Chapter 1
MINKA
Istep off the elevator on the ninth floor of the George Stanley Medical Examiner’s office at exactly two minutes to nine on Tuesday morning.
I carry my bag in one hand, and an icy cold can of Pepsi in the other.
A fresh dose of Factor in my veins means my brain is clear, my eyes are wide open, and my body still hums from the things Archer did to it between the hours of six and eight this morning.
We spent only four days apart, but I swear, they felt like months. And now that we’ve reunited, it seems Archer has months of anxiety-sex to work through.
I don’t mind one bit.
“I’m gonna make coffee.” Aubree drops her bag at her desk and trades a thin cardigan-esque layer for her white coat instead.
She wears shoes with actual lights in the soles, like she’s six years old and heading off to kindergarten, and as she spins away from her desk and heads toward the break room, the little lights flash with every step.
“I’ll meet you in your office in five. I’ll grab everyone for rounds, too. ”
“Good. Thanks.” I lead with my shoulder and push the heavy glass door open, stepping into my office and doing as Aubree did: I dump my things at my desk, then I swing back and grab my coat.
Shrugging it on, I make my way to the windows overlooking the city I’ve lived in for not quite two years.
My view isn’t that of Central Park. It’s not even a particularly pleasant view, except late at night when the harsh exterior of every building surrounding me fades away, and the houses perched high on the hill switch their lights on.
Then it’s almost pretty.
I carefully press my forehead to the glass and stare straight down at the sidewalk.
There he is: the formidable Mr. Harrison.
I have no clue how he can wear a suit all day long and stand in the sun like it isn’t trying to kill him, but he never seems to mind, and even after a blistering afternoon set amongst concrete, I’ve yet to spot a single errant drop of sweat on his skin.
Maybe he’s a robot.
But that robot isn’t alone today, because he converses with Archer. Nods his head. Shakes his head. The discussion lasts only another moment, then a midnight-black van pulls up at the curb, and with it, my stomach flips.
I think my delivery has arrived.
“Aw man. No skirt today.”
I turn with a raised brow and study Doctor Raquel’s gaudy stride through my door.
She’s a bit like Aubree, I guess, in that she considers work an opportunity to model whatever trendy new outfit they’d acquired overnight, so while Aubree flitters about the break room in a camo-green, cargo-pocketed, thigh-length skirt, Raquel struts to the single couch my office boasts and plops down in shiny black leather shorts, ankle-high boots, a floating, fire-engine red tank, and her lab coat draped across it all.
Her lips glitter red and match her shirt exactly, while blonde hair, not even the kind most pay to achieve in a salon chair, bounces with each movement.
Smirking—she’s always smug for some reason—she studies my bottom half and exhales a dissatisfied sigh.
“Shame, Chief. You rocked a skirt last week.”
“You’ll have to excuse me for not caring enough to run my daily fashion choices by you.
” Pushing away from the window, I head back to my desk and drop into my seat.
Scooping up my Pepsi, I bring it to my lips and glance left as, outside my office, my team begins stirring.
“I’ll video call you tomorrow before I get dressed. ”
Raquel sits taller in my peripherals. “Really?”
“No. I’d rather punch myself in the face with the front end of a Mack truck. But I do have something exciting for you to do.”
“Drive the Mack truck?”
“No,” I drawl. “I need to pull blood samples at some point today. I want you to run them.”
“From a DB?” She glances around my office, like I keep dead people conveniently in the corner. “Why the special request?”
“Not from a DB. From me.”
I hate how her eyes grow wide. How they burn bright with curiosity and longing. I hate even more that my entire team is headed this way, and because they are, this conversation is over.
“Don’t make it into a big deal.”
Aubree pushes through my door first, then Doctors Kirk, Flynn, Torres, and Patten follow immediately after.
Raquel makes an entire show of zipping her lips and tossing away the imaginary key, but then she sits forward with sly, glittering eyes.
“Not making it a big deal. But, since we’re discussing favors for one another, I just wanted to reiterate how much easier my workload would be to manage if I had another lab tech to boss around. ”
“No.”
“They’re siblings! They’re single, childless, and share a grotty apartment to save costs. So honestly, they’re not even all that expensive. Doctor Campbell has proven to be an excellent addition to my lab, so hiring the other Doctor Campbell feels like an obvious choice to me.”
