was supposed to attend had already commenced in John’s office. He removed his sport jacket and tossed it onto his desk chair, never breaking stride until he reached the closed office door.
He pushed it open and went in, interrupting John as he was saying, “… then once we’ve completed this initial training, the superintendent proposed that we conduct periodic refresher courses. The goal here is to keep those guards in a continual state of preparedness.”
John had formed a task force of four patrol officers with Mitch serving as their overseer. They were charged with training school security guards how to respond to an active shooter situation. For several weeks they had been conducting workshops. John had called this meeting to get a progress report.
Before continuing, he looked over at Mitch, who’d propped himself against the wall because all the chairs had already been taken. Of course everyone in the crowded office knew about their rift, which made for palpable tension.
“Sorry I’m late,” Mitch said. “I ran into Nix and Lear on their way out. They told me about the bodies found in Bayou Coeur.”
“Darcy’s on it.”
That’s all John said about that topic before asking each of the officers in the group for a status report on their particular workshop. Mitch was saved for last.
Since all the officers’ input had been positive, he didn’t want to dilute their optimism for the success of the project. He said,“Without question these guards are dedicated to keeping their campuses, the kids, and faculty safe. Based on what you’ve said here, it sounds like they’re quick studies.” He smiled and gave a thumbs-up. “We’re making headway.”
“Pleased to hear it,” John said. “I can go back to the super with a positive report.” He adjourned the meeting. When they began to file out, he asked Mitch to stay. “Close the door.” Mitch did, but remained standing.
“What’s on your mind?” John asked.
