Page 24 of Sinful Justice

Aubree nods. “Flynn respects the bodies she works on. She treats them with dignity and kindness. So she’ll make sure the girl is at peace and put back together before she’s collected. Do you want to head in and speak to Flynn now, or finish the tour?”

“Finish it, then we’ll circle back.”

“Alrighty.” She takes the sucker stick between her fingers and points onward. “Boss usually takes Autopsy Room One. It overlooks the city and is closest to your office. I’ve claimed Two, and no one has a problem with that, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to hang out and shadow you for the next little while. I never had a mentor, and it would be a lie if I said I didn’t drown in online research about you the moment Chant announced her successor.”

I slow my steps and come around to face her. “Are you the brown-noser, Doctor Emeri? Is that what this is?”

“I’m a realist,” she counters. “I don’t have to suck-up to shadow you. I wanna be your friend purely because I like making friends and you seem so uncomfortable about it. That alone, your discomfort,” she grins, “makes me smile and want to keep hugging you until you stop twitching. I’m probably gonna get up in your space when we’re off the clock too, because you’re new to the area and it would be sucky of me not to show you the best places to eat. But all that aside, your work is amazing. Your paper on the aconite murder?” She shakes her head. “How could you have possibly called that?”

Peter Hunt. Forty-five, five-nine, a hundred and ninety pounds. He was found face-down in his living room. Case was called in by his distraught wife. First suspicion was an accidental allergic reaction, death by asphyxiation when his airways closed.

“How,” Aubree presses. “How could you possibly have known?”

“I was talking with the lead detectives at the time.” I shrug and chew on my bottom lip in thought. “They happened to mention an international bank transfer from six months prior to Peter’s death. Aconite is toxic to touch, it absorbs easily into the human body, and the plant is mainly found in European countries. I voiced my suspicions, the police searched the family home again and found a discarded pair of gloves in the trash and a kitchen knife in the sink.”

I stop and feel that same sense of satisfaction I did the day we confirmed the distraught wife was actually the killer. “I ran tests on the knife and found traces of the plant on the blade. Same with the gloves. That same day, I ruled Peter’s death a homicide and celebrated when his wife was arrested and escorted out of the building. Peter had a sizable life insurance policy, and his wife had a lover with plans to relocate to Bora Bora so they could live out their days frolicking in the sun.”

“That’s so badass.” Aubree draws a deep breath until her cheeks warm and her chest fills, then she exhales again and smiles. “Like I said, I want to be mentored by you, because I sure as hell never would have considered aconite. So while we’re here, you’re my boss and mentor. Out there, I can show you around and take you to all the good restaurants. In a month, you can give me the pay raise we’ll both know I deserve, then we can celebrate at this grungy bar a few blocks down. It’s called Tim’s, and the guy who owns it—”

“Is a grump.” My heart patters in my chest. I’ve known the guy for a little over twenty-four hours, but he’s the first friend I made here, and already, I feel a sick sense of ownership and pride in that. “I know Tim.”

“You do?” Aubree’s eyes go round. “Like, really,reallyknow him? Thesqueak-squeakkinda know him, or the you-stopped-at-his-bar-last-night-and-bought-a-drink know him?”

“He’s my friend.” I shrug and enjoy the way my new colleague squirms. “We were engaged for a minute, but it didn’t work out.”

“Shut up!” She swings her hand out and smacks my arm so hard, we both gasp.

“Um, excuse me.” I throw her hand off and rub my newest bruise. “What the fuck?”

“I’m sorry!” she cries out with a desperate laugh. “You and Tim were engaged? You just got to town!”

“The engagement only lasted a few minutes. Then we broke it off.”

“Because she found someone better.”

My shoulders shoot up high, and though I don’t give them permission, my feet spin me around until I come face to face with Archer and his smiling friend.

“What the—” My heart hammers in my chest and stops in my throat so I’m at risk of dying.

Archer looks as dark and formidable as always. Tight shirt, blue jeans that fit the way a man’s jeans are supposed to fit, and heavy, black boots wrapped around his size twelve feet. His hair is still wet from a shower, and his locks, not long ago combed into neat lines. He wears a coat over his shirt, the thick, black kind where the bottom hem stops in line with the pockets on the back of his jeans and the collar sticks up to shield his tattooed neck from the elements.

Inside the George Stanley building, which is made mainly of glass and stark tile, his dark eyes shine a little lighter this morning, that green tinge breaking past the black. Though the firm set of his lips and the dark stubble coating his jaw undoes whatever friendliness his eyes might try to show.

“Oh great.” Aubree steps forward and points between our newcomers and me. “You guys are here on last night’s homicide?”

My brain moves too slowly. My thoughts, slogging through molasses. “You…” My eyes scour Archer’s face. Then beside him, the wildly grinning Fletcher. “You committed the murder, right?”

Aubree chokes out a fast laugh. “Doctor Minka Mayet. Our new team leader and chief tech,” she looks to Archer and his friend, “Detectives Malone and Fletcher.”

“D-Detective?” I want to vomit.

“Doctor?” Archer tilts his head to the side and pulls his bottom lip between his teeth. It’s his signatureI’m going to eat you up and spit you outlook. “You’re a… doctor. With an actual education?”

“What are you… Why…” I look to Fletcher and feel my stomach swirl with dread. “How?”

“This is interesting,” he sniggers. “Not just a damsel after all.”

“No, I…” I swing my eyes back to Archer’s. “Not a detective… right? It can’t… You can’t…”

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