by Gerri Hill
“Sam heard we’re getting a new team member.”
Casey stood, shoving her chair back. “I get a partner.”
“Ah. Well, I hope he’s cool.”
“She,” Tori corrected.
“She? Well, I hope she’s straight,” John said with a laugh. “And cute,” he added.
“I just hope we like her,” Casey murmured as she went into Lieutenant Malone’s office. “Yes, sir, you need to see me?”
“Sit, Casey,” he said, motioning to his guest chairs.
“Is everything all right, Lieutenant?”
He rubbed his bald head, and she could see perspiration glistening on his skin. She sat opposite him, waiting.
“Fine, O’Connor. In fact, I have some good news.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You finally get your own team.”
She raised her eyebrows but said nothing.
“You’re getting a new partner,” he said. He opened a file on his desk, reading. “Leslie Tucker. She’s transferring in from Assault.”
“I see. You know, I worked in Assault for a few years before Special Victims. I don’t recognize the name.”
“She’s been there less than a year. Comes from Fort Worth Homicide. Has an impeccable record. I think you’ll like her.”
Casey tapped her fingers nervously on her jeans, then stood. “You know, I’ve never had a female partner before. Are you sure? I mean, if we’re doing partners, me and Tori, we get along really well,” she said. “Maybe you could give the new partner to Sikes.”
Malone laughed. “No way. Sikes can’t handle working with a pretty face. Besides, I like Sam too much.”
“What does Sam have to do with it?”
“Well, you and Tori,” Malone said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. “You’re together all the time, both…well, you know. Anything could happen.”
Casey laughed. “Are you suggesting Hunter and I might become involved?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“No, no. Definitely not.” She sat down again. “It’s like, you know, every relationship needs a yin and yang, you know what I mean? And Tori and I, well, we’re both pretty much yangs, if you get my drift.”
Malone blushed and looked away. “Well, yang or not, I’m not pairing you two. In case you’re not aware, Hunter’s history with partners is legendary. And we’ve finally got one big happy family. Well, ever since Sam came aboard. So when Tori’s happy, the squad is happy. And she and Sikes, as surprising as it is, are working out, so I don’t want to upset the applecart. You get the new partner, O’Connor.”
“What if I don’t like her?”
“She seems nice, about your age. She put her time in. Why wouldn’t you like her?”
Casey shrugged. “Why’d she leave Fort Worth?”
“Her fiancé works in Dallas and they live here. She got tired of the commute.”
Fiancé? Great. We’ll get to plan a wedding, she thought with dismay. “When is she coming on board?” she asked instead.
“Today.”
“Didn’t want to give me much advance warning, huh?”
“You’ll be fine, O’Connor. Like I said, she seemed real nice.”
Casey nodded. “Okay. So you got something new for us? Or you want us to work with Tori and Sikes on their college student?”
“Work with Hunter and Sikes. You’ve started with it. Donaldson and Walker just wrapped up their case so I gave them the grandmother who was found this morning.”
“What grandmother?”
“Found in her car. Shot once in the head.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah. Crazy times we live in.” He looked out the windows in his office, nodding. “Perfect timing.”
She followed his gaze, an eyebrow arching in surprise. This was her new partner? Dark hair, nicely layered, reaching nearly to her shoulders framed a tanned, smooth face with only a hint of makeup. Oh, damn. If she was being paired with a straight woman, at least she could have been a dog. Not this…this beauty walking through their squad room. How fair was that?
But Malone was standing, moving to his doorway. “Detective Tucker? In here.” He stepped aside, motioning for her to enter.
Casey stood, offering her hand politely. “I’m Casey O’Connor. The lieutenant was just filling me in.”
“Leslie Tucker, nice to meet you.” She slipped an errant strand of hair behind her ears, her smile confident, showing no hint of nervousness. “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked around about you. You still have friends over at Assault.”
“I don’t mind as long as they lied to you,” Casey said with a grin, noting the amused expression in the woman’s dark eyes.
“They had very nice things to say about you. Were they lying?”
