Kiss Me Deadly

by R. Lee Moore

  There were still aches and sharp pains stabbing through her when she walked, but at least she could move without looking like a broken down old woman. That was a start. Maybe it'd get better throughout the day, she thought hopefully.

  Surprisingly, she found her phone tossed in a pile on the coffee table along with her gun and her keys. She'd missed a few calls from a lot of numbers she didn't recognize. She was almost about to shove the phone into her pocket and head out the door when the phone vibrated in her hand and a text notification popped up on the screen.

  It was another number she didn't recognize. Normally she would have just swiped to delete the thing, but she found herself tapping it open and staring down at the picture of a rather nondescript blonde woman along with a name. Looking down at the picture in a bit of confusion. It took her longer than it should have to figure out why some random person was sending her a picture, and for the life of her Tamina couldn't remember even knowing anyone named Hailey Keene. Still, she thought, the woman looked oddly familiar. Like she'd seen her recently.

  When it hit her, she flipped through the pictures on her phone until she found the crime scene pictures from yesterday. It wasn't the same woman, but it was damn close. The snake-woman Kala had decided to trust her apparently. Interesting, she thought. This Hailey must mean a lot to her. Good to know.

  She texted Lieutenant Decker both of the names she'd gotten on her way out to the car, slid on her sunglasses to cover up the worst of the bruising around her eyes, and shoved her phone into her pocket. A minute later she was screeching out of her parking spot and roaring out onto the street speeding towards Department headquarters. She shoved whatever discomfort and pain she was feeling as deep down as she could and focused on the task at hand. She had work to do and a lot of information to process in the meantime. Not to mention she was pretty certain that word had gotten out by now of her little adventure in the Preserve and how it'd left her. That was going to be fun dealing with.

  Both the sergeant at the checkpoint, and the lobby officer gave her strange looks when she'd roared through the gate and came strolling through the big glass doors into the lobby respectively. Neither of them said anything, which was probably due to the slid down sunglasses warning glare she gave to the both of them. It was amazing how much you could say with a bruised faced death glare.

  She took the elevator up to Investigations, had a fleeting thought of heading straight into the Captain's office, and just as quickly discarded it. Instead, she made her way to the dispatch window and rapped on the window. One thing at a time, she figured. Plus, she wasn't looking forward to what Harris was going to say about the whole thing. Best to put it off as long as possible and be productive at the same time.

  “Captain's looking for you,” Mendoza said flatly from behind the glass.

  The dispatcher gave Tamina's appearance a once over with a raised brow, but she kept whatever it was she was thinking to herself. Tamina appreciated that. Strictly professional.

  “I do cage fighting on the weekends,” Tamina offered as an explanation as she leaned against window. Mendoza rolled her eyes but kept silent. “Hey can you do me a favor?”

  “I already let Harris know you were here the moment you walked in,” Mendoza said.

  “Ouch,” Tamina said. She gave the dispatcher an accusatory look, then quickly shrugged it off. “No. Can you get a hold of whoever I sent the pictures to yesterday and have them do a search for me?”

  “Why can't you?” Mendoza demanded irritably.

  “Don't actually know who they are, but I figure you do so you can put a rush on it,” Tamina said with as sweet and ingratiating smile as she could manage.

  “Fine,” Mendoza said. She didn't seem all too thrilled with the prospect.

  “Great,” Tamina said. “Tell them to look up any porn they can find that a woman named Amy Lynn is a part of. That's our victim.”

  Mendoza leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms across her chest.

  “Really,” she said giving a withering look. “Porn?”

  Tamina smirked, then winced from the jolt of pain it caused her.

  “Yeah, not my idea,” she managed through the ache in her jaw. “Also, can you put a flag on the name Hailey Keene. Might be related, might not. Missing person apparently in any case.”

  Mendoza leaned back to her computer and began tapping at the keys in a blur.

  “How far you want me to go?” she asked without looking up from the screen.

