She bared her teeth in a hard smile. “I’m sure I can do my job, Detective.”
Yeah, he knew she could, too. Smith was the best and they were damn lucky to have her and her kiss-off attitude on staff.
He studied the mark, frowning. Fucking odd. He lifted his hand, let his fingers hesitate over the outline.
Smaller than his by a few inches.
But then, he’d been a quarterback long ago—back in the day—and he knew he had big hands.
“What the hell are we dealing with here?” He growled quietly. “How is this even possible?”
From the corner of his eye, he saw Smith’s stare snap toward Colin.
Todd stiffened and the hand he’d raised over House’s chest clenched into a fist. Slowly, he lifted his head and turned his attention to his partner. “There something you need to tell me?” He was damn tired of the games. Maybe they should just put their cards on the table. ’Cause going on everyday like this, acting like he didn’t know Colin’s secret—acting like everything was, to use Smith’s word, fine, well, that just wasn’t going to keep playing for him much longer.
Not with more weird shit happening—like this handprint on a man that for all intents, shouldn’t be dead.
Colin shook his head.
“You seen this before, partner?” Todd asked, not ready to let the topic drop yet. No way was he going to let the guy hold out on him during this investigation.
Colin’s jaw tensed. “I’ve never seen anything like this print before.”
Todd wanted to believe him.
Partners should trust each other.
Yeah, and there also shouldn’t be any secrets between partners. For a cop, there was no one on the streets who was closer than a partner. No one else watched your back like a partner. No one protected your ass like a partner.
And when you found out a partner had been deceiving you, well, nothing hurt as bad.
Todd’s shoulders stiffened as he dragged his stare away from Colin and glanced back at Smith. “Any other tests you can do on him?”
“I’m running more blood work.” She rolled her shoulders. “This—we need someone with a little more expertise in this area, okay?”
Her gaze darted once more to Colin. “I’m out of my element here and—”
“What? Smith, he’s a stiff!” It didn’t get any more in her “element” than that! Todd tried to rein in the anger that wanted to shoot out of him. “The dead are your life.”
She frowned at that. “No. They aren’t.” She shook her head. “Look, maybe we should call in a heart specialist, get a second opinion—make certain I didn’t miss anything—”
“You’re not the missing type, Smith.” Colin’s voice was certain.
Damn straight she wasn’t. Todd opened his mouth to respond, then caught the faint quiver of Smith’s fingers.
Shit. This is her first case back—the lady has to be nervous as hell. “Take your time, Smith,” he told her, his voice softening.
“Go over the body again, see what you can find.”
Her eyes narrowed and for a minute, he thought she was going to be the one shooting out anger, but instead, she gave a jerky nod.
Okay, the lady obviously wasn’t big on getting sympathy.
Todd glanced at Colin. “We’ve got a problem, man—”
“Yeah…we’re gonna have to see the other bodies.”
No choice. Exhuming the dead was a bitch—getting the court orders, dealing with the grieving families—but there was no choice.
“Have you told McNeal about the print yet?” Colin asked.
“I was leaving that to you guys.” Smith pulled the sheet back over the body. Her chin lifted and a brief smile curved her lips. Not really a smile so much as a feral baring of her teeth. “Thought you’d like to give him the info on that.”
Great. Well, they’d have to break the news to the captain pretty fast if they wanted to get going with the bodies.
Colin turned toward the door, paused. “I don’t have to tell you how important it is to keep these details quiet.” He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes locking on Smith.
“No, you don’t.” Her shoulders straightened and a bit of her old fire flared in her dark eyes. She jerked her thumb toward Todd.
“But you do sure as hell need to tell your partner what you’re up against this time.”
“Smith…” A warning.
Todd tensed. He had that shitty, I’m-in-the-dark feeling again. “Tell me what?”
“Not a damn thing,” Colin snapped. “You already know everything about this case that I do.”
“But you didn’t on the last one, did you, Brooks? Gyth shut you out of the loop and went after the killer on his own.”
Colin growled and the hair on Todd’s nape rose. “Listen up, Smith,” Colin snapped. “The way I see it, you really ought to be damn glad I did go after the killer.” He turned toward her, facing her fully with clenched fists. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be examining dead bodies anymore.” He paused, then said, “You’d be the dead one.” Harsh. Cold.
Smith flinched. “You’re an ass**le, Gyth.”
Todd’s eyes widened. Okay, yeah, he had his problems with the guy, but fur notwithstanding, Colin was his partner. And Todd took his loyalties seriously. Maybe too seriously. “Ah, Smith, the guy did save your life.”
She never glanced his way. “You don’t understand what’s happening, Brooks.”
Maybe. Maybe not. “Then why don’t you clue me in?”
Her lips tightened.
Fuck. “I thought so. Colin, let’s get the hell out of here.” He tucked the file under his arm. “You’ve got issues, Smith. Go see Dr.
Drake. We need you back to your old self.”
She swallowed. “I’ll never be that woman again, Detective. All the therapy in the world won’t bring her back.”
“How do you know? Letting someone else inside your head could be the best thing you’ve ever done.” He strode to the door.
Shoved it open, but didn’t exit. Not the sympathy kind, but too damn bad. He liked the woman, respected her, and wasn’t going to watch her spiral. “I’m worried about you, Smith.” And he was. She was too intense. Too high strung. And holding rage that was all but seeping from her pores. “Get some help. Go see Dr. Drake.”
Emily Drake was, after all, the best in town.