“In a real fight, we never have time for preparation. I’m going with you.” He offered her his hand.
Annalise scowled at him but let him pull her up.
Once she was standing again, he smiled, not letting her go. His thumb stroked the back of her hand with affection. “Do you think you and I would have had a chance if this wasn’t an arranged marriage?”
She pulled her hand back, ignoring the tingling his touch left behind. How could she answer such a loaded question when she didn’t know the answer? If she hadn’t been in love with Mavel, and met Devlin at work as her partner, perhaps things would turn out differently. But, they weren’t living in an alternative universe. “I don’t know. For now, come with me. We have to tend to your wound before it gets worse.”
Devlin didn’t protest as she guided him to the Medical Examiner’s office. She knocked on the door, checking to see if Hopps was around. When she noticed that no one was there, she pushed her partner inside and closed the door behind them.
“Take a seat. I’ll look for some painkillers. I’m sure Hopps has a stash of them here somewhere,” she said.
He sat at the desk and unbuttoned his shirt. The side of it was stained with blood. Once he peeled back the wet material, she noted that he managed to bleed through the gauze taped to his side.
She glanced away, searching the cupboards for anything that could help him. He had to be suffering. She remembered the time she was shot in the shoulder. The wound still ached sometimes, but not as badly as when it was fresh.
“You could wait for me in the car,” he commented, making her turn around.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re giving me false hope.” He met her gaze, capturing her with his blue eyes that seemed to see right through her.
She cleared her throat and pointed to the cabinets behind her. “I’m sure there are some pills in…er…here that can help you.”
After another five minutes of reading the labels on the bottles, she located what she was looking for and popped two painkillers onto her palm. As she returned to his side, Devlin had managed to change his gauze and was securing it with new tape. He must have been carrying them around in his pockets since she didn’t hear him getting up from his seat.
He accepted the pills, popping them into his mouth. His Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed, catching her attention.
With a gentle smile on his face, he cupped her face and brought his closer. For some reason, she didn’t want to back away or escape him. Her legs were bound to the spot as if she had grown roots. He ran his fingers along her jaw, slowly making her bend forwards until they were so close together, she could almost taste the coffee on his breath. Their lips brushed, tenderly at first. She had to hold on to his shoulders to keep from moving too close and hurting him.
He paused long enough to whisper, “I love you.” Then, Devlin seemingly lost his restraint. He deepened the kiss, burning her from within with need she never thought she would feel for another man.
Her fingers combed his hair, allowing her to enjoy the shortness and softness of it. His hand held the back of her head while the other brought her closer and warmed her back where he touched her. He smelled divine at this proximity, like a fresh summer’s day by the ocean. She struggled to cling to the last of her sanity in his arms as he explored her mouth with his tongue.
Panting, Annalise staggered backwards, breaking their kiss. Her eyes were wide with shock as it dawned on her. Whatever was between them, she had to have feelings for him. She wouldn’t let this man get so close to her if it wasn’t for her treacherous heart being unable to stick to one person. But, it made no sense. They barely knew each other! Her heart gave a nervous squeeze. Was she cheating on Mavel? Can it be considered cheating when we aren’t dating? She scowled at her train of thought.
Devlin stood and grasped her shoulders. “Don’t fight it, Annalise.”
“This isn’t right…” She shook her head. “I can’t be—”
“I know you have feelings for me. They won’t go away. Instead, they will continue to grow. Let them.” He lowered his head and nuzzled her neck. “I want you by my side.”
She desperately sought to find error in his words, but her heart agreed with his deduction. Regardless of what her brain wanted, on some primal level, she wanted this man to be hers as well. Whatever spell he had cast on her, she was crashing hard and with no breaks.
He kissed her again with passion igniting her chest and hardening her nipples. It was suffocating, but like an addict, she wanted more. By the time she regained a sliver of control, she was sitting on top of the nearby desk in a bra. His mouth was on her neck, trailing kisses downwards.
A moan escaped her when he breathed against her soft skin. His hot breath sent an army of tiny goosebumps marching along her body, arousing her further. The way he touched her, with assurance and possessiveness she hadn’t experienced before, drove her to near madness.
Her fingers brushed his gauze, and he groaned against her collarbone. As if waking from a dream, she blinked several times and nudged his shoulders. “We—we shouldn’t be doing this. I…” She pushed harder and scanned the floor for her shirt and jacket. She quickly scrambled to get them, adding, “We have work to do. The case, w-we have to find Mrs Wilson.”
He sighed. She couldn’t bear to look at the expression he had on his face. Whatever it was, she wasn’t ready to jump into the marriage game, regardless of how attracted they were to each other.
“You’re right,” he said, surprising her. “We only have until tomorrow morning. Although I have to say, I do enjoy it when you let yourself go, Detective.”
Annalise blushed and finished buttoning up her shirt. “I think I’ll wait in the car, after all.”
Devlin caught her by the hand before she could retreat. “Don’t run away. I will be ready to go with you in two minutes.” He put on his jacket that he lifted off the floor and buttoned up his bloodstained shirt.
“You may need a change of clothes,” she said.
