Page 26 of Creole Kingpin
“Excuse me. Ma’am?” he says as I walk by, but I pretend not to hear him.
I’ve got my key out and about to slide it into the lock when I sense him behind me.
He sucks his teeth and his nose whistles when he breathes. “This is some perfect timing. I was just knocking on your door.”
I glance over my shoulder, giving him as much time as I’d give a bee buzzing around my head. “What do you want? I’m not buying anything. Not your bibles. Not your vacuums. Not your bullshit. Not today. This building doesn’t allow soliciting, and I’m running late.”
That’s when I make a pivotal mistake. I meet his beady cop eyes and there’s noaw shucks, ma’am, I didn’t mean to bother youin them. His eyes are hard and sharp, but that’s not the worst part. I see recognitionin them.
Fuck. He knows who I am.
Why am I surprised? I’ve spent the last fifteen years in this city attracting the wrong kind of attention from plenty of cops, but this guy isn’t familiar.
Have I ever met him?I flip through my mental files and come up empty.
That glint in his flat gray eyes tells me whatever is going to come out of his mouth next is nothing I want to hear.
“Let’s try this again. I’m Detective Cavender.” He flips out a badge and flashes it at me quickly, but I make out all the simple hallmarks of a legitimate NOPD shield. Crescent on top. Star in the middle. “I need to speak to you about last night.”
“What about last night?” I ask.
His bushy brows dive together on his forehead. “You didn’t hear the fire alarm?”
My eyebrows go up, and it takes no effort at all to look eminently surprised with a side of panicked. “Fire? There was a fire? Is everyone okay? Was there damage?”
His gaze narrows further. “So you weren’t here last night?”
“Clearly not, if I didn’t know there was a fire.”
“There wasn’t a fire.” He sucks on his teeth again.
I blink, assuming another one of my favorite guises for dealing with cops—playing dumb. “Wait. I’m confused. You just said there was a fire.” My head falls to the side, and I squint to really nail it home.
He shoves his hands in his pockets and his lips pinch. I get the sense he’s frustrated with me, and inside, I smile.I can waste your time way more effectively than you can waste mine, Detective.
“There was a firealarm. Pulled on this floor.”
Again, I evince confusion. “Now you’ve totally lost me. You’re investigating a fire alarm when there was no fire? It seems like detectives in this fine city would have better things to do.”
His nostrils flare, and he looks like he’s losing his patience with me.Good.
“No, I’m investigating the crime scene and the dead body that was discovered.”
I slap a hand to my chest, thankful acting has always seemed like second nature for me. It comes with the territory when your job is to create a fantasy. “Oh myGod. Are you serious?This building is supposed to be safe! Jesus Christ. What the hell?” I pretend to have the chills and shiver as I glance up and down the hall. “Did the cameras catch the person who did it?”
He studies me like a scientist and I’m whatever he’s growing in a petri dish. “Cameras haven’t worked in months, according to the building manager. You don’t know anything about any of this? You weren’t involved in any way, Ms. Maison?”
I jerk back in overly exaggerated surprise. “Excuse me, do I know you?”
Cavender’s smile turns predatory, as if the dumbass thinks he’s got an edge on me. I would shake my head if it wouldn’t ruin my act, but instead I mentally roll my eyes.
“Pretty sure most everyone in the department is aware of you, Ms. Maison. You’re what we like to call ... a person of interest.”
Finally, I hit my limit and drop all pretenses because I really do have shit to get done. “So, what you’re saying, Detective Cavender, is that you’re profiling me in connection with an ongoing investigation in hopes that somehow you’ll connect me to it, even though I wasn’t here and have no idea what you’re talking about. Is that right? Because if it is, I’m happy to take a report of this incident to my councilperson so she knows exactly how the cops in this jurisdiction treat her constituents.”
This time, when he stares at me, I get a definite impression of a snake.
“That’s a lot of big words for a woman who spends most of her time on her back ... not reading.”
