Sin immediately stiffened at his slightly awkward tone. “Who is it, Frank?”
“Jack.”
“McGuire! Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“Sin, he’s a valuable asset and—”
“And, nothing. He’s a self-centered bastard, and one of the reasons I was tossed from the FBI in the first place.”
“You have no one to blame for that but yourself.”
“Is that so,” Sin said. “Then why don’t we just sit this dance out. I’ll go back to my life and you can tango with McGuire.”
“Sin, damn it, listen to me. For once, just shut up and listen.” Frank Graham was yelling so loud that Sin had to move the phone receiver away from her ear. “You’re there because you are the best intuitive agent I have ever known. And that includes Charlie. But you’re also a little…how do I say this? Unrefined. Jack knows the system, so I want him there to calm any rough seas you may stir up.” He paused. “Scratch that. That you’ve already stirred up.”
Sin pulled her Balisong out of her pocket and snapped it open with a flick of her wrist. Putting the knife through battle maneuvers helped calm her nerves. She leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and snapped the blade shut. In a calm but stunted voice, she said, “You know our history better than anyone; I don’t know how you expect us to work together. If he gets in the way of my investigation you’re going to have to piece back together that fragile male ego of his. This is my case, Frank, and I’m not letting any smooth talking jackass fuck it up.”
Sin could hear Frank take a deep breath and exhale. “I’m sorry for raising my voice. He knows who’s in charge. Just give him a chance. People do change in seven years, Sin.”
“I’ll try, Frank, but you know the old saying, ‘A leopard can’t change its spots.’ When should I expect them?”
“Evelyn will check in this morning and the others will be back in Miami late tonight or early tomorrow morning. They were temporarily reassigned to help out in the Charlotte office.”
As Sin was listening to Frank, an older redhead knocked on the door.
“Evelyn?” Sin mouthed.
The woman smiled and held up two cups of coffee.
“Frank, I have to go. Evelyn just walked in and, more importantly, she has coffee.”
The two introduced themselves and Sin thanked her for the coffee.
“My pleasure. It’s nice to have a little bit more estrogen around here.” She held up her cup as if toasting Sin. “We girls need to stick together.”
Thinking of Jack McGuire, Sin mumbled, “You’ve got that right.”
“I received a message from Quincy saying that he has the toxicology results,” Evelyn said. “I thought you might want to head over there and talk to him yourself.”
Sin read the note, thanked Evelyn, and grabbed her backpack. “Hey, do you think it would be possible to get a coffee pot placed in this room?”
Evelyn smiled. “I’ll just borrow the pot from Jack’s office.”
Sin laughed. “It’s good to have you on board.”
Evelyn agreed, and then looked at Sin’s backpack. “I don’t mean to be nosey but your phone seems to be vibrating non-stop.”
“That bastard, Rand, gave out my cell as the hotline number. I’m just letting everything go to voicemail.”
Evelyn put out her hand, palm up, and wiggled her fingers. “Why don’t you leave that with me, I’ll go through the voicemails, and have a new phone waiting for you when you get back.”
Sin didn’t know whether to hug her, jump for joy, or both. Not wanting to look like an idiot, she just handed her phone over along with its password, and gave the woman an awkward hug. “Thank you,” she said, “I was about to shoot it and put it out of its misery.”
“Get out of here,” Evelyn said. “You don’t want to keep Quincy waiting.”
Sin noticed a familiarity in Evelyn’s tone when she mentioned Quincy. “Just how well do you know Dr. Howard?”
Evelyn blushed. “We girls need to have a beer, and I’ll tell you some stories about Quincy.” She shooed Sin away. “Tell him Eve said hi.”
The appearance of Evelyn made Sin feel less alone.
And forty minutes later, she rolled up to Quincy’s office.
10
Sin and Quincy didn’t speak for very long. They discussed the toxicology results—Chloroform had been used to subdue the victim. It was the only drug found in the woman’s system. While she was at the ME’s office, Evelyn called.
The victim had been identified.
Her name was Vivienne Spinner, and she was an art student at ASPB—the Art School of the Palm Beaches. The college was located in Delray Beach, a seventy-minute ride north of Miami off Interstate 95.
Sin contacted the Palm Beach Sherriff’s Office and had them secure both Vivienne’s residence and car. She asked that no one enter either until she was on the scene. She then called the school’s director, Joan Wright, and arranged a meeting for later that afternoon.
After a whirlwind of a morning, Sin was back on the road and pointed north. Her first stop was an apartment building in the downtown area of Delray. Exiting I-95 at Atlantic Avenue, Sin soon found herself in the Art District—a renovated part of downtown between the interstate and the beach—the perfect location for an art college.
Sin rode onto North Swinton Avenue and found the Delray Arms Apartments. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to find the address. Cruisers were parked out front.
Riding up to an officer standing in front of the building, Sin identified herself and asked where to park. She was pointed to a shopping center adjacent to the residence.
She parked, stepped off her bike, and wiped the sweat from her brow. Another officer walked toward her
