Maxwell Smith approached, and she couldn’t help but want to smooth down his dirty blond hair, though she kept her hands to herself. He’d had the same sexy, disheveled look at the academy, and although he pulled it off, she was more of a hair in place kind of girl who preferred men who took things seriously.
“I was just about to call you two,” Max said. “We have the identity of the victim. Her name is Alicia David. Twenty-three years old. She’s a local girl, works as an escort, and has a short record. She’s been in trouble for some petty theft as a juvenile and has one drug arrest from about a year ago. There’s no family to speak of. Her mother left the city years ago, and her father is unknown. The girl doesn’t have a soul to notify, other than a roommate.”
Max seemed pleased with himself. Lizzy wondered if he’d ever advance and how well he’d do if his partner wasn’t around to hold his hand.
“And whoever this ‘Lover’ is,” Darek said.
Max leaned on his desk. “I put a list together of tattoo parlors and sex shops in town. A few are in the same location.”
Darek walked to the closest coffee pot and poured himself a cup of black. “That’s interesting. Maybe we should start there?”
“Agent McNamara,” said a voice from across the room. Lizzy turned to see Special Agent Sam Reed had finally shown up as promised.
“Agent Reed.” Her smile widened, and she walked over to greet him with a handshake, which he quickly turned into a side hug. She noticed Darek’s suspicious look and knew he thought he’d figured out the leg up, but he was way off base. Agent Reed was simply her boss, one who liked to welcome her with a hug.
She preferred not to be so close to anyone, but she’d learned to give people the little things they wanted when it came to affection. The practice got her further along in life. She’d been told to use any opportunity as it came, each and every one, and there was a strategy with the pencil skirts and pumps, one she’d found had been most effective when working with men.
“You have some good news for me I hope,” Agent Reed said. “I don’t like the manner of death. Carving a message? It screams front page news.” The man pulled an antacid roll from his pocket and chewed one of the tablets directly from the foil. He ate the things like candy.
“Yeah, we’re doing our best to keep things under wraps,” Lizzy said. “We finally have a name, and we have a few leads to follow. She was wearing a collar and had a tattoo taking up most of her back, which is where the carving took place. It overlapped a little bit, but we have photographs to start with. The victim was also wearing a submissive collar, so we’re looking into that as well. Couple that with the fact that she’s an escort, and I’m sure we’re looking at someone she’s been seen around with.”
“Sounds good,” Reed said. “Get out there, and let’s catch this bastard before we get a repeat. And while we’re talking about repeats, take into consideration any murder in the past with the same signatures. We need to know if we have a copycat, or if this is similar to anything we’ve seen.”
“Does it look familiar?” She folded her arms across her chest and shifted her stance.
“Honey, I’m so old, I’ve seen it all before. As the old saying goes, there’s nothing new under the sun.” With that, he turned and headed in the direction of Chief Robbins’s office while she was still cringing over his term of endearment. She wasn’t anyone’s honey. The last person who called her that had been her father.
4
Darek
Once the crime scene photos had found their way to Darek’s desk, he and Lizzy headed out to the victim’s apartment, which was all the way across town from the hotel where she was killed.
“This place doesn’t look so bad,” Darek said, surveying the apartment building. He buzzed up to the room and waited until they were let in.
“I’ve lived in worse,” Lizzy said.
She certainly didn’t look like it, and he had a feeling the gorgeous woman was going to be full of surprises. For one, she was much softer than she first appeared, but still, somehow stronger, all at once. It was the strangest thing, and he’d thought he understood strong, complicated women.
He stayed a step behind her until they got to the elevator where he stepped around to push the button. “So, you have some sort of relationship with your boss? That was some hug.” He could tell that the hug and the endearment had turned her off, and he laughed when she made a face.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She laughed, and he was relieved that she wasn’t insulted.
“Well, this is going to be an awkward game,” Darek said. “But you’ve given me the challenge of figuring you out.”
“And most women would be insulted, right? I’m perfectly okay with the fact that you’re a misogynist who thinks that women have to have some sort of wiles or sexual advantage.” The elevator door pinged and a moment later, it opened.
“Ouch, you’re the one who said you said you had one, not me.” He knew he sounded a bit defensive, but she laughed loudly, her voice filling up the elevator as they stepped inside.
“Calm down,” she said. “I’m not angry. I’m pulling your leg. And don’t try to kill yourself figuring me out. In time, you’ll learn that I’m pretty transparent, but do you really need to know me so quickly?”
“Call me impatient. I’m intrigued.” It was exciting to get to work with someone who challenged him in new ways. He loved Max, but like any other partnership, they could get on each other’s nerves.
“Makes me wonder what else Max said about me.” She gave him a glance over her shoulder as she exited the elevator.
He laughed. She’d remembered Max, too, and she contemplated telling him what she knew of the guy and what he was like back in the academy.
Lizzy knocked on the victim’s apartment door. A moment later, it opened a crack, and a freckle-faced redhead stuck her head out.
“Kari Foster? I’m Special Agent Lizzy McNamara, and this is Detective Blake with the NYPD.”
“Come in.” The girl’s eyes were red as if she’d been crying. She was dressed in a baggy flannel shirt with yoga pants and bare feet. She curled up on the sofa and offered them a seat.
Darek opened the envelope containing the crime scene photos and passed it to Lizzy. He hated showing the images to the girl, but he knew it was a necessary evil.
“How long has Alicia lived here with you, Kari?” Lizzy kept the photos turned face down so Kari couldn’t see them.
“About nine months. We weren’t terribly close. Two ships in the night kind of thing. I worked when she was home and vice versa.” She picked at her cuffs, flicking the lint off.
“She worked as an escort,” Lizzy said. “Do you know if any of her clients were problematic?”
Darek spoke up. “Did she have a boyfriend that didn’t like her career path?”
They each had thrown out something for the girl to chew on a bit.
“No, she wasn’t seeing anyone as far as I knew, but we weren’t exactly the type of friends to talk about our relationships. I focus on my work, and she focused on hers. And well, to be honest, I didn’t want to know what kind of shit she was doing with the clients. I asked her one time, and she said she was into pain. That was all I needed to hear.”