by Jenna Baker
I woke up thinking that I was really glad I had not become a cop. I was also thinking that the gig Mac had lined up next with the fussy brides was sounding pretty darn good right about now.
My phone rang, and I picked it up on the first ring.
“Are you alive? I half expected to get a call from a Mexican prison last night asking me to bail you out,” my mother said.
“Yes, Mom, I’m fine. Just tired.”
“Your sister is a nervous wreck. She woke up with puffy eyes, you know. I have tea bags resting on them right now trying to reduce the swelling.”
“It sounds like you have everything under control. It’s at seven tonight, right?”
“Victoria, don’t you dare be late, you hear me? And wear something nice – a dress.”
“Of course I’m going to wear a dress, Mom, jeez!”
“Which one?” my mother asked.
“The black one with the scoop neck.”
“Again? Don’t you have anything else?”
“It makes me look thin so I’m wearing it, okay? I have to work. I’ll see you tonight.” I hung up and glanced at my alarm clock. It was eleven fifty-nine. “Huh! Holy shit!” I jumped out of bed and grabbed my cell phone. I dialed Mac.
“Where the hell are you, Sharpe? We thought maybe the killer got you,” Mac said into the phone.
“That’s really not funny. I overslept – I’m coming now.”
I only lived ten minutes from the station, so in theory I could get there very fast, but I also knew that tonight was the rehearsal dinner and I couldn’t show up with greasy hair and yesterday’s deodorant. My mother would likely coat her walls with photos from the wedding and rehearsal dinner, and I didn’t want to look at those pictures ten years from now and regret not having showered. I took a warm shower and washed my hair through twice with shampoo and once with conditioner. I didn’t know if I would have time to stop back home before going to the dinner, so I threw my dress in a bag along with an array of makeup. I spent the extra time to blow out my hair using the diffuser and even put on some lipstick. Forty-five minutes later, I was walking out the door.
I felt guilty and terrible that I slept in, but I also knew that if something was really cooking, I would have gotten a call about it. I breezed into the station with my flowing hair and just a hint of perfume. Reid and Foxy were at their desks in crumpled clothing. Neither had shaved and both were nursing their coffees like they were the only thing keeping them alive. Mac and Manny didn’t look much better.
Foxy looked up at me. “You gotta be kidding me.”
This was probably the first time in my life I was embarrassed to be clean. “Um, I have the rehearsal dinner tonight so I had to shower. Sorry.”
The men grunted and went back to their work. I walked over to Reid, who was rubbing his eyes. “So, what’s happening?” I asked.
“A whole lot of nothing. Foxy spoke to Kitt’s next of kin this morning.”
“Did you break it to her gently, I hope?” I asked Foxy.
Foxy shrugged. “I did it how I always do it.”
“She didn’t really have any ideas on who would want to kill him and she didn’t know about the border gig,” Reid said. “Rose is still MIA. We’ve been calling the taxi companies all morning to try to get a trace on the car. They’re sending us their logs to see if there’s a gap in time when one of their cabs might have gone off course. There were about fifty guys working last night who meet our description and we have to hit up every one of them.”
“Oh my God, that could take forever.”
“I know. The captain is going to give us two uniforms to help with the questioning but it’s still going to take some time.”
“This sounds like a dead end,” I said.
“It probably is, but we have to go through the motions. This job isn’t all guns and glory, you know.”
“Gee, really?” I said rolling my eyes. “We need to find Rose. I feel like she’s the missing piece in all this.”
“She may be,” Foxy said. “Or she may not be. But we have to go with what we’ve got.”
“Those two witnesses from last night are coming in to look at some mug shot books – maybe they can help. Foxy and I are going to split up to check out the cabbies. You can come if you want.”
I let out a big yawn, which was rude because it set off a chain reaction and Foxy and Reid started yawning too. I knew it was almost one o’clock, but even with sleeping late I only got maybe six hours in. I needed about a week.
I turned my attention to Mac and Manny. “Okay, guys, we are going to split up. I’ll ride with Reid and you two go with Foxy. We’re going to question some taxi drivers.”
“How come you always get to go with Reid?” Manny said.
My face turned red. “Um, I don’t know. Did you want to ride with Detective Reid?”
“He seems to get more action,” Manny said and then looked at Foxy. “Sorry, man.”
“No, I think that’s a good idea. You guys go with Reid and I will go with Foxy,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment.
Manny smiled and went to gather up his equipment.
“I’m waiting for those two bozos to show and then we can hit the road,” Foxy said to me. “Go get yourself a coffee across the street.”
“Okay, that sounds good. Can I get you anything?”
Foxy looked up at me and smiled. “I am so glad you asked. Get me a large black and six jelly donuts.”
I nodded absently, turned, and headed across the street.