Page 49 of Sinful Seduction
“It’s not a matter of what we think. It’s what we know. And I knowthat if you take matters into your own hands, you’ll end up behind bars, too.” Minka slides a hand into her pocket and takes out…nothing. But then she extends her hand, palm side up, and accepts a George Stanley business card from Aubree. “We’re here to help you, Mr. Freemon. Don’t trade your freedom for vengeance. You’ll get caught, and for what? So you can knowyouwere the one who swung the sword of retribution? So you could feel like you defended your family?” She offers her card, holding it in the air between them. But when he doesn’t accept, she places it on Molly’s bed beside her feet. “Call me anytime if you’d like to discuss the matter and have a buffer between you and the police.”
“Chief Mayet,” I snarl. “Not appropriate.”
“As chief medical examiner, and as the tech formally assigned to Ben’s case, I am well within my rights to accept that call and discuss this case.” She looks at Molly, tilting her head to the side. “That offer goes for you, too. We know you’re scared, and we know you have no reason to believe us. But we’re trying to help. Even if Ben made mistakes while he was alive, he deserves justice.”
MINKA
Istride—and by stride, I mean limp—into the George Stanley a single step ahead of Aubree, while the other two peel off to go about their work. They have a rap sheet to scour and a detailed list of folks Ben Saxon pissed off in the last year or two, which makes for a pretty good place to look for shooters. So while they’re doing that, I cross the ground floor lobby and make a beeline for the elevators. “Ben’s autopsy is complete, pending labs and ballistics. Neither of which is in our hands. We’re shuffling him to the side and moving on to what I damn well know is a whole stack of bodies just waiting for us to process.”
“I mean…” Clearing her throat, Aubree moves just a little faster than me and taps the elevator call button.Since her knees are fully functional and not in pain.“Raquel did mention something of an influx when we last spoke.”
“Color me surprised.” I stare up at the numbers above the steel doors and count them down. Third floor. Second. First. I take a step back instinctually and wait for the doors to slide open, then I start forward, only to stop again when a little old lady looks up at me with heavy shadows under her eyes, pink where they should be white, a million wrinkles making her skin sag, and hair grayer than it was yesterday, I swear. “Mrs. Beecroft?”
She’s weak and shaking. Frail and seemingly smaller than the last time I saw her.
Without hesitation, Aubree strides forward and takes the woman’sarm, lending her strength and standing in the way of the doors so they can’t close again.
“Chief Mayet.” Donna Beecroft’s eyes sparkle with fresh grief, her breath escaping on a hitched exhale. “I was worried I wouldn’t find you today.”
“Are you okay, ma’am?” I back up, and because Aubree is intuitive as hell—plus, that gift she has—she leads the woman out of the elevator and into the lobby, then she brings her across to a chair, one of a half dozen I have never, in all the time I’ve worked here, seen anyone sit on.
She helps the woman lower, then moves into a crouch and looks up into her eyes. “Do you need some water, Mrs. Beecroft?”
“You look different today.” She twists in her seat and grabs my wrist, pulling me around.
I’m not crouching with stitches in my knee. I refuse. So I drag a chair closer and perch on the edge.
“Such pretty dresses,” she murmurs, bringing her gaze back to Aubree. “You’ll be an exquisite bride, Doctor Emeri.”
“Donna.” I trade her grip and take her hand in mine instead. “Is there something we can do for you?”
“Teddy…” She draws a shuddering breath and cups her mouth with a shaking, aged hand marked with sunspots and saggy skin. “I miss Teddy.”
“He’s not here, Mrs. Beecroft.” Aubree straightens out and stalks to the water fountain tucked into the corner of the large room. Pouring a half cup, she brings it back and mirrors my pose, sitting on the edge of another seat. “Teddy’s in the hospital morgue. He’s not here with us.”
“Will he come here?” She focuses on the water, studying the rippling lines as they create circles. “This is a morgue, too, right? How ironic.” She weeps, wiping her nose with the back of her wrist. “That doctors from the morgue would help us yesterday.”
“I don’t think he’ll come here.” I tuck a loose lock of hair behind my ear, waiting for Donna’s glistening eyes to come up again. “The hospital has a morgue of its own, and I expect Teddy’s file will be closed quickly. They have no reason to stretch this out or request an in-depth investigation. If you like, I could help connect you with the hospital liaison. They’ll walk you through your next steps.”
“H-he can’t come here?” Her jowls bounce with every tremoring breath she releases. She’s a mess.Who the hell is watching out for her?“Maybe I could talk to someone and have him transferred here?”
“Do you have family, Mrs. Beecroft?” Aubree rests her hand on thewoman’s knee, long, thin legs exposed beneath a dress of ugly florals and a single loose stitch. “Can we call someone for you?”
“No, I…” She drops her gaze again, back to the water and rippling circles. “It’s just us. Just me and Theo.”
“Did you and Theo live independently before this?” I straighten my bad leg, lessening the tug on my sutures now that a fresh pain throbs through the limb. “You were living at home?”
She nods.
That’s it. That’s all she gives me.
“We’ll make some calls for you,” I decide.Or, well,Callen will. That’s her job.“There are social workers trained to help people in your situation.”
“My situation?” She looks up with droopy eyes. “I’m not in asituation, Chief Mayet. My husband died. I just want him to come here.” Tears dribble onto her cheeks, over soft bumps and through deep valleys, then they drip off the edge of her jaw. “You both tried so hard yesterday. I even heard the ambulancemen say how you knew he was gone already, but that you kept going.” She sniffles and swallows, staring down at her water again. “You didn’t have to help at all, but you did. Because you’re nice girls who care. Is it so bad that I want him to come here, to the girls who care, before it’s time to bury him?”
“Jesus. That was rough.” It takes twenty minutes, a kind security guard, and summoning Callen from her office before Aubree and I can escape Donna’s sad eyes and shaking hands. Stepping into the elevator and smacking the button for the ninth floor, I stare straight ahead,notat the elderly woman off to the side, and wait for the doors to close again. “She might need to go into a home or something. Even if she comes out again eventually, right now, she needs help.”
“She’s grieving.” Aubree twines her hands together, linking her fingers. “I don’t think Grant Freemon hurt Ben, either.”
