Page 23 of Marked

He stands from his chair, completely unphased by the venom in my tone. “I was getting to it. Our person of interest was caught on camera by the emergency door a few minutes before our vic was discovered. I figured since our possible motive was a scorned customer, this guy would be a good place to start.”

I push down my ire as my professionalism finally kicks back in. Well, more like I remember that I have two headless girls with no killer yet. I stand and slide my holster vest back on before grabbing my coat from the back of the chair. “What was he doing at the door?”

Jack leads me from the office, heading down across the precinct towards the elevators. “Not sure,” he begins as we step into the small space. “His back is turned to the camera. He could be a suspect or a witness.”

“You think he saw or helped the person who dropped her off?”

Jack’s lips twist a little. “I don’t know about helped, but I think he may have seen something. If he doesn’t have anything to hide, why not come forward when our people were interviewing possible witnesses?”

“I guess we’re just going to have to find out, aren’t we?” We step out of the elevator and wave at the receptionist before heading out of the building. When we get to the parking lot, we both stop and look at the other expectantly. “We can take my truck.”

He looks at my red truck and has the audacity to laugh. “What are you, a fireman?”

“That’s firewoman, you sexist pig,” I cross my arms over my chest.

“For fucks sake, Valkyrie, it was a joke,” he says, lifting his hands in defense, but an amused grin spreads across that fine mouth of his again. “How many fires have you put out lately?”

“A lot, you want to see my hose?” A reluctant smile curls my lips when a full-on laugh escapes him. I pull my keys out of my purse and unlock the doors. “Alright, now that you have enough ammo to get me a write-up from HR, let’s go.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He salutes me and heads to the passenger door. He slips into the leather seat as I climb into mine. He looks around and nods approvingly. “All jokes aside, this is actually really nice.”

“Why thank you.” I beam and pet the dashboard. “I treated myself to her a year ago and haven’t regretted it since.” When I turn to look over my shoulder, I notice Jack’s smirk. I lift a brow at him before backing out of the spot. “What’s the smirk for?”

“Nothing,” he hums. “I mean, treat yourself, right? Did you buy yourself the flowers too?”

I slam on the breaks and Jack laughs even as he’s jerked forward against his seatbelt. “You better watch your kneecaps, Khoury. They’re officially my target,” I warn. He lets out another snicker, and I can’t help the stupid smile on my face as I head to Crazy Horse.

Yes, I’m well and truly fucked for tonight.

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