long have you lived there?”
Aaron wondered what that had to do with anything. “Grew up not far from here in one of the suburbs. Graduated from Kent State and then the police academy here. Been on the force for about sixteen years, the past twelve as a detective.”
“So you know the demographics and the geography well, then. Where are you stationed?”
“The homicide unit on Ontario Street.”
“Good. I’ll be seeing you later, then,” Carson said.
Before Aaron could ask him what he meant, the line went dead. He sat and stared at his phone a moment, wondering if this was Smith’s usual way to end a conversation or if they’d been cutoff for some reason. Shaking his head, he dismissed the later idea. Paranoid much? The need for secrecy wasn’t because there was a conspiracy, but because they didn’t want a media frenzy to glorify whoever was behind this killing.
A moment later his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and relaxed.
Brianna.
“Everything okay there?” he asked, leaning back in the swivel office chair, wanting to hear the huskiness in her voice. He wondered if she’d ever sung in a choir. She’d probably be the alto harmony. He heard the noise of an ambulance passing by. “Where are you?”
She chuckled and the sound went straight through him. “Outside. Stanley needed some sunshine and a place to pee. He’s been a very good dog.”
“He better be or Nurse Teri might put him in doggy quarantine,” he said only half-teasing. “That woman would make a drill sergeant nervous.”
“She might, but I think under that hard by-the-book outer shell, she’s all mush inside. You saw how tender she is with Paula. And she even sent a special tray of food for Stanley at lunch.”
“Did Paula remember anything more?” he asked, switching to business mode.
“We spent some time going over Art’s weekly routine. I mapped out his usual haunts.”
“Great idea. Any place we didn’t visit last night?”
“A few. There’s also a clinic he went to every Monday for meds,” she said.
“Meds? What kind?”
“Paula didn’t say. The respiratory therapist came in before I could ask if she knew if he had a drug problem or a medical one.”
“Don’t press her. The toxicology report and autopsy can probably clue us in on that,” he said, swiveling around to stare out into the late afternoon sky.
“How? Didn’t that tech, Ramos say there wasn’t any blood?” she asked.
God, he loved how her brain worked. Nothing got past her. Damn if he didn’t find her mind as sexy as her body. Both thoughts he kept well to himself. He didn’t know if she was ready to hear those things from him or if she ever would. The last thing he wanted to do was shatter this tenuous relationship they’d formed. “If anyone can milk blood out of the body, Ramos will. She’s tenacious like that. But she can also run toxicology on tissue and hair samples.”
“Cool. Learn something new every day.” He heard the smile in her voice.
“Any news on Paula?” he asked.
“Her breathing is much better. She’s not wheezing as much when she talks. But Nurse Teri said the doctors want to keep her another night. Which, of course, upset her. She really hates hospitals.”
“Tell her she won’t be alone. Nana already offered to come back, so I’ll have Kirk F bring her over.”
“I told her you’d arranged it already. That seemed to calm her down.”
“Good. I’m meeting with the Medical Examiner in thirty minutes and then I’ll be by the hospital to pick you up. Anything particular you want for dinner?”
There was a pause on her side. “You don’t have to take me to dinner, I can just eat here with Paula. Lunch wasn’t too bad.”
Damn the woman was so stubborn about not going on anything closely resembling a date. “I’m sure it is, but I haven’t had more than half a sub for lunch and by the time I get done with the M.E. I’ll be starving. So you can join me and keep me from eating alone before we head to Paula’s place.”
That got him one of those husky little chuckles. “Okay, you win. Since you’ll be the one starving, you get to choose the place. And why are we going to Paula’s?”
“Because she’s going straight from the hospital to the safehouse tomorrow. I figure she’ll be more comfortable with some of her own stuff around. So, either you and I do it tonight, or I let Kirk F do it in the morning. Something tells me