Page 36 of Conflicted
“Whoa, whoa, slow down.” Rebecca stood beside her in a heartbeat and placed a steadying hand on Ruby’s shoulder.
“Need to,” Ruby swore, “mugger,” she added a few chosen expletives, “got to catch the bastard.” She kept scrolling through the papers without a coherent thought – her mind too frantic to slow her movements and consider her actions.
“Ruby!”
The urgency in her partner’s voice made Ruby pause and look at the mess she was creating. She lifted her head and focused at Rebecca, who seemed to be blurred for some reason.
With a light pressure, Rebecca moved Ruby away from the cabinet and into the desk chair. “Stop for a moment, honey. You’re not making any sense. Also, you’re crying. You never cry.”
Huh? Ruby wiped the heel of her hand over her cheeks and was surprised by the wetness. Rebecca handed her a few tissues and patiently waited for Ruby to pull herself together. Although sweet and caring, she could make an excellent Domme. Ruby blinked at her offhand thought.
“Better.” Rebecca unfolded her arms and squatted in front of Ruby. She made stark eye contact. “Now tell me why you made a drawing of one of my tattoos.”
Guided by a few questions, Ruby told Rebecca about the cognitive interview, and how Ruby made the tattoo based on Jewel’s memory.
“Jewel’s memory is exceptionally good. The difference between your drawing and the actual thing is more about style.” Rebecca took the now crumbled paper from the floor and pointed. “See the shadow here, I use distilled water to dilute the ink where you lighten the pressure. But more importantly, I have the light source from a different angle in the actual design.”
Rebecca rose and pressed a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “Stay put.” She squeezed Ruby’s shoulder and took the few steps toward the filing cabinet. Mumbling to herself she fingered through the files, until on an exclaimed, “aha,” she pulled a folder from them.
Rebecca held out the folder, but when Ruby took it, she didn’t let go straightaway. “Although the tattoo is a unique piece this might not be the mugger.”
“I know.” Ruby bit back the urge to pull the file from her partner’s fingers. “I’ll leave the search and arrest stuff to the police, all right?”
Rebecca studied Ruby for what seemed like an eternity, before she let go of the papers and leaned her back against the cabinet.
With trembling fingers, Ruby opened the folder. There was a sketch of the design and a photograph of the finished tattoo. The tattoo Rebecca made was darn close to what Ruby had drawn from her mother’s description – Jewel had a great memory for details – and despite herself Ruby admired Rebecca’s skill on the finished product. It was a gorgeous, but sinister tattoo.
“Excellent work.”
Rebecca accepted the compliment with a nod. “Guy is called Matt and the bird is a raven. One I did was his first, no gang or prison tats as far as I know.” She gestured to the folder. “Full name and address are in there.”
Ruby flipped three pages until her eye landed on the contact information, “Matthew Morrison.” She scrambled to her feet. “I need to let Will know.”
Rebecca’s eyebrow rose.
“Will Tolbert,” Ruby clarified, “The police detective who conducted the interview with Jewel.”
Rebecca’s eyebrow rose even higher.
“Yeah, yeah, and the man I’m seeing. Sorta. Kinda.” The eyebrow waggled madly, and Ruby burst into giggles. “Okay, okay. Cut it out, will you.” She doubled over in laughter again, and Rebecca joined her.
Several times, the women tried to compose themselves but every time one of them struggled to speak something set them off again.
Finally, Ruby managed. “Why are we laughing?” Her stomach hurt and she gasped for air, but she also felt much better than ten minutes ago and it wasn’t only because she now had a name for the mugger.
Rebecca, who was supporting herself on the counter with one hand and pressed her other into her side, shook her head. “I don’t know,” she sobered, “but it’s great to hear you laugh again.”
Ruby hiccupped a couple times as she got control of herself. “It feels great. Has it been that long since I laughed?”
“You’ve been awfully serious since Jewel was attacked.”
“I guess you’re right. Let me finish dealing with this and then I’m pretty sure I have an appointment coming in.”
Ruby took her phone from the shelf by her station. She kept it handy for photographing her work, but not in her pocket. She’d tried that at first, but ended up ruining the pockets on multiple pairs of pants as she reached for it with ink-stained gloves.
As she thumbed through her contacts, Nathan’s name came up first and she thought about the scenes she’d done with both men. Things were really so much better at the club since they’d decided to work together. Nathan was something special. She’d never had anyone top her the way he did. She almost thought it might be worth a date with him to find out more about him. He asked her often enough when Will wasn’t around.
She shook herself. Stray thoughts of Nathan did not get Jewel’s mugger arrested. She found Will’s number and called.
