Paranoia (Michael Bennett #17)

CHAPTER 18

HERNANDEZ HEADED OFF to find the detective in charge of the crime scene. Trilling walked up to the EMS truck and found a young female paramedic dabbing something on an elderly woman’s temple. There wasn’t much blood, and the woman appeared happy just to be chatting with someone.

The paramedic looked up and smiled at Trilling. She noticed the badge dangling from a chain around his neck. “You’re probably here for the dead body, not for a cut on the head.” She had a friendly tone, a dark complexion, and a beautiful smile.

Trilling said, “We did wonder why there were paramedics at the scene if the victim was already dead when he was found.”

“Ms. Paseo here took a tumble down the stairs in all the excitement. Someone panicked and called 911. Luckily it’s not too serious. Won’t require stitches.” The paramedic looked at the older woman and said, “She refuses to go to the hospital with us.”

Ms. Paseo said, “Too many people die in hospitals. It’s just a little cut.”

The paramedic told Ms. Paseo she was all set. Trilling decided he’d rather wait here and talk to a pretty paramedic until Hernandez had figured out what they were going to do.

Rob Trilling had never been particularly good with women. He just couldn’t figure them out. If he had to admit it, women scared him a little bit. But he took a breath and said, “Hi, I’m Rob Trilling.”

The paramedic stood up from where she’d been crouching to help Ms. Paseo. She was almost as tall as him. “Nice to meet you, Rob. I’m Mariah Wilson,” she said, flashing that beautiful smile again.

They chatted for a few minutes and Trilling was surprised how comfortable he was talking to Mariah. She said she had been on the job for only about six months. “They loved having a Black female in the program. Especially one who could do all the physical training. I thought it was kind of fun.”

“That’s how I felt about the Army.”

They talked some more. At one point, Mariah laughed and put a hand on Trilling’s arm.

The next thing he knew, they were exchanging phone numbers. It had happened to Trilling only a couple of times in his whole life.

He almost forgot why he was here. Until Terri Hernandez yelled over to him, “Hey, Super Jock, let’s go have a look at the body.”

Trilling took a moment to say good-bye to Mariah. He saved her number on his phone as “Mariah Paramedic.”