He shrugged. “It would waste time.”
They took the lift to the ground floor and climbed into Devlin’s car. He announced the destination to the onboard computer as he carefully reclined in his seat.
She saw sweat beading on his brow and forehead but said nothing. He didn’t seem like the type of man who wanted others to baby him or point out the obvious. So, she brought up the data they had downloaded onto their wrist comms at the AI database and quietly read the information about the institute’s renovation and Judy Wilson’s records.
The Science teacher had no run-ins with the DPD in her lifetime. Not once did she get a parking or speeding ticket. Annalise found it odd that a person with no history of crime decided to, all of a sudden, dive into it and start cooking Red Dust in a school. Why not hide away from sight where there are low chances of being discovered? Yet, if Judy blackmailed Principal Sage, forcing him to keep quiet, maybe she thought she was safer on the school grounds. Either way, they had to find that teacher and question her before another department got a hold of their case.
15
Judy Wilson
Late in the evening, Montgomery Institute looked like a haunted asylum. The only light that broke through the windowpanes was from the torch a security guard was using as he was doing his rounds.
Annalise glanced nervously at Devlin who stopped sweating when they parked up down the road and snuck onto the school grounds. The painkillers were working, but he seemed uncomfortable when he ducked or bent in any direction. He had a spare set of clothes in his car, so he no longer looked like a victim of an assault. She occasionally spied him checking his gauze to see if he was bleeding through it. But, even then, she kept quiet. He knew his limits, and she wasn’t about to tell him what to do. Mainly because she didn’t know how to talk to him after what happened earlier.
His wrist comms displayed the blueprints of the building. Once he checked them, he pointed to the greenhouse that was adde
d at the end of the right wing. “Looks like this is it.”
She got close and peered in through the glass windows. Other than darkness and a green emergency exit light, there was nothing for her to see.
He tested the door. It was unlocked. By the looks of it, the lock was busted. He motioned for her to go in first.
“Are you doing the ladies first thing?” she whispered.
“I’ll watch your back, don’t worry.”
Annalise nodded and waded into the pitch black greenhouse. She used the ‘torch’ setting on her wrist comms as a source of light as she edged further in. They could get into a lot of trouble for trespassing on private property after closing hours. But, regardless of the consequences, she couldn’t let the case go to someone who wouldn’t bother to look beyond the obvious. Tomorrow, if the security guard admitted his crime, he would serve at most five years in a cushy correctional facility for purebloods near the coast. That thought had her teeth grinding. If they had been living in the twenty-first century, he would be put away for life. The modded were also human, regardless of what their society wanted to paint them as.
A strong smell of fresh soil hung in the air. She walked around a long rectangular table that had different plants in a variety of square pots. Her foot hit something solid, and she cursed, bending to see what it was. As she lowered her body to look under the table, she covered her mouth to keep in the scream that was ready to flee. There, a pale hand peeked out from between a bunch of soil bags.
Devlin must have noticed her distress. He arrived at her side a second later. Pushing her away, he moved aside the soil and fertiliser bags. The instant the last one was out of the way, a woman’s body slid off the metal shelf and lifelessly fell at their feet.
“Don’t tell me this is who I think it is.” Annalise covered her nose and mouth. She hadn’t noticed the smell of death until the bags were moved.
Devlin spoke into his comms, “AID, bring up a photograph of Judy Wilson from her Citizen ID.”
The AI projected an image of a woman in her fifties with short grey hair, full lips, and a round face. Annalise squatted next to the body and compared it to the photo, confirming the deceased to be the woman they were looking for.
“Why would someone dump her here where she would be eventually discovered?” Annalise asked, studying the body for any visible marks of a struggle.
“The killer could have been waiting for an opportune time to get rid of the body. In the meantime, they left her here, hoping no one finds her.”
“Her eyes are bloodshot and there are marks around her neck. I think she was strangled…”
Devlin didn’t seem phased by her comment. He made some notes on his comms and added, “I am curious as to where her car has disappeared to. It’s not an easy task to make a vehicle vanish in Silver.” He used the material of Judy’s white lab coat to lift her wrist comms. After a minute of checking her settings, he frowned. “The car registration and security codes have been erased. There is no way to get it to auto-drive to a destination.”
Standing up, Annalise crossed her arms. “Maybe, like with the body, the car is somewhere on the property. We need to do a full search and find out. I’ll contact the DPD right now and—”
He grabbed her arm when she raised it to make the call. “If we stop now to wait for everyone to arrive, and deal with reporting, we won’t be able to do anything until tomorrow. By then, the case will be out of our hands. Also, us being here this late without permission would not look good.”
“Chief Sunderland will suspend us if we don’t follow protocol. His reputation is on the line. And, as much as I would like to solve this case before anyone else gets a hold of it, I don’t think I want to put Chief in a tight spot with the Head of the Police Department.”
“It is your choice, Annalise. I am merely stating the facts. What will we tell them when they ask us about what we were doing here? Do we lie or state the truth? We may spend the rest of the night being questioned by Internal Affairs. So, what does it matter if we report it now or in an hour?” he asked her, releasing her hand.
