Page 18 of Evidence of Us

“…Nope,” I say with a nervous smile.

“Baby, I’ve always wanted children with you. I will keep you pregnant if you let me,” he says bluntly.

“What about my job?” I ask.

“Kevin will just require you to get a doctor's note saying that you are allowed to move around as normal. Once you start showing, he will keep you out of situations where you are more susceptible to getting hurt. You will still have your position, and there is a really nice daycare down the block that everyone at the station uses. They cater primarily to first responders. Plus, your parents would be fucking thrilled to watch the baby.”

“You are going to knock me up, aren’t you?” I ask with a grin.

“If you don’t get on birth control or ask me to wear a condom, absolutely,” he says.

“Well, let’s not like… track ovulation or anything. But if it happens, it happens,” I say.

“Deal,” he says, holding my hand.

Chapter Eight

Mariska

We pull up nextto the city Medical Examiner van and get out. Levi is standing at the back and snaps his head in my direction. “Bitch…” Levi says with a grin.

“I’ll explain later,” I laugh.

“Are you two…”

“Yes, we are together. He left her,” I say, and he grins at me.

“Hell yeah. And Zeke? If you hurt my girl, it will be the last thing you ever do. Kay?”

“I know,” Zeke says, smiling. “What do we have?”

“Come see,” he says.

We walk with Levi down the sidewalk of the Eastside park and join the rest of our team with forensics. “Hey,” Kevin says, glancing at us.

“Oh, God,” I say, looking at the dismembered woman on the ground.

“Ever seen a crime scene before?” Geno asks me.

“Only pictures,” I say, squatting down to look closer at the woman’s face. “Harper Sloane. This is Harper Sloane.”

“You know her?” Kevin asks.

“She’s dating Ricky Tulsa,” I say. “He’s a professional hockey player. He is with the Atlanta Icebreakers.”

“There’s a new missing persons report opened by a Richard Tulsa,” Parker says, looking at his tablet.

“Send him to me to identify her,” Levi says.

“What do you see?” Zeke asks, squatting down next to me.

“What’s on her nails?” I ask. “Was that on any of the others?”

“No, they were clean. That’s new,” Levi says. “I’ll test it when I get her back.”

“The cuts are very clean,” I remark. “When you get her unwrapped from the plastic wrap, can I come see?”

“Yeah,” Levi says.