“Well, since we’ll be working together, I guess you’ll find out sooner or later.”
Malone was the one who gave a nervous laugh as he looked from one to the other. “I’m sure you’ll—”
“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” Tori said as she stuck her head in the door. “Mac called. They’ve got results. He had a hit in CODIS.”
“A name?” Casey asked.
“He didn’t go into it. We were about to walk over. You want to come?” Then she glanced at Malone. “Sorry, Lieutenant. I’m assuming she’s still working the case with us.”
“Yeah. And this is Detective Tucker.”
“Leslie,” she said, offering her hand to Tori.
“Tori Hunter. Welcome aboard.” Tori stepped back out of the doorway. “Let’s walk over. Have you met Mac and his team before?”
“I know who he is, yes. One of his guys, Emerson, was the one who worked with Assault the most.”
Casey followed Leslie Tucker out of Malone’s office, then stopped and turned back with a grin. “Dang, Lieutenant, couldn’t find someone old and frumpy I guess?”
“I was about to warn Sikes to keep his hands and eyes off her. Do I need to warn you as well?”
“No, no. I learned a long time ago never to mess with straight women. Don’t worry. I won’t pull a Tori and Sam on you.”
Leslie sat around the small table with the others, her gaze moving over them one by one. John Sikes, ladies’ man and resident pretty boy. She’d been warned about getting too friendly with him. He was always looking for a date, they said. And Tori Hunter, she’d heard all the horror stories from pushing her partner out a two story window to punching out a lieutenant. But she seemed pleasant enough. Of course, she’d heard those other rumors too, about her affair with Samantha Kennedy. Samantha, like Casey O’Connor, had started out in Assault. The guys there had been only too happy to share what they knew about both women. She let her eyes drift to Casey, her new partner. She was tall and thin, her dark blond hair an unruly mess, as if the wind had blown it dry this morning. Everyone she asked had practically the same thing to say about her. She was a good person who genuinely cared about her job. She was friendly and likable and very popular on the force. All-around good gal, to which Leslie was thankful. She’d never been partnered with another woman. How hard would it be if it ended up being someone like Tori Hunter? She was still staring when Casey turned, catching her eye. She smiled, then looked away as Mac came into the room.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I wanted to pull the post Jackson did on this previous victim.”
“What previous victim?” Tori asked.
“The DNA hit matches a crime scene about three months ago.” He looked at his notes. “Donaldson and Walker had the case. The girl was found in her apartment. Cause of death was strangulation. Her throat was cut postmortem.”
“Raped?” Casey asked.
“No. Just like your vic, tied to the bed. Semen was found on the sheets and on the victim’s legs. That’s it.”
“And Donaldson and Walker had the case?” Tori stood, pacing behind their chairs. “Goddamn.”
“Don’t overreact, Hunter,” Sikes said. “Read the file first.”
Leslie watched
them, wondering if she was about to get a Tori Hunter moment. She looked across the table at O’Connor with eyebrows raised, but Casey only gave her a tell you later look.
“We’re running all the prints now,” Mac continued. “No hits in AFIS from the first crime scene, but we might be able to match prints from both scenes. Not that it’s going to help you much with IDing our guy.”
“Okay. Did Spencer find anything on her post of our vic?”
“Tox is not back. COD was a severed carotid artery.” He looked up from his notes. “Of course, we already knew that. No trace. There was an unusual fiber that didn’t appear to match anything in the bedroom. My guys are trying to find the origin on that.”
Leslie listened, curious about the case she was being thrust into. She’d hoped to start fresh, not in the middle. Of course, it would help if she’d at least had the opportunity to read the file. As it was, she had no clue as to what case they were working.
“You want me and Tucker to pull Donaldson’s file and go over it?”
Leslie was surprised when Tori flashed a smile at Casey. “What? You afraid for me to do it?”
“No sense in someone getting shot, that’s all.”
She was even more surprised when Tori Hunter laughed.
