Black Is Back (Quentin Black Mystery #4) (9 page)

A black, form-fitting and probably tailored shirt clung to his body above black pants that also looked tailored given his height and how well they fit. Below the pants he wore a light version of combat or motorcycle boots made to more closely resemble dress shoes. Over the shirt, he wore a collar-less leather motorcycle jacket with midnight blue racing stripes on the sleeves and across his chest, which made me wonder how he’d gotten here.

He got a head turn and a stare from the coroner’s lead investigator who happened to be assigned to the Medical Examiner that day, a woman maybe in her late twenties who had been introduced to us when we walked in as Dr. Jaipa. From the way Dr. Jaipa looked at the Medical Examiner, a total prick named Korhonen, she hated working for the guy as much as I hated having to deal with him any time we came down here.

Despite that sister-bond, her stare at Black didn’t thrill me.

Especially given her long, wavy black hair and athletic build that still showed off some pretty impressive curves. I watched her watch Black, her full lips parted below dark, liquid eyes as she followed his course across the room.

I bristled more when I saw her pupils dilate somewhere in the middle of that stare.

I knew Black had that effect on a lot of women.

I knew I had to get used to it, if he and I had a chance in hell of making things work––but I wasn’t there yet. Obviously.

Black himself didn’t seem to notice.

I wasn’t sure if that comforted me or not. Especially since I knew part of the reason it didn’t register for him was that he got it so often it was likely background noise.

He walked directly up to where Nick and I stood over the corpse with Korhonen, the aforementioned prick and Medical Examiner, who’d already managed to make a few cracks around my being there at all. Korhonen must be tipping into his mid-sixties if I had to guess. Rail thin with a receding white hairline, he wore dark-rimmed glasses and a look on his face like he always smelled something bad––which maybe made sense, given where he worked.

I don’t think I’d ever even heard his first name. He’d only ever introduced himself as “Dr. Korhonen.” I’d never heard anyone else call him anything different, either.

Like I said, he was kind of an asshole.

He stared at Black, too, but I didn’t see his pupils dilate.

Rather, he looked at Black like he was some kind of invading vermin contaminating the sacrosanct space of his lab by his very presence.

“Who is this?” Ignoring me, he turned to Nick, pushing his glasses up his nose with a glove-covered knuckle. “Is he cleared to be in here? Or is it just a free-for-all now?”

“Consultant.” Nick spat the word like it tasted bad in his mouth.

Black gave Nick a nod without making eye contact and glanced sideways at me, like he wasn’t sure how to deal with me either, at least not in front of the others. He ended up walking to Nick’s side of the stainless steel table. I saw Nick stiffen when he did, but Black barely seemed to notice. He gazed down at the body, seemingly unmoved by the state of the corpse.

“What kind of blade?” he said, after a few seconds.

Korhonen gave a dismissive sniff.

Nice to know I wasn’t the only one who evoked that reaction in him.

“Approximately 3/15th of an inch thick, three inches wide,” Korhonen said, sniffing again. “We’re working on models, but it’s likely a sword, as suspected, or a similar-type weapon. We found microscopic fragments of high carbon steel in the neck wound, which supports the sword theory, as well... along with embedded brine and salt... but they’re running simulations to estimate the weight of the blade, height of the person wielding it, exact angle––”

“But he was cut against a wooden pile, right?” Black said.

“Correct. Well, evidence so far suggests that––”

“So how would they determine height?” Black said, looking at him. “Or do you mean height from which the blow was swung?”

Korhonen sniffed, but looked a bit taken aback.

“Obviously,” he said coldly.

“Is that a standard size for anything?” Black said. He remained bent over the corpse, staring at the neck wound “The blade you just described.”

“Roughly the size of a Medieval long sword,” Korhonen said. “But the lab boys think it might have been modified... even hand made. As in forged. It’s longer than most swords from that time period. They think it might be heavier, too.”

Black glanced at him a second time. “What about an executioner’s blade?”

Korhonen looked startled at that question, too. He glanced at Nick, as if looking for help, but recovered quickly, giving another condescending sniff. “They’re looking at that, too... but I’m told those weren’t in common use in that time period. Generally they used a regular combat sword or a guillotine.”

“You’re assuming he’d adhere strictly to historical accuracy,” Black said.

“If he’s as obsessed with the time period as the
federal
profilers’ report I was given claims, then it is probable he would want to be as accurate as possible, yes.”
 

I noticed he hit that word “federal” pretty hard, and fought not to smile.

Black only shrugged.
“But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding...”
he muttered.

“What?” Korhonen said, sharper.

“Gnostic verses.” Black glanced up, smiling faintly. “Job 32:8.”

Korhonen stared at him.

Black bent back over the corpse, narrowing his gaze at the ragged flesh around the neck wound. “Means he might not be adhering to the chronological history of man so much as what he perceives to be the divine symbolism behind his actions, doctor...”

“I
know
what you meant,” Korhonen snapped.

Black nodded, but only seemed to be half-listening.

I glanced at Nick, who now also appeared to be trying not to laugh. I couldn’t help being bewildered Black knew any part of the Bible, gnostic or otherwise.

