Murders & Romance: A Psychic Detective Romantic Mystery (Isaac Taylor Mysteries Book 5) by Lashell Collins (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📗

“So, you don’t have a clue if she’s seeing anyone?”

“Nope. No clue.”

“Is she married?”

“No. I do remember Sidney asking her that question, and I’m pretty sure the response was no.”

“So you know more than you think you do! Did she ever mention a significant other when she was showing you houses?”

Isaac quietly cleared his throat and reached for his wallet.

“I believe I still have one of her cards.”

“Oh, I have her card. She gave it to me at your housewarming party.”

“Well, then by all means, please use it and ask her these uncomfortable questions yourself.”

“You are not being very helpful, Ike.”

“I do apologize.”

“No, you don’t. Get out of my lab.”

Isaac stifled a laugh and looked down at the floor for a second. Then he looked Hiroshi in the eyes, trying hard to hide any amusement.

“I’m sorry. Truly. I don’t know much about Miku, except that she’s great at her job, and I would recommend her services to anyone looking to buy or sell a home. I know that she’s smart and kind and funny in regard to her profession. I know literally nothing else.”

“You know that she’s cute.”

Isaac grinned. “I stand corrected. You’re absolutely right. That is one more thing I do know about her. She’s quite attractive. I also know that I wish you luck.”

Hiroshi narrowed his eyes.

“Seriously,” Isaac offered. “I think the two of you might just click. She’s got a great sense of humor and so do you. I think you should go for it.”

Hiroshi smiled at him. “Thanks! I think I will.”

“May I go now, please.”

“Get out of here. I’ve got work to do.”

Isaac turned for the door, still hearing Hiroshi laughing as he entered the hallway.

Back at his desk, Isaac got to work, pulling up the old case files on the computer and going through whatever he could find. He looked through the police report of the rape itself, and was dismayed to find that the actual rape kit — the body of evidence collected off the victim that night in the ER — had been booked into evidence, but had never been tested.

It was the dirty little secret behind all rape cases. The backlog of untested rape kits collecting dust on a shelf in every police evidence room across the country.

That knowledge went a long way to understanding how the boys accused were never convicted. The untested rape kit, coupled with the boys’ high-dollar attorneys — provided by their rich parents — told the sad story.

Isaac was willing to bet that if he were to request that rape kit be submitted for DNA testing, their two castrated victims would be guilty as sin.

He raised up and stretched out his back, glancing at the clock across the room. He was shocked to realize several hours had passed. It was getting close to shift change.

He balled up a piece of scratch paper he’d been making notes on, and reached to toss it into the small waste basket beside his desk.

At the same time, a janitor reached for the waste basket, his bare forearm connecting with the back of Isaac’s hand.

Razor-sharp claws tore at Isaac from the inside, and the flash that came with it showed the janitor shove a man backward out of a doorway. Then he stepped inside the house and proceeded to beat the other man with an old fashioned billy club.

“Ahh!”

Isaac doubled over in his seat, clutching the edge of his desk.

“Ike! You okay, man?”

Pete sounded worried.

“Sorry, dude. I didn’t mean to hit you there.”

“What? You touched him?”

The worry in Pete’s voice morphed into pissed in zero point two seconds, and Isaac fought to regain his composure.

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”

He held up a hand to back Pete up. But he did appreciate the way his partner had become something of a watchdog for his personal space.

“You sure?”

“I’m really sorry. I was just reaching for the trash can here.”

Isaac looked up at the guy. He knew that the janitors who cleaned the station rotated on trash duty, but he thought he knew all of the ones on staff. This guy he didn’t recognize at all. Must be new.

“It’s all right. Do your job.”

The man emptied their can and moved on to the next set of desks. Isaac took a good look at the man’s face, still slightly panting. Then he took a deep breath and tried to shake off what he’d just seen.

“You sure you’re okay, man?” Pete asked again.

Isaac glanced at Pete and thought about telling him, but then decided against it.

“Yeah.”

He turned back to his paperwork, but he couldn’t get the images out of his mind. And he wondered if that flash had been from the past or from the future. Either way, it had freaked him out. Such brutality and cruelty.

The real question was how the hell a man like that had gotten hired by a janitorial service that frequently went into police stations and courthouses. Isaac knew for a fact that all employees of the service were required to go through a stringent background check, so how had this guy slipped through the cracks?

At any rate, he knew that he had to find out more, because that flash had been more than disturbing.

He glanced around the detectives pit and spotted the man across the room, emptying more trash cans. His gaze zoomed in on the man’s uniform, and he took note of the name embroidered there. Savage.

Fitting.

“Did Hiroshi have any news?”

Pete’s question brought him back from the rabbit hole’s edge.

“Uh, yeah.” He tried again to shake it off. “He said both our vics were hit in the head with a blunt object. A means of subduing them for transport to the crime scenes, where they were then woken up and made to watch while they were unmanned with something like a machete or a kukri.”

“Damn!”

Pete visibly flinched and repositioned in his seat, and Isaac couldn’t blame him.

“What about you? Any luck locating our third alleged rapist?”

“Yes and no.”

“Explain.”

“Well, apparently he’s a senior at Cleveland State University. At least,