Annalise pursed her lips. She didn’t want to get their Chief in hot water with the higher-ups, but Devlin had a point. They would be interrogated by bureaucrats who would want to pin the blame on them for trespassing to avoid an incident that the media could spin out of proportion. Her father would get involved if his name was mentioned, and she wouldn’t hear the end of it until she caved in and did as she was told by her all-knowing parents.
“Fine,” she grumbled.
Devlin smiled. “Good choice.” He motioned to the door, saying, “I’ll check outside. See if there is anything else you can find on the body that can help us.”
When he was gone, she knelt next to Judy. Annalise carefully searched the woman’s lab coat pockets. She didn’t find anything there, so she checked her grey slacks next. In the left front pocket, she found a crumpled smart business card. It belonged to Gregory Sage. She had seen a stack of them arranged on his desk when they were in his office. Why did Judy keep one on her person? And, why would Roland Brent end up killing his accomplice? Weren’t they working together? The more she thought about it, the less she could piece together.
She moved on to check Judy’s shoes. There was no dirt on them. They seemed to be indoor shoes the school handed out to everyone to keep the halls clean. It meant that Judy couldn’t have left the school after the basilisk was murdered. Was she the second victim or was she killed before Gale? The M.O. seemed different with this kill—more personal. Whoever ended her life was angry enough to silence her for good. The person who came to mind and had problems with Judy was the principal. If she was blackmailing him, that would make anyone angry. Would Sage risk leaving her body lying around?
Annalise was startled when Devlin returned and nudged her side. She massaged her chest where her heart was beating a thousand miles an hour and glowered at her partner. “Don’t do that!”
“Sorry. Did you find anything useful?”
“The body could be days old. Only the coroner will be able to tell the exact time of death. If she died before our first victim, the whole thing with her being in the lab and cooking Red Dust doesn’t make sense. But, if she died after, maybe someone was trying to keep her quiet.” She nibbled on her lower lip as she handed him the crumpled smart card she found on the victim’s body. “I also found Sage’s business card in her pocket.”
“That’s interesting.” Devlin studied the card in the light from his wrist comms. “But it doesn’t prove anything. If we had more time, I would backtrack and figure out where she came from and why, but we must call this one in.”
“What about the car?”
He handed her the card back. “It is outside, in the car park. They had removed the licence plate, so AID didn’t pick the car up on her scanners.”
“What about the cameras? Can’t we get a warrant to check them?”
“It isn’t our problem anymore, Annalise. We don’t have much time. So, the best thing we can do is call this in and help the next lead detectives however we can.”
She balled her hands at her sides, fuming. “I hate letting this one go!”
Devlin took her hand and uncurled her fingers. His thumbs massaged her skin, brushing over her knuckles and tracing the length of her fingers. She had to fight to keep from enjoying his touch too much.
“Don’t do that,” she whispered.
“Why?” Their gazes locked, and he held on to her hand when she tried to yank it back.
“Because what happened earlier was a mistake. We can’t keep doing this. Us working together is hard enough for me. I don’t think I can let you have my heart, too.”
Devlin brushed her cheek. Her skin tingled where he touched her. The butterflies in her stomach hadn’t settled since he entered her personal space. Why does this man have such an effect on me?
He bent down and slowly brushed his lips against hers. The gentle caress of his lips had her unconsciously moving clos
er to him. Before the spell could consume her, he whispered, “We are attracted to each other. There is nothing wrong with that.”
She pushed at his chest, getting him to back up. “Don’t be presumptuous.”
He smirked. “I’m not. Your breath hitches when I get closer to you, your pupils dilate, and your attention is on me and my every move. Even your body language, relaxed and open, tells me that if I wanted to continue touching you at a better location, you’d let me.”
“It’s dark. Of course, my pupils are dilated.”
A chuckle rippled through his chest. “An oversight on my part, I guess. Contact the department. We need the CSU to come here and sweep the place before we contaminate it further.”
She followed his suggestion and called in the cavalry. There was nothing else they could do but stick around during the interrogation of Roland Brent tomorrow. Whoever was going to take over their case, she prayed they cared enough about the modded to give the investigation a proper push. And, now that a dead pureblood was added to the mix, the case had to be taken a little more seriously.
“Can you walk me through the events again, Detective Storm?” Corbin Walsh from Internal Affairs asked for the tenth time that morning, and Annalise groaned. He wasn’t a looker. His nose was too long, his eyes were small and beady like that of a dog, and his ill-fitting brown suit seemed to be from another century. He must have lost his hair on the way to the interrogation room as she couldn’t find more than five strands on his glossy scalp.
“I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure you have my statement already.” She reclined in her seat and folded her arms.
He studied her from under his moth-like grey brows and typed something on his digital tablet. “Humour me.”
Seeing that he wasn’t going to bend to her will, she blew out a breath. “We were on our way home when we decided to pay a visit to the institute in case Principal Sage was still around. When we arrived, we thought we heard something in the greenhouse, so we went to investigate. That’s when we found a body there.”
Case: 1: A Dystopian Mystery (Annalise Storm Chronicles Book 2) Page 11