He knocked heavily on the door, shouted Darnell’s name. Didn’t bother checking to see if it was locked.
Vaughn wasn’t in the mood to rouse his partner, nor clean up the man’s shit. This shtick was getting old.
He knocked again.
“Darnell! Time to go!”
He heard movement from inside.
Satisfied that he’d done his part, Vaughn got back in the car and waited. Gave Darnell fifteen minutes—if he didn’t come out by then, he’d go into the precinct by himself.
Darnell emerged at the thirteen minute mark.
The man groaned as he got in the car.
“No coffee this morning?”
Vaughn said nothing as he pulled onto the road.
“You look like shit, by the way.”
That did it.
Vaughn was fed up.
Maybe it was what Delaney had said about Darnell holding him back. Maybe it was the cumulative effects of dealing with the man’s shit for months now.
“Ilook like shit?Me? You smell like a distillery.”
Darnell sniffed his armpits.
“Ran out of deodorant.”
Typically, these types of jokes would tickle Vaughn.
Not today.
“Where the fuck were you last night?”
“At home. My blind date stood me up.”
“Darnell, there was another murder.”
This finally slapped the smile of his partner’s face.
“What?”
As he drove, Vaughn briefly outlined what had happened, leaving Ivy out of his account.
“Jesus Christ, man, why didn’t you come get me?”
“I’m not your babysitter.”
“Fuck. I’m your goddamn superior, Ryan. Don’t you forget that.”
Vaughn’s eyes flashed to his partner. He was about to say something, something he couldn’t take back. And Darnell seemed to be daring him to do it. His eyes were bloodshot. The pupils pinpricks.
But there was a deep sadness in them too, hidden beneath a thin veneer of anger.
