Damaged Goods Mysteries by Jennifer L. Hart

Author:Jennifer L. Hart [Hart, Jennifer L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781951215811
Publisher: Elements Unleashed

“Who has keys to this building?” The detective, a portly woman with a face like a bulldog asked me.

Despite the ever-present Miami heat, I stood with my arms wrapped around myself. My insides had flash frozen the instant I’d thought the words organ harvesting. I must have related the information to the 911 operator, but I had no memory of it. Or of the police and the paramedics storming into the apartment and ordering Luke and I to wait outside. The image of the victim strapped to a gurney and being loaded into the ambulance would haunt me until the day I died.

Luke had wrapped an arm around my shoulders, the first physical contact we’d had in weeks. Though I knew I had to get used to not leaning on him the way I once had, I was too shaken to pull away. We’d stood together while the ambulance drove off and the police swarmed the building.

“Mrs. Parker?” The bulldog prodded.

“Sorry, I’m a little shaken.” I refocused on her. “What did you ask?”

“I need a list of everyone who has keys to that apartment.”

“I’ll have to check with the landlord, but I’m pretty sure he’s the only one besides us.” A thought occurred to me. “Although we haven’t changed the locks since the former tenant was evicted so it’s possible he has a set.”

She scribbled something down in her notebook. “And you work for the owner?”

I nodded absently, my gaze straying up the stairs to the apartment. Big John was up at the top of the stairs, securing the place behind the police. “Who would do something like that?”

I hadn’t realized I’d spoken aloud until bulldog answered me. “Don’t worry, we’ll catch whoever did this to her.”

I forced a smile that I didn’t feel. “I just hope she’s going to be all right. Whoever she is.”

“She’s lucky your team stopped in today. Any longer and you would have found her corpse.”

I blanched. If not for the mad spitter complaining about the stain, we wouldn’t have been there and no one would have found the girl until it was too late. Bulldog tucked her notebook away and straightened her blue jacket. “I have your card, I’ll contact you if we have any further questions.”

From my own experience with law enforcement, I knew she would be true to her word and that was my official warning to not take any unexpected trips. I didn’t take it personally. She was doing her job, treating everyone like a suspect until they could be cleared of such a heinous crime.

Luke patted my arm once then moved off towards a police vehicle. I scanned the area and spied the downstairs tenant several yards away, being questioned by a uniformed officer.

Big John descended the stairs, his expression carefully neutral. He was a crusty old SOB, but I had a feeling even he was shaken by the gruesome discovery.

“Can you distract the downstairs tenant for a few minutes?” I asked him. So far the mad spitter hadn’t spotted me and I wanted to keep it that way.

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