“Dammit, Pallorino, just hear me out, will you? Buziak is setting up a task force as we speak.”
“Fuck,”she whispered, kicking at stones in the slush. It was all going to homicide.
“You’re being temporarily seconded to that force.”
She went stone-still.
“Buziak agrees that the Drummond, Fernyhough, and Ritter cases could be linked to his floater case, and since you’re intimately familiar with those sex cases, he wants you to get over to the autopsy currently under way on the Jane Doe found in the Gorge, to observe and to inform the team of any other similarities you might see emerging.”
Her hand tightened on her phone as adrenaline and excitement smashed through her system.
“The lead on the floater is Sergeant James Maddocks. You’ll be temporarily partnered with him. He’s attending the postmortem now. The Drummond PM is scheduled for first thing in the morning.”
“Who’s Maddocks? I’ve never heard his name.”
“The new guy.”
“Newguy? In homicide?” Her brain reeled. “What do you mean,newguy? The position has been filled already? When did this happen?”
“It’s not my unit, Pallorino. I don’t know.”
“You have my forms on your desk, Vedder, my application. Did you sign off on it? I’ve done all the Justice Institute courses and then some. I—”
“This is not the time—”
“It’s exactly the time.”I can prove myself on this case. This is my big chance to break in.
“Angie.”
She stilled at his use of her first name.
“Look, I’m not stalling on this. I told you, Ineedthat psych eval in hand before I can put you forward. You must see a police psychologist for debrief after losing a partner. It’s MVPD protocol, and Buziak isn’t even going to look at you for his permanent team until you get that clearance. So if you want this, do it. Go get that eval.”
Excitement shifted into anxiety. A psych eval—a shrink figuring out that she was having visions of a toddler, or that she’d become addicted to anonymous sex as a coping mechanism—was the last thing she needed. She could lose her job completely. Holgersen arrived with the tape.
Focus.
She cleared her throat, spoke low and level. “I believe we’ve found the site of the initial assault on Drummond. An alleyway between the Blue Badger and the bus shelter where our vic got off the bus.”
“Okay, good. Leave Holgersen to secure the scene and get yourself over to that autopsy. Briefing of the new task force will begin at seven thirty a.m. tomorrow. Good luck. And Angie—” He paused. “Be nice. If you play nice, Maddocks might put in a word of recommendation when the time comes.” Another pause. “Violent death is not a one-person mission.”
Vedder’s warning was clear. He knew her well—how irascible she could be. Her issues with anger management and borderline rage at times. Her propensity to work solo. She was fully aware that a good homicide detective was a team player and that team playing was something she’d always had a problem with. Even at school. In college. She knew also from her meeting with Vedder earlier today that she already had a big fat department target on her back.
She had everything to lose.
And everything to win.
And some new guy called Maddocks was going to have a say in her future.
CHAPTER 16
Angie’s boot heels echoed along the basement corridor. She knew the first thing that would hit her when she entered the morgue would be the smell. It would make her edgy. Hospital smells always did, although she’d never really figured out why—it’s not like she’d ever had a bad personal experience in one.
She’d found a small jar of eucalyptus ointment in her glove compartment from when Hash had a bad chest cough. She hadn’t had the heart to throw any of his stuff out. As she neared the morgue doors, she opened the container and dabbed some of the ointment under her nose.
Mistake.
The ointment burned like hell, and her eyes watered as the double doors hissed open. She entered, blinking. Cello music played against the click and clatter of instruments and the sound of water drumming in a sink. The decedent lay naked on her back on the stainless steel table—her body ghostly white, her head a bloodied mess with a bared jaw, bulbous eyes, dark strings of hair.