Watching him, I also found myself thinking he was doing something––meaning with his psychic sight––as he looked at the body. If he was, I couldn’t figure out what it was.

Even as I thought it, he glanced at the Medical Examiner again.

“Show me the symbols,” he said.

He must have talked to Glen. Clearly he knew the bare bones of the case.

He seemed to know as much as I did, anyway.

Nick and I hadn’t gotten as far as the symbols yet, but now Korhonen handed rubber gloves with baby powder on them to Black. He seemed to have accepted Black as competent somewhere in their back and forth––maybe because of his question about the sword, or maybe simply because he was obviously male, knew something about the case, and had an ego that rivaled Korhonen’s. Either way, he stopped sniffing in Black’s general direction, and seemed to be looking to him as the one in charge here, even more than Nick.

Nick and I grabbed two more sets of powdered gloves out of the open box, even as Dr. Jaipa moved closer to us as well, maybe in the thought she might assist Korhonen in moving the body. Whatever she told herself she was doing, I saw her eyes returning continually to Black’s face and torso. I also saw her check out his ass.

I had to bite my lip when she walked to his side of the table and deliberately pressed up against him to help Korhonen shift the body to one side.

Black sidestepped her easily. He paused just long enough to give her a fleeting look, but barely seemed to notice her that time, either.

I couldn’t quite keep my own anger in check.

When Dr. Jaipa brushed up against him a second time, that anger in me flared hotter.

That, Black must have felt.

I averted my gaze as soon as his gold eyes flickered towards mine.

For a long-feeling few seconds, he continued to stare at me, although I wouldn’t return his look. I saw him glance at Dr. Jaipa then, who he’d already sidestepped marginally, probably more in habit and instinct than conscious thought. I practically felt him debating whether to say anything. Then he walked deliberately around to the other side of Nick, so that he stood directly between Nick and Korhonen.

Korhonen didn’t notice any of it.

Nick gave him a brief scowl, likely from Black’s sudden physical proximity, but I saw puzzlement there too, even before he glanced at me. Clearly Nick hadn’t noticed any of the interaction with Dr. Jaipa, or my subsequent glare at Black.

With Dr. Jaipa and Nick’s help, Korhonen shifted the body to its side, exposing the headless back. I couldn’t help grimacing when I found myself staring down into Jeffrey Norberg’s severed neck and the visible nub of bone and cartilage and coagulated blood.

“There,” Korhonen said. He looked up at Black, smugly at first, then visibly disappointed when Black showed no sign of reacting to the gore. “...We have detailed drawings,” Korhonen said, a little more peevishly. “But Detective Tanaka said he wanted that... woman... to see the actual cuts. Something to do with a previous case.”

Black looked sharply at Korhonen for the first time.

I saw anger rise to his gold eyes, right before they darted towards me. He looked back at Korhonen, his stare machine-like.

“What
woman
would that be...?” he said coldly.

“Black,” I murmured.

Black continued to stare at Korhonen, who returned his gaze, startled. He seemed surprised that the man he’d just decided to give the professional nod towards would turn on him. He gave me a bare glance and sniffed.
 

“That one. Her. Tanaka’s ‘friend.’”

The implication behind that word wasn’t meant to go unnoticed either.

Black’s glare grew significantly colder.

“You know why this fucker got iced, cousin?” he said, his voice now dangerously soft.

“Black,” my voice was even lower, but now held a faint warning.

Black didn’t even look at me. “...He was a female-hating parasite,” he finished, still staring at Korhonen. “...One of those who hides behind his cock to mask his own feelings of inadequacy.”

His words held more of that strange accent of his than normal.

As I watched his features and those flecked gold eyes, he looked incredibly not-human to me in that moment. I wondered if he’d even noticed he’d called Korhonen “cousin.” He’d told me that seers often referred to humans as “cousins” on his home world.

There were less flattering words too, from what he told me.

Black,
I murmured in his mind.
It’s all right... I’m used to it.

You shouldn’t be used to it. Fucker needs a lesson in manners––
he began coldly.

––One that would go entirely over his head.
I sighed, sending him a pulse of warmth.
I love you for trying, but he’s not interested in an education. You’re just scaring him.

Black flinched, his gold eyes shifting towards me. Even as I realized what I’d said, a much stronger flare of heat came off him––strong enough to make me take half a step back.

You love me?
he sent softly.

I felt my face grow hot.

Only for this, doc? Or for other things, too?

Nick cleared his throat.

Black and I both looked over. Nick was giving us death stares, his clenched jaw pushing out the side of one cheek.

“Children?” he murmured, his eyes still cold. “Can we get back to what we’re doing here?”

Korhonen was looking at Black with an expression of untold offense on his face, like Black had just insulted his entire family lineage.

I also saw flickers of that fear I’d referenced.

Conversely, Dr. Jaipa was looking at Black with unabashed adoration. A warm smile teased her lips, although she seemed to be trying to suppress it, probably so Korhonen wouldn’t see it. From her expression, I suspected she had a fair-few personal reasons for appreciating Black’s smack-down of Korhonen, even apart from the fact that she clearly found Black attractive. I could only imagine what it must be like for her, working with Korhonen day in and day out.

I couldn’t help giving her an annoyed look anyway.