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea, O’Connor. Besides, she needs to get up to speed on our case,” Tori said, tossing a glance her way. “Fill Malone in. Don’t just pull the file.”
Casey stood and grinned. “Why? You’d just pull it.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have any qualms about shooting Donaldson. You might.”
“Okay. We’ll meet you back there.” Casey looked at her and motioned to the door. “I’ll fill you in on the way over.”
Leslie stood, not sure what to say, so she said nothing, and just followed O’Connor out the door. Despite what she’d heard about Tori Hunter having mellowed in the last couple years, she never heard anything about her having a sense of humor.
“Our victim is Dana Burrows,” Casey said when they walked outside. “She was found in her apartment. No forced entry.”
“Wait.” Leslie stopped Casey with a light touch on her arm. “Why was Hunter upset about Donaldson?”
“Bad blood between them. A few years ago, there was a serial killer. Turns out the first victim was a case Donaldson and his partner had. Transvestite. They hardly worked the case, turned up no leads and let it go as a cold case. When Tori found the link between that case and her serial killer, she went ballistic. She refuses to work with him. She doesn’t trust him.”
“What about you? Is he a good cop?”
“From what I hear, yeah. He was fairly new at the time, paired with an old guy who couldn’t get past the transvestite thing. And well, there was some personal stuff, but I don’t think Donaldson had a whole lot of say on the case.”
They continued walking and Leslie was surprised at how close the new crime lab was to their squad room. Much more convenient than driving downtown to the old building. “Okay, how do you normally do this? I’ve never worked a case where there were four detectives on it. I’m assuming Hunter is the lead?”
“We don’t normally have four, no. But I’ve been here less than six months and haven’t had a partner, so Malone has had me tagging along with Hunter and Sikes, learning the ropes.”
“You were Special Victims, right?”
“Yeah.”
“How was that?”
“Sucked. I used to think it was better than Homicide because at least my victims were still alive. But it takes a lot out of you, seeing the despair in their faces, listening to their agony, knowing some of them wished they weren’t still alive.”
“How’d you end up here?”
“I worked a case with Hunter. Father Michael from St. Mary’s. They were going back and forth as to whether he was a victim of sexual assault or just plain murder.”
“Yeah, I remember that one.”
“Well, we hit it off. Stayed friends. She and Sam are great.” Casey paused. “Samantha Kennedy. She’s with CIU now.”
“I’ve heard of her. She was with Assault before.”
“That’s right. I suppose you would have heard her name. Anyway, Malone had a spot open so I requested the transfer after a bit of prodding from Hunter.” She smiled. “It just took a little while to get a partner.”
“Well, I’m happy to be here. Not that Assault was bad or anything, but after six years in Homicide, Assault seems a little tame.”
“Yes, I’m finding that out.” Casey held the door open and Leslie preceded her inside.
“What will you tell Malone about Donaldson’s case?”
“You mean, what will we tell him?”
“Throwing me to the wolves right away, are you?”
“No. But I’ve never had to do this before. If it was me and another detective was going over my case, I’d be pissed as hell. But I’ve learned that Malone is easy to talk to. He doesn’t play games. Everything is out in the open.”
They walked into the squad room, finding it empty. Casey went purposefully to Malone’s office, motioning for her to follow.
“You didn’t get to meet Donaldson and Walker, right?”
“No. But their desks are over there, right?” she asked, pointing to the far wall. “I saw them.”
“Yeah.” Casey tapped on the doorframe with her knuckles. “Lieutenant? Got a minute?”
“Sure, O’Connor. What’s up?” He looked past Casey and smiled at her. “Need to break up the partnership already?”
Leslie shook her head, then looked at Casey, hoping she would take the lead. She did.
“Got some news from Mac. The DNA hit on the semen matches a case from about three months ago.”
“That’s great, O’Connor. But why the long face?”
“Cold case,” she said.
“I wouldn’t call a three-month-old case a cold case.”
“Donaldson and Walker had the case. No leads.”
“Jesus,” he muttered. “And I guess Hunter flipped out over that one.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you want to pull the file and take a look?”
