Chapter 3 #2
The camera panned left to show an SUV with heavy front-end damage being dragged onto the tow truck’s bed.
Debris was scattered across the roadway as police detoured traffic around the scene and kept bystanders from getting in the way of the accident investigation team.
Tess’s eyebrows shot up when she saw Special Agents Malone and Montoya placing a handcuffed man—probably the drug dealer—into the back of a marked patrol car in a clip that stated it was recorded earlier.
They must have gotten the call shortly after Tess and Andy left the SBI office.
Both men’s mouths were flat, and their body language was stoic.
She knew it was common for police officers to blank their expressions when escorting suspects when cameras were present.
They weren’t supposed to smile, laugh, appear enraged, or express any other emotion.
It was considered unprofessional, and many police departments had rules about it in their protocols.
The picture switched back to the on-scene reporter who wrapped up the story with a promise to update it after a scheduled police department press conference the next morning.
Well, it was obvious the three victims would be on the autopsy schedule tomorrow.
Hopefully, by then, they would already be identified by family members.
It was the one part of her job she hated more than anything—that moment when a family member lost hope there might have been a mistake, and it wasn’t their loved one lying under a white sheet.
Some people quietly sobbed, others shook their heads in disbelief, stood completely still, or turned away.
The worst, though, was when wails of grief echoed off the walls, and Tess could hear them clearly through the plexiglass separating her and the deceased from the family members and their police escort.
Tess’s thoughts returned to Brian Malone.
If he and Rafe made the arrest, they would probably be at the morgue in the morning.
The two agents might not sit in on all three autopsies but would want to be there for the preliminaries and ask the medical examiners a few questions.
They would need some information to pass on to the district attorney assigned to the case for the initial charges.
For the first time, a little giddiness coursed through her at the thought of seeing Brian.
She’d always thought he and Rafe were handsome and nice—they even flirted with her a bit, but she knew it was all innocent fun.
Neither of them had ever been crude to her or any of the other women they interacted with at the ME’s office.
Tess had never been bothered by their joking and teasing, since a lot of the cops flirted with her.
However, some of them had come a tad too close to crossing the line into unprofessionalism.
She had no problem putting those jackasses in their place.
The first time it happened, not long after she’d been hired, Dr. Hansen almost stepped in to intervene, but Tess gave the young rookie a verbal dressing-down that led him to apologize for his behavior.
Hansen had given her a wink and a thumbs-up from inside a dead man’s chest. She’d been surprised the next day when the officer returned with a bouquet of flowers.
He repeated his apology and said he deserved to have his ass handed to him.
Tess hadn’t experienced a problem with him since.
In fact, she’d learned that he'd recently gotten engaged to a lovely woman.
As the news switched over to the weather report, Tess’s cell phone rang, and she answered it after glancing at the screen. “Hi, Patty.”
“Hi, sweetie. I’m just calling to make sure everything is all right with Andy.”
Tess grabbed the remote, lowered the TV volume, and then settled deeper into the couch’s cushions. “Yes, he’s fine. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Agent Malone released him to me after asking a bunch of questions about a street gang.”
“Street gang? What made that hunky agent think Andy was in a street gang?”
She smiled at the defensive tone coupled with the “hunky” description.
“Like I said, wrong place, wrong time. He was heading to check out some new game that came out at the computer shop he likes. As he walked by some gang members, one of them stopped him to ask a question. Andy was just about to move on when the agents approached because a few of them had warrants. He panicked and ran when the others did. The agents didn’t know who he was, so he got swept up in the arrests, but they didn’t charge him with anything.
Agent Malone said he believed Andy when he said he didn’t hang out with them.
He’s in his room now, studying for his finals, and I’m having a well-deserved glass of Merlot. ”
“Good for you. Before you go to bed, though, make sure your windows are shut and your patio umbrella is down. They’re predicting thunderstorms with high winds and possibly hail heading our way. They’ve already done quite a bit of damage southwest of us.”
Tess glanced at the muted TV as the weatherman showed a graphic of the large, approaching storm. Dare County was right in the middle of its path. Great.
After chatting with Patty for a few more minutes, Tess disconnected the call, stood, and strode into the kitchen.
Peeking out the back door, she surveyed the patio.
The chairs and table were heavy enough not to be tossed about, and the umbrella was down and tied in place.
When she checked the front of the house, she noticed the recycling bins were still at the end of the drive.
Instead of asking Andy to do the chore, Tess ran out and returned the bins to the garage.
Once back in the house, she turned on the AC, then went around from room to room, shutting all the windows.
It was cool enough inside with the evening air coming in, but it wouldn’t take long for the house to heat up with the windows closed.
Returning to the family room, she got comfortable again, picked up her glass of wine, and powered up her e-reader.
As she read about the hot, alpha hero and strong, independent heroine in author Riley Edwards’s new release, Tess’s mind began to replace the main male character with a certain handsome special agent and herself as the woman he eventually falls in love with.
What the hell is up with that?