Page 41 of Red Snow
“You don’t have to do that, man.”
“I know, but you did it for me when Stacey was coming over, so I owe you. Go get yourself some rest, and we’ll hit it hard first thing in the morning.”
“Thanks, Jarrod. I appreciate it.”
Marcus pulls into HQ and parks the cruiser. While I walk inside, he saunters to his SUV and gets in without another word. It really has been a long day, and I need Marcus on top of this game if we’re ever going to get close to the Snowman Killer.
As for me, I waltz into HQ and see that it’s completely empty, with one exception. As I walk to my desk and set my handful of papers down, I see the light in Danielle’s office is still on. I make my way to the media room so I can go over the video from Koot’s again, and when I walk past the office, Danielle isn’t at her desk, so I continue on my route and press play. The video starts from the beginning, and this time I won’t miss anything. I plan to watch the whole thing from beginning to end, and hope with everything I have that we missed something in all the fast forwarding. But just as I sit down, I hear Danielle walking on her high heels into the room.
“Burning the midnight oil, huh?” I hear her say from behind me. When I turn around, I see her leaning against the door jamb with crossed arms and a sneaky grin. Her black jacket is gone, revealing a tight white button-up. “I was wondering when you two would get back. How’d things go at the scene, and where’s Marcus?”
I turn back around and try to keep my eyes glued to the screen. Right now, Brenda Cox hasn’t even entered the frame. “I told Marcus to go ahead and take off, and the scene was okay. I have the statements on my desk, but forensics got nowhere worth mentioning. We’ve got no evidence and the interviews we’ve conducted haven’t given us shit. It’s a slow start, to say the least, so we’re feeling a little annoyed.”
“I bet. I’m still a little shaken by all of it honestly,” she says, slightly slurring the last word. When I hear it, I immediately recognize the smell of alcohol in the air.
“Are you drinking in there?” I turn around and ask.
Danielle smiles. “Oh calm down, Detective. I’m not drunk or anything, but after you see a severed human head on top of a snowman, you need something to help you relax and get the image out of your mind. As much as an image like that gets burned into your brain, I feel a little better now. You should come have a drink with me.”
I let the thought tease me before thinking better of it. “No thanks. I need to watch this shit again. We had to have missed something.”
“The video isn’t going anywhere, Jarrod,” she pleads, her bossy tone is gone. “It’ll make you feel better, and hell, it might even help you look at the case from a different angle. Better yet, maybe you just need to take your mind off of it for a second. Let your brain relax, then get back at it. Come on, just a shot or two, then I’ll leave you alone.”
I think about it again, and I know she’ll keep pressing the issue unless I agree, so I decide to take her up on her offer.
“Fine. Two shots, then I’ve gotta go over this again.”
Danielle smiles at me before turning around and leading me to her office only a few feet away. She sits down at her desk and I take the seat in front of it. A bottle of Ciroc rests on the wooden desk next to a single shot glass. Danielle doesn’t hesitate to pour the crystal clear liquid into the tiny glass and offer it to me.
“Here,” she says, holding the glass in the air with one hand and tossing her long brown hair over her shoulder with the other.
I eyeball her suspiciously before eventually taking the glass and knocking it back. The liquid stings all the way down, but once it hits my belly, I feel glad that I decided to come have a drink. I don’t know about all the crap Danielle was saying about looking at the case from a different angle, but I feel better already, and that might be all the help I need.
“So, Detective Granger,” Danielle emphasizes my name, slowing down as she says it. “How are things in your non-cop life? How’s the missus?”
“The missus?” I say behind a chuckle. “There’s no missus, Danielle, and my non-cop life is as rocky as it always has been.”
“No missus? What happened to the red head?”
My stomach comes to life with nerves at the mention of the red head, because even my stomach knows she’s talking about Stacey. I respond by motioning for her to pour me another shot, which I take to the head the second the glass hits my fingers. I’m already at my two-shot limit I set for myself.
“The red head doesn’t want anything to do with me,” I admit, enjoying the liquor plunging into my stomach. “She broke it off and told me to take care of myself, which I know are the words of death. It looks as though the red head is moving on, so I’m trying to do the same.”
“Does that mean you’re officially dating?” Danielle asks with a smile.
“Nope,” I answer. “I’m just living. Taking it day by day, and trying to focus on this case. I’m not giving much thought to anything else. But don’t think for a second you’re gonna bring up Stacey and not spill the beans aboutyournon-cop life. How are things with you and the Dean?”
Now it’s Danielle’s turn to take a shot. She pours it and knocks it back within a three second span.
“His name is Ethan, and things with us are fine.”
“Really? Is that why you looked so disappointed when you said it? Your mouth says things are fine, but your face says you hate the guy.”
Danielle giggles as she slides the shot glass across the table. I pick it up and pour myself a third shot, telling myself it’ll be my last one, although I’m not sure if I believe myself.
“Hey, Ethan is fine,” Danielle says. “He’s well-liked at UAA, and he’s nice, and caring, and handsome. He’s a gentleman, and we’re happy, so don’t go judging my face.”
“I wouldn’t judge it if you could control it,” I tell her before swallowing the shot. “Hell, you sounded bored even when complementing him.”
