In spite of her mental preparation, shock washed through Angie.
Barb O’Hagan was the attending pathologist. This pleased her. The doc glanced up, a scalpel in hand. Two detectives stood with their backs to Angie. Leo’s chunky frame and shock of white hair were instantly recognizable. The guy beside him stood far taller, maybe six foot four—shoulders twice as broad as Leo’s. His hair was thick and glistened blue-black under the harsh fluorescent lighting. Something inside Angie went stone-still.
“Detective Pallorino has joined us,” O’Hagan said into the mike, and she gave Angie a nod.
The two detectives turned. Indigo eyes met hers. Her heart started to stammer.
Mr.Big Dick.
Tall, dark, and just the wrong side of handsome—the guy she’d handcuffed to a motel room bed and fucked to her heart’s pleasure last night.Hewas the new homicide guy?Hecould have a say in her future? A loud clanging began in her ears.
Angie inhaled deeply, but the eucalyptus ointment fumes made her cough. Her eyes watered even more, and her nose began to run, which made her sniff and cough again.
“Leo, Barb,” she managed to say between her coughing fit.
Leo frowned. “What’reyoudoing here?”
O’Hagan reached up and turned her mike off.
Angie wiped her eyes with the base of her thumb. “’Scuse me. I, uh ... got ... something in my eyes.” She cleared her throat, sniffed again. “I’ve been seconded to this case. Buziak just assigned me to the task force.”
Cello music crashed.
Leo stared, eyes flat. “This is James Maddocks,” he said. “He’s lead on this DB for now.”
“Angie Pallorino,” she said, looking up and once again meeting those deep-indigo eyes. Heat washed over her skin. Her set of sex rules raced through her mind.
Never sleep with a colleague. Never kiss. Leave first ... Always stay in control ...
Control was the last fucking thing she was in right now.
“The Drummond case is mine,” she managed to say, wiping her nose with her sleeve. “Her assault might be linked to two earlier unsolved sexual assaults that I worked with my former partner, Hashowsky, three and four years ago. Similar signature in all three. I’ve been asked to observe this postmortem and to identify any other similarities that might come to my attention, based on my older cases.”
Slowly, his gaze locked on hers, Detective James Maddocks extended his hand. Angie took it. Firm—very firm—grip. Big. The memory of his hand on her arm last night as he’d steered her out of the club punched through her. It was followed by an image of him stark naked on the bed, hands above his head. His chest, armpit, and groin hair black as night, skin pale and honed like marble. Like alabaster ... that dick, erect, sheathed. She swallowed.
“Pleased to ... meet you, Detective,” he said, holding on to her hand a fraction too long, the hint of a smile playing over his lips, a deadly seriousness in his eyes. When he released her, she swiped again at her nose with her sleeve.
O’Hagan eyed them both a moment, exchanged a glance with Leo, and then said, “Got tissues on the counter over there.”
Angie went over to grab a wad of Kleenex. “Thanks. I used some ointment that Hash left in my vehicle. Burns like hell.” She tried for a light laugh. “His last joke’s on me, as usual.”
Shit shit shit ...
She took her place beside Mr.Big D. and noticed that on this occasion he wore a gold wedding band. As she suspected. Her stomach balled tighter. Men. Out in the dark, hunting on the quiet in various ways, driven to satisfy the most basic of urges over which some had little or no control. But then she couldn’t judge. She hunted on the quiet, too.
The fact that he was married could actually work in her favor.
It could give her leverage. She held on to that thought, cleared her mind, and returned her attention to the body on the table. Surprise washed afresh through her as she caught sight of the ink that covered the woman’s lower abdomen and shaved pubic area.
“You’re just in time,” O’Hagan said. “We’re about to open her up.” She reached up and reengaged her mike.
CHAPTER 17
Jack Killion slotted his key into the lock and opened the door. The lights inside had been dimmed. Candles flickered next to an open bottle of wine and two glasses that had been placed on a coffee table in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Beyond the windows it was dark outside, the lights of the legislature buildings twinkling across the bay. Music, jazz, played softly.
He hesitated, tension balling between his shoulder blades. Perhaps he should leave, stop this. But he entered, closing the door quietly behind him.
“Hey.” She came around the corner, startling him. She took his briefcase and set it on a chair, and then she curled her hands around his wrists and drew him close, kissing him on the mouth. She tasted of wine.
