Page 23 of Ghost
“Yes—” I started to agree, because Maria would definitely think of Bianca more kindly if she was a violent person. Besides, Bianca was very strong.
Then I remembered the whole reason we were discussing this to begin with. “Shit.”
Maria jumped at my sudden curse. But I ignored her, already grabbing my suitcase. “If you want to meet her, come with me. Damen’s on a case, and one of Jamie’s pack is down. It might be poison, and Jamie could run into a problem. She’s there.”
Maria’s expression morphed into barely concealed concern, but she didn’t say another word as she fell into step behind me.
Chapter Nine
Bianca
Laughter
Iexpected chaos. After all, the poisoning of a police officer was bound to garner that kind of reaction. Damen and I, followed by Mr. Weaver and Kasai, entered a scene much unlike anything I expected.
The atmosphere was light, and no one—outside of Jamie—appeared to be worried. The person whom I assumed to be Seth was laying on a couch in the middle of the room. And the other three officers stood nearby: pointing, giggling, and eating ice-cream.
Jamie, in comparison, appeared to be the only normal one. “Stop laughing, you fools. And where do you keep finding all this food? This moron has been poisoned, and this is evidence. You shouldn’t be eating anything here.”
The burliest of the group glanced at me, but quickly averted his gaze when Damen’s arm brushed against mine. I wasn’t sure if it was accidental, but I appreciated the move. It had only been for an instant, but something about the man’s stare made me feel self-conscious.
I probably looked a mess. Or perhaps he was suspecting me of poisoning his fellow officer. In either case, I hadn’t paid them any mind when we first arrived. But now that Damen wasn’t flirting with me, it was hard to be comfortable with the vibe these men gave off.
The same man stepped away from his two laughing friends and shrugged at Jamie. “We already know the problem. There was suspicious smelling pork left out when we first arrived. Seth was hungry. We told him to leave it, but he ate the whole thing while cataloging the kitchen.”
“See!” Mr. Weaver sounded way too happy about this news. “Now to figure out why someone would target me. Go, fool children, do your work.”
Everyone ignored him. But that was probably because Damen and I were the only people who knew he was even there.
In the meantime, Jamie didn’t seem to even notice our arrival. “Despite the circumstances, this is still a crime scene. You cannot eat whatever you want. Remember, you are profes—”
“Hello, Officer Dunnet,” Damen interrupted, guiding me ahead of him as he walked toward the officer. “I’ve informed him of the issue. In the meantime, is everything under control here, or do you need my assistance?”
Jamie’s mouth twisted as he watched the strange scene. “I don’t think anything will happen, but it is procedure. But we do not require your brand of help. Thank you. Once our employer arrives, we’ll be fine. Especially if we continue the status-quo.”
“Are you sure?” Damen was glancing at him with a doubtful expression. “You’re not the most dominant individual.”
“It’sfine. Just a bit of poisoning. It’ll be out of his system in an hour or two.” Jamie’s frown deepened. “You don’t need to get involved.”
I glanced between the two of them, absolutely no clue what was happening.
Why was Titus being called here?
I wasn’t a moron, and there were a number of suspicious things happening. For example, how could a deadly poison—that killed another man—be easily digested by another. Or how a group of officers might find it appropriate to draw sharpie mustaches on their fallen comrade. The first item wasn’t logical, and the second wasn’t professional.
I wanted to leave. If they weren’t going to arrest us, and Jamie seemed to have it under control, then we probably should do just that.
“Damen…” I tugged on his shirt, and his attention snapped to me at once. “Should we leave?”
Jamie perked at my suggestion. “That is an excellent idea, Abernathy. You should do that. We’ll send you a list of findings later, you can create your profile from that.”
“That is asinine.” Damen turned from me, narrowing his eyes at Jamie. “You don’t have the slightest inkling of a motive. That is my job. Besides, your baseline is incorrect. This isn’t a suicide. It’s a murder. Which means that we’ll need to involve the Dubois family. After thisincidentis dealt with, we have more work to do.”
I was becoming more uncomfortable with each passing second. The officers continued to watch me, and I tried to non-offensively hide behind Damen’s back. Vaguely something Damen said begged for my notice, but I couldn’t place it.
Mr. Weaver, on the other hand, was fascinated by the conversation. He began to mutter under his breath. “Motive? Come to think of it, I wonder…” He glanced at me, quipping out a quick, “I’ll see you later.”
Then he vanished.
