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“I’m trying to help you process the fact our friend is leaving us! The circumstances suck,” Aubree presses. “This isn’t one of those, ‘she’s going on to bigger, better things with all our love and support’ situations.”
Ignoring her, I break away from the window and stalk toward my desk to pick up the phone.
“She’s leaving for personal reasons!” Aubree explains. “We get it, Mayet. She’s leaving because of Fletch, and now you’re pissed about it.”
“This is Seraphina,” Fifi answers robotically.
“Get up to my office. We’re doing rounds.”
“But I?—”
“Now.” I slam the phone back into the cradle and turn my ire on my friends. “This entire ordeal could have been avoided if everyone remained professional. But here we are. Let this be a lesson for us all.”
“A lesson to be jerks.” Smirking, Raquel saunters to the single leather couch leftover from the prior chief medical examiner and plops down so her fire-engine red skirt contrasts with the couch’s shiny, dark exterior.
On the other side of the glass wall, Doctor Flynn releases a breath of disappointment.
“Stop being cowards and get in here!” I shove away from my desk and move to the door, swinging the heavy pane open so my team can file in. “You want the comfy chair? You get your behind in my office instead of loitering outside.”
“Jerks,” Raquel singsongs, folding one leg over the other and kicking her booted foot so it makes a gentle arc through the air. Up. Down. Up. Down. Her lips match her skirt, while her hair is as blonde and sleek as Aubree’s. “So we’re doing rounds in your office today, Chief? Don’t we typically need bodies or science toshowyou what we’re up to?”
“Or you could use your words,” I snipe back. “If you require hands-on assistance, I’ll stop by your lab after lunch.”
Doctor Kirk hesitantly raises his arm like he thinks we’re still in grade school. “Uh, Chief Mayet? If I may?”
I purse my lips—I swear, I’m not trying to come across as a total dick—but the words still roll off my tongue unbidden. “You may.”
“Twenty-three-year-old decedent. Hit and run. Male. Caucasian. Physically fit.”
Not so fit that he couldn’t skip out of the way on time. “Cause of death?”
“Trauma to the skull. Subdural hematoma. Died at the scene.”
“Motor vehicular manslaughter? Homicide or accident?”
“Both, I guess.” He brings his hand up and nervously nibbles on his thumbnail. “Probably was an accident, but the driver took off and is claiming innocence. According to the driver, theywitnessedthe collision. But it wasn’t them.”
“So it’s your job to prove one way or the other. What do you have?”
“Bruising pattern indicates which model car hit the vic.”
“Sounds like you have it under control, then.” I look at the next person in my line of techs. “Doctor Flynn. What’ve you got?”
“Unattended death. Woman died in her bed approximately ten days ago. Decomp was advanced by the time the neighbors noticed the smell and called it in.”
“You’ve sent everything off to the lab?”
“Yes, Chief. I’ll be writing my preliminary report this morning, pending the case until the tox lab gets back to us.”
Raquel raises her hand. But when she does it, it’s nothing like the innocent and afraid Kirk. Instead, the woman smirks, challenging me with her direct stare. “The tox lab is wildly backed up and too busy to keep up, Chief. We require more hands, or less sideways insults because we’re not moving fast enough to satisfy.”
“You have more hands.” I look to the handsome and suited Doctor Xavier Campbell. “He is literally your extra staff. He’s new. I’m not paying for more.”
“He’s appreciated,” the woman, half his size and yet, his boss without a doubt, grins. “But we’re still backed up. We cater to half the damn city at the moment, what with your high-profile, annoyingly pretty self always hitting the six o’clock news.”
“Thisis a prime example of unprofessionalism in the office.” I point at Raquel, but I snarl for Fifi when she moves through my office door in a tight skirt suit and a hardened face. Her eyes are willow green, far softer than the blue Raquel possesses, but the fierceness in hers plays second fiddle to no one. “Talking about someone’s physical appeal is unnecessary. I am on the newsonlywhen I absolutely must be. I do not seek the press out, but I will protect my staff when the vultures descend. We cater to the city only until we’re at capacity. That means if our suites are full, we turn the dead away.” I swing my focus back to Raquel. “Talk less about me, my face, and the stick allegedly up my ass, and work faster. You might find the latter easier to accomplish once you stop wasting your time on the former.”
Aubree hisses under her breath, dropping her gaze and shaking her head. “Mean.”