  “How far can you go?” Tamina replied curiously.

  “Local, County, State, Federal,” Mendoza rattled off. “Can even ping INTERPOL if I need to.”

  Tamina gave a shocked look through the window that separated the two of them and shook her head in approving surprise.

  “Don't think international is necessary just yet,” she said. “Not even sure about Federal, but you do you.”

  When if became obvious that a reply from Mendoza wasn't forthcoming, Tamina shrugged, gave her thanks, and turned towards Harris' office. She thought about turning right back around and putting the whole thing off, but realized from personal experience that it likely wouldn't make things any better for her in the long run. Best to just get it over with, she decided.

  As she wound her way through the workstations between the dispatch window and Harris' office, she was able to peer into his window from a distance and see that he wasn't alone. There was someone sitting stiff as a board in front of his desk having some sort of conversation. That didn't look good, she thought. She wondered if whoever it was, was there to send her packing after last night. Wouldn't be the first time something like that happened even if she really hoped that wasn't the case this time. She was just getting started.

  Two quick raps on the door with her knuckles and she pushed inside without waiting for a response. The skinny rail of a man in horn-rimmed glasses and the standard issue “definitely not a federal agent“ suit turned his head and gave an offended glare when she brushed past him. Captain Harris on the other hand took one look at her, widened his eyes and bolted up to his feet with an alarming amount of concern all over his face.

  “Good god,” he exclaimed. “What happened? Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Tamina said waving him off. “Thought I'd stand in front of an oncoming train. Just to see what it felt like.”

  “That's not what I heard,” the man at her side said snidely.

  The way he said it made Tamina think that she'd somehow offended his sensibilities. She whirled on him and decided if he was going to play that game then so was she. It was only fair.

  “Who the hell are you?” she demanded, looking him up and down “Shouldn't you be out there getting stuffed in someone's locker? Grownups are talking. Shut the hell up.”

  The man's eyes widened, and he sucked in his breath through clenched teeth.

  “Excuse me!“ he demanded back.

  Tamina decided to ignore him and let him sit there all offended. He looked like the type that was good at that sort of thing. Instead, she turned back to Harris expectantly.

  “Who the hell is this guy?” she snapped. “Guy looks like you could shoot him and bury him the same day without even changing his suit.”

  Harris blinked, then shook his head and waved his hands placatingly in front of him. That wasn't a good sign, Tamina decided.

  “No,” he said. “No, this is Agent Timothy Carson. He's your partner.”

  Tamina's body froze still, and her expression fell flat and cold while she processed what Harris had just said. She didn't even bother looking back to her side at the man sitting there to see how he felt about the whole situation, because frankly she didn't care. Having a partner wasn't something she was interested in. The man was a suit. It would have been one thing if he was a Striker like she was, but he wasn't. All he would do was get in her way. Probably lecturing her about rules and regulations the whole time too. Well, at least until she shot him just to shut him up.

  “Are you sur
e you're alright?” Harris continued. His genuine concern was obvious, and a bit disconcerting to her. “You look like you should be in bed Tamina. I heard what happened last night. You shouldn't be here right now. It's okay, you can take some time off to recover I fully understand. I'll authorize it right now. No case is worth your health when we're just getting started.”

  “I'd take time off if I was dumped unconscious outside the gates of the Preserve,” Agent Carson added. “Of course a real agent would have known not to put themselves in that position in the first place. Same with assaulting witnesses.”

  Tamina turned on the man and fixed him with the nastiest glare she could manage.

  “Can it, bullet-sponge. I got the job done. Both times,” she growled. She turned back to Harris and vehemently shook her head. “No. This isn't happening. I don't need a partner. Especially some pencil pushing geek who looks like he belongs chained to a desk in some deep dark basement with the other goblins.”

