Page 46 of Dropping Like Flies

Flynn took another swallow of his beer, his brow furrowed. “I invited him back to my place… because he said he had the decorators in and his place was a mess… and he said yes, and then while we were waiting for the cab, I just couldn’t stop thinking, what if this guy was Satanic Romeo and I was about to invite him into my house? I ended up making my excuses and going home alone. It just seemed like too much of a risk. That murderous fucker’s going to ruin my sex life. Especially now that you’re out of bounds.” He held up his hand and stared at it ruefully. “I guess it’s just you and me again, pal.”

“What did he look like, this guy?”

Flynn thought for a moment. “Big and stocky.” He offered me a coy glance. “What can I say? I’ve got a type. Blonde hair buzzed really short, like he might have just got out of the army. Maybe he had. I didn’t ask before I bailed on him. Brown eyes.”

“It wasn’t him.”

Flynn sat up straighter. “No? Have you had a description of him? The papers haven’t said anything about it.”

I winced. Anything the press hadn’t been told meant it was off limits. Unlike Ben, I wasn’t used to having to parse what I said. What harm would it do to tell Flynn, though? He’d just admitted that he was worried enough to be second guessing himself about who he went home with. If you couldn’t help your friends out, what good was having inside information? Flynn was hardly likely to go running to the press. “We think he has brown hair and blue eyes,” I said.

“Yeah?” Flynn took a moment to digest the tidbit of information. “Guess I’m sticking with blonds or redheads for the foreseeable future, then.”

“It might be best.”

“What else have you found out about him?”

I gave him an abbreviated version of events, Flynn making all the right noises when I detailed all the failures, such as the last body being found too late. To be honest, it was nice to unload on someone who had no involvement with the case. When I’d finished, Flynn looked slightly shell-shocked, enough that I asked him if he was okay.

“Yeah, it’s just… you know, it’s a lot. I’m a bartender. I’m used to hearing some crazy shit, but it’s not usually demon summoning crazy shit. I mean… what if this lunatic succeeds, and it goes on a Godzilla rampage around London?” He ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck! Should I be packing an emergency bag or something? You know, in case everyone has to evacuate.”

“It won’t come to that.”

“It might if you don’t catch this guy.” He shook his head. “I once dated this guy who was a huge survivalist, the sort who’s convinced the end of the world is imminent. He had blueprints for an underground bunker, and he was saving up to get one built. I should have married him.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t think we’re at the stage yet where you need to marry someone just for access to their bunker.”

Flynn stared at me for a moment, and then he laughed too. “At least I’ve got friends in high places who can keep me informed. I’m far too pretty to die young.”

Chapter Seventeen

Ben

Griffin looked hot in his club gear of tight jeans, black tank top, and leather jacket, and I kept having to remind myself that this was work, not a night out where we could both let loose and make out like teenagers on the dancefloor. My attire was similar, both of us ready to lose the jackets and show off a considerable amount of bare skin if we needed to blend in more.

PC Olivia Furness tugged self consciously at her short skirt in order to drag it down to mid-thigh, her partner PC Harry Binns smirking at the gesture. “Jesus!” she said. “I haven’t dressed like this since I was in my early twenties. If my mother could see me now.”

Harry laughed. “Unless your mother is out hitting the gay clubs tonight, I think you’re safe.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” she muttered, even Griffin barking out a laugh.

Harry’s gaze traveled along the street to where Eclipse stood, the queue outside the nightclub stretching at least thirty meters. “So, what’s the plan?” he asked, his question directed at me as senior officer.

“Observe. Look out for anyone acting suspicious. Ask questions, but don’t make them too obvious. We don’t want to cause unnecessary alarm.” It sounded weak. Hell, it was weak, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and I’d had to fight tooth and nail even to get Baros to sign off on any operation.

Olivia tugged her skirt down again, offering the fabric a glare which said it should know better than to mess with her. “Why this club?”

Because we have to start somewhere, and it’s as good a place as any. I didn’t say that, and thankfully, despite being aware of the truth, Griffin stayed silent. “On the night he died, Rupert Shaw spent most of the evening in The Jigsaw Bar.” I pointed in the opposite direction to Eclipse. “Which, in case you don’t know, is a ten-minute walk that way. He…” I quickly changed what I’d been going to say, assuming it was unlikely Olivia and Harry knew about Rupert’s post death interview. “We know he left his friends to walk to a club. As this is the closest nightclub to The Jigsaw Bar, it’s the most likely one for Satanic Romeo to have picked him up from.”

Olivia squinted at the club as if viewing it in a new light. Unfortunately, that scrutiny didn’t result in Satanic Romeo bursting out of the doors with his hands held high and announcing that he couldn’t take the guilt for one second longer and it was a fair cop. “You realize I’m going to stick out like a sore thumb here?”

I ran my gaze over the queue, not one female among them.

“You’re not the only one,” Harry said with a snort.

Yeah, it wasn’t ideal that the two uniformed officers assigned to me—Baros had made it clear I was lucky to get any—were female in Olivia’s case and straight in Harry’s. But you worked with what you had. “If you’re not up to the job…”

It had the desired effect, both of them drawing themselves up to their full heights. They were damned lucky to be called on by CID and given the opportunity to play a part in catching the man on everyone’s lips, and they knew it. If, by some miracle, we had a breakthrough, it could really grease the wheels to a promotion for them.

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