Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Sienna agreed, turning to the building that let out on the alley. She already knew from parking in front that it was an abandoned strip mall. No help there.
Kat sighed, and Sienna said, “Listen, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll finish up here. It’s going to take a while, and you meet up with the ME tomorrow.”
Kat gave her the side-eye. “Sounds like sort of a raw deal.” But she smiled. “I’ll take it, thanks.”
“Go on then and get outa here,” she said, and Kat nodded, heading to her car parked on the other side of the building where the crime scene tape had been strung up. It could be a strange thing to partner up with other law enforcement officers. In the beginning, you might know little regarding the details of their homelife and yet understand completely what sort of person they were, based on how they reacted to everyday job situations. Before she’d gotten to know Garrod on a personal level, she’d known the precise set of his mouth when they’d stood over a twelve-year-old who’d been gunned down in the street. She’d known that the softer his voice became and the heavier his accent, the angrier he was. A hundred things like that, before she even knew his favorite meal or the endearment he called his wife. Sienna hadn’t even had a chance to ask Kat more questions about her personal life. She knew she wasn’t married but wasn’t certain if she was dating someone . . . if her parents were in Reno, or even what part of town she lived in.
Once this case slowed down in one way or another, she’d ask if Kat wanted to go to dinner so they could get to know each other better.
Sienna turned and began walking back to where Ingrid was speaking with the criminalists, taking a deep breath as she focused back on her task at hand: collecting, observing, noting, and questioning anything and everything that was still part of a fresh murder scene.
By the time Sienna was ready to head home, it was almost ten. She’d walked around with the criminalists as they’d searched corners and looked under the chair the victim had been sitting in, but they hadn’t found so much as a single page from their Danny Boy. She and Ingrid had also questioned all the potential witnesses they could and come up with zip. Of course, they had no real way to find the john who’d run off, but from what it sounded like, he was just some guy who’d stumbled upon the crime along with the prostitute he’d left behind.
Sienna started her car before pulling out of the mostly empty parking lot, giving a small salute to the officer who stood next to his patrol car near the entrance. She turned on her phone and saw that she had several missed calls.
Brandon.
He’d called her earlier in the day, too, but she’d been busy solving riddles and seeking out hole-in-the-wall record shops. It was almost 1:00 a.m. in New York, but Brandon was a night owl, and his last call had been ten minutes before, so she pressed his speed dial.
“Hey, stranger,” he answered.
Irritation fizzled through her, and she didn’t even know exactly why. It was like she felt pissed off that he was guilt-tripping her about not checking in, which was ridiculous and unfair on her part. He missed her; that was all. Didn’t she want him to miss her? This case was just making her tired and irritable. She rubbed at her eye as she came to a stop at a red light. “Sorry I haven’t called until now,” she said, making it a point to insert gentleness into her tone. “It’s been a wild day, and I’m just leaving a scene.”
“A scene? You mean a murder scene?”
“Yeah, unfortunately. It looks like our gamer has struck again.”
“Aw, jeez, babe. I was hoping this job in Reno would be a break from the regular murder and mayhem you saw on the streets of New York City.”
“Unfortunately, there aren’t many places one can go to avoid some amount of murder and mayhem these days.”
“You’re probably right. Hey, I’m wrapping up a few cases early next week and will probably be able to take a few days off. How about I fly out for a couple days? You can show me the lay of the land.”
“I’d love that, Bran, but I don’t know if next week is great for me. It seems like this case just keeps ramping up, and I’d hate for you to get here and me have to work the whole time. Things are kind of . . . unpredictable right now, and Reno PD is short staffed. It’s why I’ve been thrown right into the fray. Which . . . I haven’t actually minded. It’s made the adjustment a little easier.”