Page 27 of 1st Shock
I feel Matt's eyes on me, and I shoot him a quick glare. He shakes his head and chuckles softly. "I'll grab napkins and a drink. I'll holler at Meg too."
Just like that, he disappears. So much for backup. I can't blame him for not wanting to get in the middle of me and JJ, but it's all I can do not to call out, "chicken," to his retreating back.
JJ picks up a fallen paper and hands it to me, then begins unloading the case files from his box onto the table. "I've sent two CSI teams back to the Beltway area to look for more bodies or anything that might help nail this guy. Meanwhile, I've got a dozen more cases to read through. Who knows, maybe we'll find Tonya, or Avery, or whatever the hell her name is."
He starts dividing them into three piles—one for me, a second for him, and a third for Matt. Which means, he's staying.
"You're too busy to sit here and go through these," I tell him. "Matt and I can handle it."
He calmly takes off his jacket and settles into a chair, eyeing me the whole time as if drawing a line in the sand. "I hope you like sausage and mushroom. The other is some weird bean sprout and curry concoction Matt insisted on. Doesn't even have meat."
Meg walks in, carrying paper plates. "It's Thai Tofu pizza. One of my favorites." She flips open the box lid. "Let me get Haley a couple pieces and I'll help with these files."
Welcome back to the land of the living, I want to say, but in reality we’re still digging into death and murder, so I let the inappropriate comment slide. I feel my world spinning slightly out-of-control. While I don't like the idea of Meg reading about murder victims, I know she has a good eye for details, and she must be at a stopping point on the skull. She may be my ticket to get JJ to leave, saving me from sitting here and making a fool of myself.
Matt returns as Meg is leaving to deliver Haley's pizza. "Meg's going to help," I pointedly say to JJ. "She can take your pile. Be sure and grab a slice on your way out."
He ignores me. "Sausage and mushroom for me," he says to Matt, and Matt, the collaborator, obliges by putting two pieces on a plate and sliding them down the table. I narrow my eyes at him, letting him know I'm going to kill him slowly and dismember his body.
Always the risk taker, he grins at me.
Turncoat.
Meg returns, JJ hands out files, I stew. An hour later, the food is gone and we're not even halfway through the files.
JJ's phone rings not for the first time, but unlike the previous dozen calls he's sent to voicemail, he answers this one. "What'cha got, Gomez?"
He's silent but his eyes lock with mine. A chill runs through me. "Right," he says a moment later. "Don't move it until I get there."
I'm already out of my chair, my own form of ESP kicking in. It has something to do with his tone, the look in his eyes. "Another body?"
He nods, grabbing his jacket. "I assume you're going with me?"
Hell yes.
Meg stands, "Me too." She's out the door, probably to get her phone and purse.
"You want me to go?" Matt asks.
"No," I say.
"Yes," JJ answers at the same moment.
We stare at each other, another line in the sand. JJ shrugs. "Up to you, Charlie."
Apparently my death glare works on him better than Matt. Matt is giving me pleading puppy-dog eyes, though. The last thing he wants is to be stuck here going through cold files, and he's already wrapped up the three cases I gave him the other day.
"All right, you can come, but only if you promise to help me with these later."
He jumps up. "Absolutely."
We bail on Haley, and somehow I end up riding with JJ. He says nothing about last night and I don't either, butMagic Manlyrics continue to float through my brain.
* * *
A storm is moving in and the clouds hang low and ominous over the crime scene as we park and walk to the dig. The air is heavy with the coming rain, and thanks to the boiling clouds, it's dark enough the CSIs need floodlights to work. People are gathered behind the yellow crime scene tape to watch the macabre show and we have to push through the crowd. JJ flashes his credentials to the police officer on guard who waves us through without even looking at them. JJ's face is well known to the locals.
The medical examiner stands over what's left of the decomposed body with her arms crossed. She's already placed it in a black bag for transport and appears annoyed she's been told to wait for the U.S. Attorney to clear removing it from the scene.
