Page 6 of Crossing Between
Grum patted my back as he held open the door for me. "Good luck. Don't let him scare you. He's all bark and no bite."
"Detective, I resent that. I amallbite." Varon was behind his desk with a bunch of papers spread out in front of him. He flashed his very sharp-looking fangs at me as Grum laughed before he left me alone.
A shiver went up my spine, but it wasn't in fear like Varon probably intended. I had to look away before I said something or did something embarrassing.
"Come sit, Zoey." Varon's eyes tracked me as I sat across from him. I resisted the urge to squirm in my seat under his scrutiny. "I'm glad to see you made it here almost unscathed." He stared pointedly at my face.
"Oh! This?" Laughing, I shrugged at him. "I'm a klutz and fell outside of the building yesterday, but don't worry! My face softened the fall in a beautiful fashion."
He just looked at me, blinked once, and picked up a paper from his desk to hand to me, completely ignoring my joke. "Please make sure you keep the map of the building on your person until you've learned the way around. It's not for the public's eyes either."
I took the paper gingerly, making sure not to have our fingers touch accidentally and put the map in my bookbag. Who knows what embarrassing thing I would do if we touched? The man was sin incarnate in his dark blue button-up shirt and gray slacks that I got a glance at when he stood to walk over to a filing cabinet. He even had a nice-looking ass. I'd take that to my grave if anyone asked me to admit it though.
"Your office is next to mine. It's not ready for you, yet, though. It's been used as storage for our backlog of files for the past few months since our last Medium quit. I have a request in for maintenance to clear it out, but it probably won't get done for a week or two." He was looking through some files as he spoke.
"Oh, that's not a problem." I hadn't thought I would have an office anyway. I could work in the corner if I had to as long as they were paying me the way they were. "I don't mind."
"Good. That makes things easier if you're not picky." Varon seemed to have found what he was looking for and came back to his chair. He had a brown folder in his hand that he opened, turning it toward me on the desk. "This is what I want you to focus on today. I'd like to see how you handle the dead." He pointed to the picture of a man on a medical slab. "This is John Doe. We found him two nights ago outsideDesire, a popular dance club downtown. He was already dead when the police arrived. His stomach was ripped open, and most of his organs were missing, but we don't know if it was some kind of supernatural or human that did this to him. I want you to summon his spirit and see what he remembers. I'll be going with you to observe how you work, along with the two detectives on the case."
Alrighty. Just jumping right in. "Let's do it."
Varon raised a brow. "Great." He pulled out his cell phone and sent a message to someone. "If you're ready, we'll head out and meet the other two at the medical examiner's office. You can read the file on the way. Follow me." He stood again, his movements looking more like a dance, and walked out of the office.
I scrambled out of the chair and went after him. I guess I'd explore more later. Varon led us to an underground parking garage that I hadn't known was even there. I really needed to look at the maps I was given more. He walked by the police vehicles that were lined up side by side. Just as I started to lose my breath, he stopped in front of a fancy car. I wasn't much of a car girl, but even I could tell that it screamed money and privilege.
"Zoey?" Varon had opened the passenger side door for me.
"Oh! Yes." I couldn't help the small blush that stained my cheeks as I got into the car, practically falling into it because it was so low to the ground. "Thank you." The seat sucked me in even though it didn't look like it was comfortable for a bigger person, but it was.
Varon closed the door and went around the front to get into the driver's seat. "Seatbelt." He clipped in his and started the engine.
The car practically purred as we pulled out of the garage and down the street. It barely felt like we were moving. "This is a very fancy sports car." The interior felt like smooth buttery leather under my fingers as I ran them over the console. "Is that glitter in the paint?" There were specks of light that flashed on the hood as we moved forward.
"This is a Bentley Bacalar." Varon's usually stoic face lit up as he ran his hands around the steering wheel. "Part of a limited edition run and yes, the paint has glitter in it." He eyed me from the side as if daring me to comment about a man having a glittery car.
I was still reeling at the mention of it being a Bentley. Even I knew that Bentley was one of the top luxury manufacturers in the vehicle world. If I scratched the side of the door, it would probably cost more than I would make in ten years. My body was coiled as I pulled my arms to my sides and my feet together, not moving an inch if I could help it.
Varon snorted before a laugh came out when he looked over at me. "Relax. Even if you somehow managed to damage the vehicle, that's what insurance is for, not to mention I can afford it."
I swung my head to look at him with eyes widened in horror. "You can't read minds, can you?" Oh, please don't let him be able to, considering I had been being a pervert over him a little while ago.
"No. I can't. You're just easy to read." His lips did that twitching thing that I was sure meant he was trying not to smile. "Not to mention I am an old vampire. That means I can tell by your scent what you're feeling."
Shock had me freezing again. I felt my face go white. "M-my scent? Like if I was afraid or happy?"
"Yes." He kept his eyes on the road but flexed his fingers on the steering wheel. "Or aroused."
If a meteor could just strike me, that would have been great. I looked straight ahead as my fingers tapped against my stomach with nerves. My boss, after not even two full days, knew that I thought he was hot because he could smell it. I was so fired.
"Now that we've established that you can move in the car, you should be looking at the file." Varon's voice lost its amusement and was back to the cold professionalism that he'd had when I was interviewed. It felt like a blizzard had swirled inside the space, it was so cold.
"Oh, right." I pulled the file from my bookbag and held it open. "John Doe was only between nineteen and twenty-four? He was just a baby." It made me think of Ryan who was only a few years older than that. What if this had been him when he ran around the city with those idiot friends of his? "No one has filed any missing persons reports that fit him?"
I hadn't gone to school specifically for criminal justice, but it was required that those of us who were Mediums take a few classes so that we could be aware of procedures or laws we may have to deal with out in the world. I'd taken an extra class or two as well because I had found it fascinating.
"Not yet. The medical examiner has more information for us, but from what they told me, the kid didn't have a drop of alcohol or drugs in him. He'd been insideDesire, evidenced by the stamp on his hand." Varon pointed to an area on the file at a stop light. "From what I could tell at the scene, his blood hadn't been touched. Just his organs."
I stroked the picture of John Doe gently with my thumb. His death was violent and no one was looking for him. The poor kid. Hopefully, his soul would still be around so I could summon him. If I could bring him back with my full power, I wouldn't have to worry about his soul being gone from this plane, I could yank him back, but since that wasn't an option, I had to rely on luck on that end.