“If we can, yes.”
“May I ask why Hunter is not the one in here demanding the file?”
Casey grinned. “I was afraid she might shoot Donaldson.”
He laughed and Leslie was surprised at the amount of levity in the group. First Hunter teasing with O’Connor, now the lieutenant. This was something she wasn’t used to. Not at Assault and certainly not in Fort Worth.
“Okay, pull the file. Do what you need to do. I’ll let Donaldson know what’s going on.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant.” Casey took her arm and led her back into the squad room. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Chapter Five
Leslie unlocked the door to their apartment and went inside, hearing the TV blaring a baseball game. She sighed. Just once she’d like to come home without there being a game on, without ESPN on, or without one of Michael’s buddies over competing in a video game. Just once.
“I’m home,” she called as she walked into the empty living room and on to their bedroom. She paused at the door to the spare room, knocking loudly. “I’m home,” she said again.
The volume was muted and a door flung open as Michael rushed out into the hallway and gave her a bear hug, picking her up and twirling her around.
“And how was your first day on the job?”
She laughed. “Please put me down.” He did. “It was fine. I came aboard in the middle of a case, so I’m kinda lost.” She leaned closer for a kiss. “And the neighbors hate you. You can practically hear the TV in the parking lot.”
“Sorry. Got carried away.” He turned to go back to his game, then stopped. “Plans for dinner?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good. Jeff has invited us up for pizza. We’ve got a friendly wager on the Rangers game. You know what a big Yankees fan he is.”
“Pizza, hu
h? Well, you know what, why don’t you go without me? I’ve got a case file to read through.”
“You don’t mind?”
“No, of course not.”
A part of her knew she should mind, of course. Jeff was his best friend. He also lived one floor above them. And on the third floor lived Miles and Russell. The four of them had been buddies since college. The problem was, they all thought they were still in college. At least Jeff dated occasionally. Miles and Russell never dated. But they had season tickets to every professional sports team in the Metroplex. And more times than not, Jeff and Michael were their dates.
She kept thinking it would change. When they started dating seriously, she thought Michael would stop spending so much time with them. Then, when they moved in together, she assumed he would stay home more. She now knew even if they got married, it wouldn’t change. Not unless they moved into a house in a remote neighborhood. And so far Michael had balked at that suggestion.
And she, in turn, balked at setting a wedding date.
Casey sat on her deck overlooking White Rock Lake. She’d traded her water bottle for a glass of wine, which had turned into two. It was the deck. She found she could sit out here for hours, just staring at the water, her mind drifting. Even though it was nearly September and the days were still as hot as mid-summer, the evenings turned cooler, chasing the humidity away, hinting at what fall would feel like.
She’d only lived here six months, but it felt like home. The lake was small and surrounded by the city, but it was as peaceful as you could get within the city limits. And it was convenient. Tori and Sam lived just on the other side of the lake, making it hard for her to say no when Sam invited her for dinner. Which was often.
She smiled and sipped her wine, thinking how much her life had changed since she’d met Tori. As she’d told Tori once, she had a lot of friends, a lot of buddies on the force who she could grab a beer with or a quick dinner. But she didn’t have a really close friend, and she certainly didn’t have a lover to come home to every night. Well, one of those things had changed. Tori had become that close friend she’d craved. They escaped often for a beer after work, just to talk, just to share things. Sam didn’t mind their friendship. In fact, she encouraged it. And Tori had finally told her about her family and their murders. Casey had wept with her as Tori recounted that night all those years ago. And Casey had finally told Tori about how her brother had forbidden her to see his kids, forbid her to contact them. She leaned her head back, looking into the sky, remembering that day so well. Her niece was a tomboy, just like Aunt Casey. Her niece wanted to be a cop, just like Aunt Casey. And her niece never wanted to get married, just like Aunt Casey. That had been the breaking point. Casey was a bad influence, so her brother had a talk with her. Don’t come around anymore, he’d said. Don’t call. You’re not needed here.