  “I beg your pardon!“ Carson said rising to his feet. “I'll have you know-“

  Captain Harris skipped around his desk and quickly inserted himself between the two of them. He waved Agent Carson off behind his back while keeping all of his focus and attention on Tamina. Which was smart, Tamina thought. She had to give him credit, he knew who the threat was.

  “Calm down Sergeant,” he said gently. “Agent Carson is an accomplished field agent I assure you. I think you two will be good together. Aside from that, well I'm afraid it's Department policy. Strike Team members don't go all off on their own do they? Though, I'm getting the impression that might not apply to you for some reason. In any case, it's our policy that Field Agents don't go off on their own. It helps to avoid unfortunate incidents.”

  “Seriously?” Tamina grumbled. “I'll do better on my own without some by-the-book suit getting in the way. Isn't that why I'm here in the first place? You know, outside the box?”

  “Well,” Harris hedged. “There are still parameters we have to work within. I still think you should be home in bed though, we can go through all of this once you're better. In spite of what happened I still have the utmost confidence in you and the program.”

  Tamina groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was starting to get a migraine on top of everything else she was going through at the moment. That wasn't fun in the slightest.

  “I told you, I'm fine,” she said wearily. She held up her coffee cup and waggled it meaningful in front of her. “Got some liquid pain-killer in here with my coffee. Works every time.”

  “Alcohol? There's alcohol in there isn't there,” Carson said disapprovingly. “You're drinking on the job. You're probably drunk right now aren't you?”

  “Still sober enough to kick your ass,” Tamina growled over Harris' shoulder.

  Harris' shook his head and gently guided Tamina a few more steps away from the man behind him.

  “No,” he said. “No lets not do that. You really shouldn't be drinking, though. Dulls the senses. And it actually is against regulations.”

  Tamina's response was a roll of her eyes and an overly dramatic long drink from her cup, making sure that Agent Carson saw the whole thing.

  “Okay, I'm sure everyone gets the point,” Harris said. “Now, I'm willing to take you at your word that you're capable of performing your duties. If, and only if you give me your word that the moment you start feeling like you can't, and I expect you to be honest about that, you'll head home and get some rest.”

  Tamina thought about refusing, but Captain Harris was being surprisingly reasonable about the whole thing. She still wasn't sure what to think about that.

  “Fine,” she grudgingly allowed.

  “I mean it,” Harris said. “Good. And don't worry, I'll reschedule the meeting with Agent Compton for when you're feeling better. It will let things cool down anyway.”

  “Wait, what?” Tamina said confused. What did Compton have to do with anything?

  “The Diplomatic Office heard about your adventure in the Preserve last night,” Harris explained. “Agent Compton is furious. I've never heard her use such language. She really doesn't like you does she?”

  Tamina found herself laughing under her breath in spite of how much it hurt. That was the first bit of good news she'd gotten all morning. Causing that woman any sort of distress just made her day. Besides, the feeling was wholly mutual.

  “Whatever,” she said after she managed to calm her laughter. “Look, I got a few leads I need to run down. And something that came up that may or may not be something related. Not sure yet. Gonna check in with Decker at PD see if he came up with anything too.”

  She paused as a thought, a fragment of memory struck her.

  “Before I forget,” she said. “There's a mark on the victim's wrist that I was showing around trying to figure out what it was. The vampire that bounced me around like a yo-yo seemed to know what it was. Didn't seem all that happy about it either. You got anyone who can look into that? May be nothing, but worth checking out.”

  “I'll have a talk with Agent Compton,” Harris said. “She usually handles that sort of thing.”

  “Oh I'm sure she'll love running errands for me,” Tamina said dryly. “Okay, I'm out of here. I'll let you know if I find anything. Long day ahead of me.”

  “Excellent,” Harris said with a broad smile. “It'll give you and Timothy time to get to know each other.”

  Tamina groaned.

  “Not going to budge on that are you?” she said miserably.

