this morning?”
“Last night. Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to tell you. If you can believe this, I think my replacement has Alzheimer’s. And I’m not kidding. I talked to Percy yesterday, asked him to look into it. But I’ve got a bigger problem—the press has just enough detail to be dangerous. We need to catch this creep now before they put the whole story together and start an international crisis.”
“We’re getting close. I can feel it.”
“I hate that we have to work apart on this. I feel like things are breaking, though. When are you coming back?”
“I’ll be back in Nashville this afternoon. After the presentation, and after I get Lord James call me Memphis Highsmythe, the Viscount Dulsie, out of my hair.”
“Oh, he’s not that bad.” She couldn’t believe she’d just said that. He was that bad, and then some. Since when did she start defending him? “Besides, I thought you liked him.”
“I don’t dislike him. He’s a good cop, smart, intuitive. He just gives new meaning to stiff upper lip. I hate to profile someone I’m working with, but he’s in extreme pain. He overcompensates by trying to get under people’s skin, make them as uncomfortable as he is. You saw that firsthand. He’s a very capable investigator. I think he needs more work, that’s all.”
No kidding.
“Well, I’m glad you’re coming back. I want this case solved. I miss you.”
“In that order?” he teased.
“No, I miss you first and foremost. There, happy?”
“Very, love. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Good luck with the profile,” she said. They hung up, and she sipped her tea. James Memphis Highsmythe. She knew exactly what Baldwin was talking about. The viscount had gotten a little too far under her skin, as well.
Tossing that thought away, she rinsed out her cup, snapped her Glock into its holster, put her badge on her belt and headed downtown.
McKenzie was already at his desk when she walked in, a steaming latte at his elbow. The smell made her stomach rumble.
He turned to her with a smile. “I got you one. It’s on your desk.”
“Thank you. That was sweet. How are you this morning?”
“You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“Elm’s gone. He’s been placed on medical leave indefinitely. I didn’t know he was sick.”
“Oh.” She sat at her desk, grabbed the Starbucks. “Listen, about that. I talked with my union rep about him last night.”
“You filed a complaint?” McKenzie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“No, no, nothing like that. I figured out why he was so erratic, that’s all.”
“Why?”
She looked at him for a moment. He’d been pretty damn honest with her over the past few days. She decided to bring him in the loop. Her life would be much easier if she could start trusting him.
“Can you keep your mouth shut?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“Alzheimer’s.”
McKenzie sat back in his chair. “Now that makes sense.”
“You’re familiar with it?”
“Yes. My dad. He’s in a home right now. I couldn’t take care of him after my mom died.” He said all of this without looking for sympathy, just reciting facts.
“Jeez, McKenzie, I’m sorry about that.”
He smiled sadly, took a sip of his coffee. “Well, what are you going to do? I thought something might be wrong with Elm, but I didn’t want to say anything.”
“Why?”
“It wasn’t polite.”
Taylor decided right there and then that she liked Renn McKenzie.
“So have you heard anything else?”
“Like who they’re replacing him with? No.” But he smiled at her, and she relaxed. No sense getting herself worked up about management issues. She had a killer to catch, and a hot trail to follow. She brought McKenzie up to speed on her midnight travels.
He got visibly upset. “You should have called me before you went out prowling. I was just talking to Bangor. Something could have happened. I could have had your back.”
“McKenzie, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself. Besides, Parks went with me. We were fine.”
“Be that as it may, you’re my partner. Something goes down and I’m not there, I would feel bad. So next time, just call me, okay? I don’t sleep much, anyway.”
“Funny, me either. Okay, I promise. What did Bangor have to say? Did he divulge any good secrets?”
McKenzie blushed. She wondered what exactly she’d said to make him spook like that. He recovered quickly, answered her with feigned nonchalance.
“Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. We talked movies, mostly. He’s a fascinating guy. We didn’t come up with any connections to the Johnson girl. One thing that did