Page 11 of Paranoia

“Easy there,” Doyle said, helping the bigger man back up. He led him a couple of feet, then pushed Dwight hard, so he flipped over the edge of the low dumpster and landed on top of his friend.

Doyle looked over the dumpster wall and said, “You guys ever bother Sergeant Fortune again and I’ll finish this lesson. Do you understand?”

Both men grunted understanding.

Doyle walked off, satisfied he had solved the issue. He knew these two would never admit that one guy had kicked both their asses at the same time.

CHAPTER 17

IT WAS MIDMORNING and Rob Trilling was riding in the passenger seat of Terri Hernandez’s city-issued SUV. The Ford Explorer was reasonably clean, but nowhere near the standards that Trilling held for his vehicles. Everyone assumed it was from his days in the Army, but actually, his grandfather had taught him to always take care of his equipment. Especially his cars.

A body had been discovered in a Bronx stairwell with two .40-caliber slugs in the head. The victim was yet another rival to the gang Trilling and Hernandez were investigating. They wanted to see the scene and talk to a few witnesses, even though the detective in charge was treating it as an unrelated homicide.

Trilling wanted to ask how the party for Hernandez’s sister had gone, but after their last exchange, he wasn’t sure how she would take the inquiry. He was happy to sit quietly.

Hernandez surprised him, however, by making an effort to ask him a few personal questions herself. Eventually, she got around to: “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Trilling hesitated. Then simply shook his head.

Hernandez said, “Anyone on your radar?”

That was a much tougher question. “I really haven’t met a lot of women since I graduated from the academy. I’ve tried to focus on my job. You know how it is.”

“I certainly do. But that doesn’t keep me from having a social life. It’s important to get out and meet people.” She kept digging at the same question from different angles.

Finally, Trilling said, “The last interesting young woman I met was Juliana Bennett.”

Hernandez turned her head slowly and said, “As in the daughter of your partner?”

“I didn’t say anything happened. I just said she was interesting.”

“I know Juliana. She sets the bar awfully high. Beautiful, smart, talented, and way, way out of your league. Besides, Bennett loves those kids so much. If he found out you’ve become even more interested in Juliana, he might kill you. And he could get away with it. Or, more likely, he’d make your murder obvious as a warning to any potential suitors for his daughters.”

Trilling had to smile at that. It was the first intentional joke Terri Hernandez had ever made to him.

They rolled up to the crime scene and saw there were still paramedics on the street.

Trilling said, “I thought the victim was dead when they found him.”

“So did I. Let’s go see what’s going on before these paramedics destroy whatever evidence might be around.”

CHAPTER 18

HERNANDEZ HEADED OFF to find the detective in charge of the crime scene. Trilling walked up to the EMS truck and found a young female paramedic dabbing something on an elderly woman’s temple. There wasn’t much blood, and the woman appeared happy just to be chatting with someone.

The paramedic looked up and smiled at Trilling. She noticed the badge dangling from a chain around his neck. “You’re probably here for the dead body, not for a cut on the head.” She had a friendly tone, a dark complexion, and a beautiful smile.

Trilling said, “We did wonder why there were paramedics at the scene if the victim was already dead when he was found.”

“Ms. Paseo here took a tumble down the stairs in all the excitement. Someone panicked and called 911. Luckily it’s not too serious. Won’t require stitches.” The paramedic looked at the older woman and said, “She refuses to go to the hospital with us.”

Ms. Paseo said, “Too many people die in hospitals. It’s just a little cut.”

The paramedic told Ms. Paseo she was all set. Trilling decided he’d rather wait here and talk to a pretty paramedic until Hernandez had figured out what they were going to do.

Rob Trilling had never been particularly good with women. He just couldn’t figure them out. If he had to admit it, women scared him a little bit. But he took a breath and said, “Hi, I’m Rob Trilling.”

The paramedic stood up from where she’d been crouching to help Ms. Paseo. She was almost as tall as him. “Nice to meet you, Rob. I’m Mariah Wilson,” she said, flashing that beautiful smile again.

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