Page 133 of Dark Romeo

He nodded. But he didn’t say when. I turned, a knot building in my stomach, and walked through his apartment towards the front door. Something was wrong. Why wouldn’t he touch me? I had a sudden flash, a premonition, the feeling that a dark star of fate was descending towards us.

“Jules,” I heard as my hand touched the doorknob.

I turned, surprised at how close he was. He’d barely made a sound as he followed me through the apartment. There was something heavy in his eyes. Before I could decipher it, he grabbed my chin with his fingertips and kissed me. His lips were firm, hungry, his kiss swift and heated. If I hadn’t been so surprised I would have moved closer to him, grabbed him, taken the closeness he had deprived me of before.

He pulled away, his fingers lingering on my jaw before they dropped away. “Be careful.”

JULIANNA

____________

I slid out of the cab, pulled up along a deserted road on the outskirts of Verona. Response team cars littered the side of the one-lane dirt road, an arthritic fence lining one side, an unkempt field stretching out from the other. The familiar yellow tape fluttered in the early morning breeze.

It was still too dark, sunrise still hours away. Spotlights had been set up, turning pieces of rock into bladed shadows. The forensics team was milling around, their flashlights scanning the ground, taking photos, gathering evidence into bags and plastic containers.

Under a large spotlight, Lacey was crouched over a prone body on the side of the road facing the field. Espo was kneeling by her side, no humor on his face, no flirtation evident. The victim was lying on his stomach, the back of his head a bloody mess of bone and gray matter, the spotlight glistening off the blood like rubies. It was like some twisted gothic stage play. Except this was real, tension strung tight across the dark morning.

Lacey looked up as I approached. The skin around her eyes was stretched and the hollows of her cheekbones seemed more pronounced. She would have been one of the first they called, so she’d have had even less sleep than me. She frowned. “Are you wearing the same clothes from yesterday?”

I flushed. Here we go.

“Oh yeah,” said Espo, amusement in his tone, “someone didn’t go home last night.”

Lacey gave me a surprised look, a flash of hurt underneath it. She and I had gotten close since she started work at the precinct. I should have mentioned a new love interest to her. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

I shrugged, trying very hard to appear nonchalant. All the while my stomach was doing flips. “Just a guy.”

“She won’t give out any details,” Espo said aside to Lacey.

“Really?” she replied.

“Which makes me think there’s something wrong with him.”

Lacey let out a gasp. “Like maybe a hump on his back.”

“Or a peg leg.”

“Or he’s bald.”

I rolled my eyes. “Guys, I’m standing right here.”

“Or,” Espo turned his sharp twinkling eyes towards me, “he’s someone we know and she’s embarrassed.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as Espo’s eyes bored into me; they seemed to tear away every shroud I’d covered my secrets with. For a moment, I wondered if he knew.

I cleared my throat. “I think we should focus on our poor victim rather than my boring love life.” My voice came out tight and higher than I intended.

Lacey and Espo gave each other a conspiratorial look before Lacey turned her attention to the body lying on his stomach. “Hispanic male, mid-thirties, no wallet, no ID, no phone. Found here less than an hour ago by a passing car.” She pointed up the road where two kids, who appeared to be teenagers, were huddled together wrapped in heavy blankets despite the warm summer breeze, staring at the ground. Poor things. Seeing a dead body was not something normal people got used to.

I got a flash of my attacker with the broken neck. I shook it away and kneeled beside the victim. A sharp smell hit my nose. I noticed then the victim appeared to be damp. “Is that...bleach?”

“Ten points to Capi,” Espo said. “Appears our killer tried to clean up after himself.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re so punny.”

“Espo,” Lacey said, “can you help turn him to his side. I just want to check lividity.”

Espo nodded and carefully rolled the victim towards me. My stomach dropped as I stared at his familiar yet bloodied face.

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