Dark in Death (In Death 46)

Eve didn’t glide on glides. She moved. Jake, long legs and jump boots, kept up with her, weaving and bobbing. She noted he got a lot of double takes, chin and finger points along the way. Apparently he didn’t consider being recognized every five seconds part of a weird day.

She caught a movement, glanced back to see a woman barreling up the glide with a wild look in her eyes. So Eve finger pointed herself. “No,” she said, firm and cool.

“But I just wanna—”

“No.”

Jake flashed a smile over his shoulder as he quickened his steps to match Eve’s pace. “Maybe later.”

“I love you, Jake!” the woman shouted—with, Eve noted, a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

“Is that usual?” she asked.

He shrugged. “It happens. Did you really get kicked in the face by a dwarf?”

“It happens.”

When he laughed, Eve decided he was—possibly—okay.

“Since you had that face-to-face,” Eve began, “did you notice her eye color?”

“Brown. Ah … maybe hazel leaning brown.”

“You pay attention.”

“I like looking at women,” he said easily. “All kinds of women.”

“The one who just confessed her love for you. Can you describe her?”

“Ah … heading toward forty—not quite there yet. Pretty blue eyes, a lot of dark blond hair. Wavy, not curly. Is this a test?”

“You did okay.”

“She was wearing a wedding ring,” he added. “Not everybody does who is—you do—but it’s something I like to notice.”

“Not a bad policy. How about the redhead? Did you notice any jewelry?”

“Skull earrings, now that you mention it. She had gloves on, so I can’t say if she wore a ring.”

Keeping up the pace, she wound him through to Yancy’s division, and saw Brad the bartender already there.

Brad spotted her, and the initial look of relief in his exhausted eyes turned to wide-eyed stunned when he recognized Jake.

“Um, Lieutenant … um.”

“Dallas.”

“Right. This is so chill. I mean, it’s awful. I’ve been trying … Jake Kincade. Wow. Iced.”

“Detective Yancy, Mr. Kincade also got a good look at the suspect.”

“You—you were there?”

“Another time and place,” Eve said before Brad could stammer out more. “We appreciate you coming in this morning, Brad.”

“Didn’t get any sleep anyway. I got a good look at her, I did. It’s just harder to, like, see her now. The lights in there are whack, on purpose, so …”

“We’re getting there.” Yancy, only a few years Brad’s senior, offered the bartender an encouraging smile.