Kill Shot (11 page)
“I guess.” Micki turned to look at Aida.
She was dressed similarly to their previous meeting, in a skirt and jacket with Mary Janes and white socks. It almost looked like a school uniform, especially with Aida’s shiny brown hair curled under in a bob with straight across bangs. She shoved her glasses up on her nose with her short fingers.
“What are you doing here?” Micki asked.
“I’m here to supervise the crime scene. My guys are out there processing. What are you doing here?”
“I came with Oz and Vinnie. They asked me to recreate my angles to see where the sniper might have been shooting from.”
Aida looked around. “I’d say that building, or that one.” She pointed her stubby index finger at two adjacent structures.
“Why do you think so?” Micki peered through the lens, scanning the tops of the buildings surrounding the park.
“The height is right for the angle of trajectory. I’m just guessing, but then I’m a professional and my guess is pretty accurate.”
Micki glanced at Aida to see if she was joking but the diminutive woman was completely serious. “Aren’t those the Jobe buildings?” she asked. “The architecture looks similar.”
“Those are the Jobe Towers, East and West.”
A tingling began at the base of Micki’s spine and rapidly crept up to her neck, making the tiny hairs stand on alert.
“And this body in the lake might be related to your assault,” Aida went on. “We’ll see how long he’s been in the water and how he died. If it’s a typical bloat and float, he will have been in the water at least seventy-two hours before the internal gases create a neutral buoyancy.”
Micki blanched. “Oh, gag! I could have gone all my life without knowing that.” A full blown shiver racked her body. There were too many things going on and too many changes taking place all at once.
#
“Sorry it’s taking so long.” Oz squeezed her shoulder. “Vinnie and I were first on the scene so the Lieutenant wants us to stay until the body is removed.”
Micki was tired of waiting, but Oz appeared to be engrossed in the unfolding drama. She shrugged. “It looks like you’re all just standing around down there.”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going on. But I got the past week’s records from the guy at the boat rental place. We can check and see if someone rented a boat to dispose of a body when Aida tells us how long he’s been in there.”
“Well, that just sounds dumb.” Micki frowned at him.
“Sometimes felons trip themselves up by doing really dumb things.”
“So what do you think? Some guy drags a body down the dock and loads it in a rented boat in broad daylight. Don’t you think someone would notice?”
“We’ll see.” Oz was in another great mood.
Micki realized how much he loved his job. When he was in the big middle of a case he was almost as turned on as when they were making love. Almost.
“What are you grinning at?” he asked.
“You,” she said. “By the way, Aida said the sniper fired at me from one or the other of the Jobe Towers.” She pointed them out. “She said something about the angle...”
“Of trajectory,” he finished. He looked through the scope at each of the towers, in turn. “We need to check out how accessible those rooftops are.”
“But, anyone could have gone up there.” she protested.
“Doubtful. I don’t think just anyone could walk through the security guards with a high-powered rifle and gain access to the penthouse.”
“So you think Aida’s wrong?”
“Aida’s never wrong,” he said. “I need to figure out how someone got up there and why.”
“How’s it goin’, Mick?” Vinnie greeted her as he neared. “The Lieutenant wants to talk to you, Oz.”
Oz loped back down to the dock as the body was being loaded into the back of the Coroner’s van. Both Micki and Vinnie watched Oz’s retreat with interest.
“Oz says I owe you an apology for smartin’ off to you the other day.” Vinnie sat down in the place Oz had just vacated. He examined his hands and gnawed a hangnail with due reverence.
“No need,” Micki said.
“I didn’t think so either, but you know Oz. Nobody can touch his little China doll. God forbid I should speak to you inappropriately.” He gnawed another nail.
Micki considered his words. Yes, that’s what it was like. Oz would never understand why she felt so stifled by the way he loved her. He had her on a pedestal, in a glass case where he could take her out and play with her, but she wasn’t supposed to breathe without him. How could he not know how stifling it was?
