Blood Secrets - By Jeannie Holmes Page 0,23
we picked up from the car this morning.”
“It’s not here.”
“Reyes,” Freddy called to his lab partner. “Do you have Item Fourteen?”
“Nope,” Reyes responded without taking his eyes off the computer screen in front of him.
“Could someone have checked it out?” Alex asked.
“If they did, they would’ve signed it out in the catalog.” He pulled out a small binder and flipped through the pages, shaking his head. “No one signed for it. Maybe Varik took it with him and forgot to sign.”
Alex shook her head. “Why would he take evidence with him on a coffee run?”
“Good point.” Freddy sighed. “Well, it has to be here somewhere.” He began searching through more bins.
She glanced at her watch as she stood up to help. Varik had left nearly an hour ago on a mission to get what he considered “proper coffee” for the lab. The generic store brand Freddy and Reyes consumed by the pot wasn’t good enough for him. Even when they were engaged, he’d insisted on buying whole beans and grinding them himself.
Alex smiled with the memory. She wasn’t picky about her caffeine source, but even with Varik’s snobbishness, it shouldn’t take an hour to buy coffee, not in a town as small as Jefferson.
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony sounded from her pocket. She pulled her cell phone free and checked the caller ID before answering. “Sabian.”
“Where the hell are you?” Tasha asked without preamble. “The coroner is here as well as the tow truck. Tony is already processing the car. What is taking you so long?”
“I’m at the mobile lab, and what the hell are you talking about? What car?”
“One of the owners at Coone’s Pull-n-Go called in a report of a suspicious vehicle this morning. I came out to follow up after leaving the Johnsons’, checked the car, and found a body in the trunk. I think it may be Mindy.”
“Ah, shit.” Alex surged past a startled Freddy and headed for the exit. “I’m on my way.”
“Enforcer Sabian!”
She whirled to face Freddy as she ended the call with Tasha.
“What should I do about the journal?”
“Find it.” She bounded down the steps and hit the pavement running. Rounding the front of the RV, she slammed into a very large warm body. “Fucking hell!”
“Nice to see you, too, Enforcer Sabian,” Damian Alberez rumbled.
Alex dropped back a few paces. “Sorry. I didn’t see you.” She glanced at the woman standing beside Damian. “Sir.”
“Going somewhere?” Damian asked.
“A body’s been discovered. I’m on my way to—” She remembered her Jeep was still parked in front of her temporary hotel home and inwardly groaned. “—call Enforcer Baudelaire.”
The woman stepped closer to Damian. “Is the scene secure?”
“Yes, but—”
“If the situation is under control, and since you can’t possibly be the primary investigator, I’m certain it can wait a few moments,” the woman murmured.
Alex’s temper flared. “And just who the hell are you?”
“Enforcer Alexandra Sabian, meet Morgan Dreyer, Special Investigator to the Tribunal,” Damian said.
Morgan smiled, revealing sharp white fangs, and Alex’s anger withered.
“Where’s the scene?” Damian asked.
“Coone’s Pull-n-Go Salvage. The body could be Mindy Johnson.”
“Who made the discovery?” Morgan asked.
“Lieutenant Tasha Lockwood of the Jefferson police, but she hasn’t been able to reach Varik and—”
“That would be Varik Baudelaire, Director of Special Operations?”
The way Morgan almost purred when she said Varik’s name caused a rush of possessiveness to sweep over Alex. She fought the urge to grab the dark brunette braid that snaked around the other woman’s shoulder and ram her head into the front of the mobile lab. Physically assaulting the Tribunal’s Special Investigator wouldn’t help Alex’s corruption case nor would it help her get to the salvage yard. She managed to keep her emotions in check, but unable to trust herself to speak, she simply nodded.
“Chief Alberez.”
Damian swiveled to face Morgan with a carefully maintained façade of neutrality.
“I believe this would be an excellent opportunity for me to observe Enforcer Sabian in the field.”
“What?” Alex scoffed.
“As part of my investigation, I’m required to monitor you in the field,” Morgan said. “My observations of how well you follow proper procedure are reported to the Tribunal and will be used in their accounting of your guilt or innocence.”
Alex looked to Damian. “Please tell me she’s not serious.”
He glared at her.
“This is the biggest crock of shit—”
Damian clamped his hand on her shoulder and spun her, herding her around the side of the mobile lab. “Excuse us,” he grumbled to Morgan. “I need a word with Enforcer Sabian in private.”
Alex tried to keep in step with him but found