  “Afraid not,” Harris replied. “Just give it a chance. I'm sure you'll find that once you start working together you'll end up complementing each other perfectly. You'll see. It'll all work out for the best. I just know it.”

  Tamina gave the man a hard searching look just to see if he was screwing with her. She would have preferred that over the alternative. It looked like he actually believed what he was saying and that worried her to no end.

  “The whole optimism thing you got going is kinda freaking me out a little. Not gonna lie,” she said. “But whatever. I'll let you know how it goes. Come on Timmy.”

  “Timothy,” Carson corrected instantly. “My name is Timothy. Not Tim, and definitely not Timmy!“

  “Whatever,” Tamina said stepping around Harris and walking out the office. “Try to keep up, I'm not going to hold your hand Timmy.”

  As she walked her way back through the bullpen, she could hear Harris trying to calm the partner he'd foisted on her down. At least she wasn't the only one who wasn't happy with the situation. Let Captain Harris soothe the wiry little man's ego. She had better things to do. She had an idea of where to get some information that didn't involve going anywhere near the Preserve. Though, there was a part of her that wasn't exactly thrilled about the source of the information. It was her best bet though, so there wasn't really a way around it.

  “Hey!“ Mendoza called out as she breezed by the dispatch window.

  Tamina stopped in her tracks and hastily backed up to give Mendoza a questioning look. The other woman slid a piece of paper through the slot in the window and returned to the work at her computer. Tamina gave it a quizzical look and snatched the paper up and glanced over it. Someone dropped another body last night. Wasn't much information on the dispatch sheet other than a location, a short victim description, and the supernatural involvement indicator.

  “Damn, another one,” she said to herself.

  She turned over her shoulder and scowled over towards Harris' office. Her partner was still in there.

  “Hey, cry about it to your therapist,” she shouted. “We got another victim. Move it Timmy. Ain't got all damn day!“

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The crime scene was tucked away in the one of the most rundown and dilapidated sections of Skid Row. The burnt and crumbling sprawl of urban decay had an almost palpable feeling of hopelessness that hung thick in the air. It was like you could feel the torment and suffering crawling across your skin leeching away all your hopes
and dreams the second you stepped within.

  Unease wormed its way into Tamina's thoughts as she pulled to a screeching stop behind a pair of black and whites parked along the edges of bright yellow caution tape. Taking a quick look around, she found herself curious as to how anyone had even found a body here, let alone reported it. The people who lived in this part of the city weren't usually the type that would bother calling the police for any reason. The whole place was nothing more than a testament to humanity's disregard for the suffering and depredations of their own kind.

  Tamina knew the area well enough, the Strike Teams made regular sweeps of places like this. They were a haven for the more predatory supernaturals in the city that thrived on the misery. Skid Row was a prime hunting ground. People rarely noticed or even cared if people went missing out of here. Those that lived here, didn't seem to matter much to those that didn't.

  Without a word to the man glowering silently in her passenger seat, Tamina got out of the car and made sure her sidearm had a round loaded in the chamber. It was never a good idea to wander around this part of the city unprepared. Even for law enforcement. Bad things happened here.

  She strode towards the police tape surrounding a refuse strewn corner of a burned out building without caring or bothering if Carson was following behind her. He could stay in the car for all she cared.

  She winced slightly when she ducked under the tape, but shoved the discomfort she felt deep down inside where it wouldn't bother her. There was work to be done. No time for her own problems.

  The first scene had people fighting to press up against the tape to get a look. Here though, there was nobody. None of the vacant-eyed residents milling around the streets seemed to notice or even care that a body had been found in their midst. Was it that common, she wondered?

  There were a few glares from the uniformed officers when she walked by and flashed her Supernatural Affairs badge at them. She knew they didn't appreciate her presence on their turf, but as long as they kept their disapproval to glares and mutterings under their breath, Tamina ignored it. She was more interested in the small crowd of people standing around a trio of sheet draped bodies tucked away against the crumbling charred remains of a wall.