“Anyways, I was just sayin’, it would be a shame for Oz to get his heart broke again if you’re just playin’ with him. That’s all I was sayin’, y’know?” He turned and searched her face for some sign of understanding.
“Yeah, Vinnie,” she said. “I know exactly what you mean.”
#
Later that afternoon, Oz and Vinnie returned to the crime lab, with Micki in tow.
Aida hailed her with a nod. “Getting to be a regular around here, aren’t you? You should watch who you hang out with.”
Micki grinned at her. “It’s due to my bad upbringing. We’re all from the same neighborhood.”
“Bad element, huh?” Aida looked at Oz and laughed. She tapped the keys on her keyboard and one of Micki’s photos appeared on the screen. It showed a dark haired man staring directly into her lens. “This is the guy who later met with Polanski. He’s named Israel Soto. He’s got a juvenile record with some gang activity, but nothing recent. He may have been meeting with Polanski to set up some kind of deal or they might have been two old friends having dinner, but whatever their agenda, you spoiled the party.”
“Right place, right time.” Oz smiled. “And I seriously doubt those two are old friends.”
Aida’s stubby fingers flew over her keyboard and new photos appeared on screen. “I positively matched your newspaper clipping with the lady in the park. The facial recognition software matched her on all planes. Laurel Jobe, high society lady.”
Jobe.
Micki flinched when she heard the name.
“A blue blood, huh?” Vinnie looked at the two photographs side by side up on Aida’s screen.
“Not exactly,” Aida said. “Laurel was a beauty queen at eighteen. She was Miss Rhode Island or something like that. She caught the eye of Hobart Jobe when he was in his mid-fifties. Laurel is his third wife, but most significantly, she produced the all important male heir to carry on the Jobe name. He has daughters from his previous marriages, but little Hobart Jobe, III, is the apple of his doting daddy’s eye.”
“How do you know all this stuff, Aida,” Oz asked. “You’re amazing.”
Aida laughed. “I Googled her.”
Micki grimaced. “And Laurel Jobe was hugging some guy in public? Maybe it was innocent. Maybe he’s her brother? They both have brown hair.”
“Wrong,” Aida said. “He has brown hair. Hers is Sable Glow number three from the
C’est Vous
Salon.
“You didn’t find that on Google,” Micki accused.
“I have my ways,” Aida replied.
Micki raised her brows. “Who would have thought that my simple little photo shoot would stir up so much trouble?”
Oz glanced at her, then caught Vinnie’s eye. “There’s always trouble when you’re involved, Micki.”
Vinnie snickered.
Micki crossed her arms over her chest and skewered them with her gaze. “It could be completely innocent. If you guys go poking into this Jobe lady’s business there’s no telling what’ll happen. It might cause an otherwise happy family to split up.”
“Otherwise happy women don’t need an outside man to keep them company,” Oz said positively.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Aida said. “One for the money and one for the honey.”
Oz turned to gaze at her with raised eyebrows.
“Oh, grow up, Oz man,” Aida said. “You’re dating a stripper, for Crissake!”
Oz frowned at Micki and ran his fingers through his thick hair. “I’m not dating a...a dancer any longer.”
Micki felt a twinge of relief over hearing him admit it in public.
“Good,” Aida said. “A nice boy like you could get some terrible disease from all those lap dances.”
Vinnie snorted in laughter and Oz turned a shade of red Micki had never seen before.
#
CHAPTER EIGHT
Oz dropped Vinnie by his car and took Micki to a drive through restaurant. At the apartment, Micki spread their fare on the coffee table. She scooted over so Oz could join her on the sofa.
“Tough couple of days.” She reached for her hamburger.
“Understatement. Major understatement.” Oz bit into his burger.
“You nabbed an armed fugitive in the restaurant last night and a dead man floats to the surface of the lake today. Is this what your life is all about now?”
“Pretty much.”
“Also, the woman in the park was Laurel Jobe and the sniper was on top of one of the Jobe buildings. Is that a coincidence?”