“It’s such a shame that having two Doctor Campbells on staff would simply be too confusing. I’m not sure I could cope.”
“Joke’s on you,” she growls. “I might marry the first Doctor Campbell, take his last name, and screw you over with the confusion. Then adding a third won’t seem so disorienting.”
“Uh-huh. You do that. Alright.” I settle back in my seat and study my team with fresh energy.
My stomach whooshes with happy nerves, and my pulse thunders with anticipation.
I’ll have a body to cut soon. A mystery to solve.
A routine to revisit. “I’d like to run through everyone’s caseload and get an update on where you’re all up to.
But first, I want to acknowledge not only that I wasn’t in the office yesterday, but that my performance last week was less than my best. I was distracted, irritable, and not all that approachable.
” I meet Doctor Patten’s eyes. “I’m sorry. ”
“Less than your best?” She snickers. Forgiveness comes so easily to her.
“Chief, you processed bodies like you were huffing Schedule II controlled substances. Your attention to detail was even more neurotic than typical, and I didn’t wanna tell you earlier and jinx it,” she leans just a little closer, “but there was one night last week, I think it was Wednesday night, where you’d cleared out so much of the backlog during your shift that I actually took a dinner break as per my contract. I sat. On a chair!”
“Woah,” Doctor Torres whistles. “That’s pretty amazing.”
“For twenty-three entire minutes!”
Like this is a friggin’ comedy act, my entire team ooh and ahh as one.
“I don’t expect the stars to align like that again for at least three or four years,” Patten teases. “But I was smart enough to appreciate the moment.” She settles onto her heels and exhales a happy sigh. “I certainly did.”
“Good. Let’s all applaud Doctor Patten’s twenty-three minutes of peace.”
They clap.
Smartasses.
“And now that that’s done, let’s focus on me again.”
“Attention seeker,” Aubree coughs. But as my brow comes up, she straightens her posture. “I mean, everybody shut up! The boss is trying to speak.”
“Ooooh… what’s going on out there?” Doctor Flynn meanders to my office door, opening it like moving the clear sheet of glass out of her way will somehow help her see, then she folds her arms and watches, rapt, as a swarm of familiar faces burst from the elevator.
“Are we hosting a Copeland’s Sexiest Men in Black contest you didn’t tell us about, Chief?
” She tilts her head to the side and hums her appreciation as Jay Bishop follows an entirely confident Sophia Solomon through my building. “Yowza.”
“He’s married.” I push to my feet and cross to my office door, stopping on the threshold and meeting Soph’s eyes as she does the same on the other side.
Is she my friend here? Do I mention how she’s kind of a New York mob boss nowadays? What about our sometimes-weekend habit of killing shitty old men?
I nod my hello and ignore Jay and the rest of her too-large team, then I exhale a noisy sigh and spin back to my crew.
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you yet, since Doctor Patten monopolized our time gloating about her lazy Wednesday night, but the next three days will be a little chaotic at the George Stanley.
This is Sophia Solomon.” I wander back to my desk, but I gesture toward her.
“Jay Bishop is the guy behind her. They’re married to each other. ”
“Figures.” Flynn’s shoulders drop with defeat. “I bet they make beautiful babies.”
“Two time champs.” Jay’s lips twitch, ruining the hard exterior I think he was aiming for. “Two extremely beautiful little trophies to show for it.”
“These people are from a highly regarded technology and security company who specialize in computers and…” I roll my wrist. “I dunno. Smart stuff. Sophia and her team have generously donated an entire building tech system to the George Stanley, including supply and installation.”
Stunned, my team swings their gazes back to me.
“I believe this gift is worth an easy hundred g’s, so since we’re all applauding anyway…
” I start the clap and thrill in Soph’s grinding jaw as the rest of my staff follow suit.
“Things will be kinda crazy here for the next few days while they get themselves set up and wired in or whatever. At some point, you’ll each need to report for ID photos, because once this is done, we’re not signing in with our emails and passwords anymore.
We’ll be using…” God. I’m so uneducated about this stuff.
“I don’t know. Pass cards and maybe a sacrificial goat or something. ”
Aubree shoots an eager hand into the air. “Sophia, hi. My name is Aubree. Where do you suggest we source ethically raised, and not-very-expensive goats? We’re paid by the city, and this city is notoriously bad for stocking quality goats. Or, ya know, paying enough to keep the lights on.”