“But, Mom—”
She held up a finger to stave off his argument, her eyes fixed on the TV. Kovac and his new partner, Taylor, were in the shot, behind the reporter. They stood in front of a lovely brick house, deep in conversation with Lieutenant Mascherino and Deputy Chief Kasselmann.
The double homicide of a U of M professor and his wife in their own home would bring out the brass and local political muckety-mucks—at least for the first few days of the investigation. Sam would hate that. To his way of thinking, they would be nothing but in the way and underfoot. They served no useful purpose at best and fucked things up at worst. Kovac liked to keep a tight rein on his investigations, and that meant keeping a tight rein on the flow of information to the media. A well-placed leak to the newsies could be a valuable tool. Information vomited out by a politician with an agenda never failed to make the detectives’ jobs more difficult.
Nikki thought of her own case, and how the media attention could only have helped her. But now the attention of the press and the public would all be on the sensational slaying of a respectable couple in their lovely home, and the long-cold case of Ted Duffy, a Sex Crimes detective shot to death in his backyard twenty-five years ago would literally be yesterday’s news.
She had gotten up early to read more of the Duffy file, and thought about it now as she cleaned up the kitchen. She would start at ground zero, go to the scene and get the feel of the place. Although Duffy’s wife had eventually remarried and moved out of the house where the tragedy took place, Nikki hoped some of the neighbors had remained. Still, twenty-five years was a long time. People moved away, got old, lost their memories, died. There had been nothing significant in any of the neighbors’ statements given at the time. It was doubtful any of them would have much to say about it now, even if they could be found for an interview. Still, Candra Seley was already working on trying to locate Duffy’s family, friends, and neighbors.
According to the weather and traffic reports, the roads would be clear by noon. The bad weather of the night before had given way to a day with a bright sky and warming temperatures, a brief respite until the next system of bleak gray and damp cold rolled in.
By one o’clock the boys were antsy and off to hang out with their friends. Nikki picked Seley up at City Hall, and they headed to Ted Duffy’s old neighborhood.
“I’m so excited to get out of the office, I can’t stand it!” Seley said, looking around like a woman just let out of prison, dark brown eyes bright and wide and a big smile lighting up her oval face. “I’m no good at sitting still.”
“Seems an odd choice then that you work at a computer all day,” Nikki observed.
“Yeah, it’s not my nature,” she confessed on a sigh. “I loved working patrol. That was where I started. That was my thing. Every day is new and different on the streets. But it made my husband a nervous wreck, then Hunter and Brandy came along, and I had to realize my life wasn’t just about me. I worked Special Crimes for a while—Crimes Against Children. I couldn’t take that. I wanted to kill someone every day. Then I went to Community Initiatives.”
“Did you work with Grider there?”
“Well, I didn’t so much work with Gene Grider as work around him. He probably doesn’t even remember I was there. He’s one of those guys that seems not to see or hear women if he can help it—which was fine by me.”
“I’ve dealt with my share of those over the years,” Nikki said. “I can’t help myself, though. I have to get in their faces. I used to keep a giant dildo in my desk, and I would take it out and smack guys with it when they were trying to shut me out. I’d get it right under their noses and shake it and say ‘Look at that, asshole! I’ve got the biggest dick here, so back off!’”
They both laughed at the mental image.
“Nikki, you’re something else. If you were as tall as me, you would take over the world.”
“Forget that. If I were as tall as you, I wouldn’t have to climb on my kitchen counters to reach the high shelves.”
“That is a definite benefit to being five-eleven.”
“So, how did you end up in Business and Technology?”
“I took a nasty fall off a horse and hurt my back. I had to go on desk duty. They had an opening in B and T, and I’m good with computers.” She made a little shrug and looked out the window. “It’s okay. Rex, my husband, is happy.”
“And what about you?”