He snorted. “I don’t believe in coincidence.”
Micki turned sideways to curl her legs under her, giving Oz the benefit of her double-barrel stare. “And when were you going to mention to me that your Lieutenant Qualls wants to transfer you to Homicide?”
Oz stuffed a handful of fries in his mouth, she suspected to preclude an immediate answer.
“Homicide, Oz, as in death.” She gave him total silence, willing to wait him out.
“It’s a promotion, Micki,” he said. “The Lieutenant encouraged me to study for the Sergeant’s exam. I passed and he thinks I’ve got what it takes.”
Micki continued to give him the stare.
Oz shrugged uncomfortably. “It’s no more dangerous than being a street cop. In fact it may be less so.”
“I’m not buying it.”
He grinned his one-sided grin. “It sounds like you give a damn what happens to me.”
Micki slammed her hamburger back down on the table. “Well, of course I do. Don’t be an idiot.”
“In that case, I’ll set your mind at ease and let you know that, statistically there are far fewer deaths and injuries among homicide cops than street cops.”
Micki rolled her eyes. “You invented that statistic!” She stabbed a French fry into ketchup and bit it viciously.
Oz removed a dab of ketchup from her chin with his thumb and licked it off.
Micki caught her breath. Oz could turn the simplest thing into a sexual act. The next sentence she’d planned to say faded from her thoughts as her anger ebbed away to be replaced by longing. She was unable to protest when he reached for her and kissed her tenderly.
“I’m flattered that you’re worried about me, Micki.”
He kissed her again and grazed her cheeks with his fingertips. “But, don’t worry. I’m a big guy and I’m pretty good at my job. I promise not to take any unnecessary chances.”
Micki took a deep breath and cleared her throat which had suddenly become husky. She nodded and leaned against Oz’ shoulder. “You better not.”
#
The fact that Micki was worried about him made him hopeful. At least she cared enough to bitch at him.
She announced the intention of taking a shower, leaving him to clear the remains of their meal and check the locks.
He stored his gun in the drawer of the bedside table and unfastened his ankle holster, tucking it beside the other weapon. He unbuttoned his shirt and heard the water start in the shower. In a moment he’d dropped his clothes and stood naked outside the bathroom door.
He knew there was some reason Micki didn’t want to make love to him even though the attraction was still obviously there. He thought it was about commitment.
I’ve only got one chance to make this right.
He turned the knob and entered the bathroom. Steam had fogged up the mirror in spite of the exhaust fan. Oz stepped behind the curtain and gazed at Micki standing under the shower.
She was crying.
“Aw, Micki...” He pulled her out of the direct stream of water.
She looked surprised, but didn’t order him out. Oz held her gaze locked with his. He stroked her arms with his fingertips, willing her to leap into his embrace.
“Come on, Micki. I can’t do it all. Give me something.” His heart pounded as he reached for her.
A single tear rolled down her wet cheek. Micki opened her arms and raised her trembling chin. That was enough.
Oz lifted her, cradling her head in his hand as he kissed her lips. She tasted like tears. Her arms came around his neck and she kissed him fiercely, clinging to him as though she was drowning. The ache that had lived in his chest dissolved in a warm glow.
Her body was like silk beneath his fingers. He stroked her breast and pressed against the length of her, his hands sliding over her curves.
Her legs wrapped around his torso and he grinned.
There it is
.
An engraved invitation. Micki and Oz are together again
. He’d make sure she remembered this night as long as she lived.
He touched her and caressed her body as he knew she liked to be touched. Micki nipped his shoulder, her teeth grazing his skin. He held her against the wall of the shower and teased her nipples with his tongue.
“Oz,” she whimpered his name, a note of urgency lingering in the air.
He entered her body and rocked her in his arms against the side of the shower, her body arching into his. Locking her legs behind him, she ground herself against him. It was as though no time had passed, as though she had never broken up with him. He thought the joining of their bodies signaled a reunion of their spirits, of their relationship. She held on as she rode him to her own rhythm.
