Chapter 3

Jacinda stood back and admired her newly organized closet. That didn’t take too long. Well, if you didn’t count the four hours of sorting through the papers. She looked at the last box. The only empty space left on the shelves had to be at the top. The top, she knew she couldn’t reach. A stepstool might have been a worthwhile investment. The two small chairs were too small. Glancing around, she looked over at her desk chair. The other alternative was to drag a desk to the closet.

She stood on the spinning chair as it twisted back and forth with each movement. At least the wheels didn’t turn very well, or she’d probably end up twirling across the room. Very slowly, she lifted the box up to chest height and waited to see if the chair was going to spin or tip. Slowly now, just another foot. She almost dropped the box when the chair turned quickly towards the left. Steadying herself, she stood and looked at the shelf, it was now beside her instead of in front of her. She twisted her hip with a small jerk trying to make the chair turn back. When it did, she slowly reached out balancing the box.

A hand quickly went by her face and shoved the box up onto the shelf. She grabbed the shelf to stop herself from flipping off the chair onto the floor. Turning she looked into the face of man with the greenest eyes she’d ever seen.

***

Reid smirked. “Your boss should buy you a stepstool.” He stifled another smirk as he stared into large brown eyes that were looking at him, much like a deer caught in headlights. He grabbed the back of the chair to steady it and offered her a hand to get down.

She looked at his hand but reached past to grab his wrist where it was covered by his jacket. “Um, thank you.” She pulled her hand away as soon as her feet were on the floor. She looked up at him, he had to be almost a foot taller than her.

Reid smiled. He found few women appealing, and she was one of the few. “I’m Detective Merritt; I’m looking for Jack Brown.” He looked around the tiny office noticing there were no other doors.

She pressed her lips together for a moment before offering him what could call a polite smile. “I’m Jac Brown. Jacinda, actually.” She raised her eyebrows, almost daring him to comment.

“You’re Jack?” She nodded at him, and he could tell she was trying not to boldly grin at his surprise. “I guess I’m here to see you.” He backed away a few steps and studied her for a moment in silence. This day was proving to be filled with surprises. “You called to inquire about a woman?”

She sighed. “They didn’t have to send someone down here, simply answering my questions would have sufficed.”

“Actually, I’ve come to ask you some questions.” She stood there with her hands on her hips studying him. Why was it no matter the size or age of a woman, when they put their hands on their hips your first thought is uh-oh? His mind briefly hovered on the fact that the hips her hands rested on were nicely shaped ones, as far as hips went.

“Really?” She pulled the clip from her hair and dark long silky black hair fell almost to her waist. Grabbing the chair, she pulled it over to her desk. “What kind of questions?” She pushed the chair behind the desk and sat down before looking at him again.

He wanted to rush right to the point, but having found out the hard way, he took his moment. Some people didn’t deal well with the things he dealt with daily, so he took a few moments to think how to approach this. “Who were you looking for? Do you have a photo?”

She pursed her lips for a moment and studied him. “You know I do.”

She wasn’t going to be easy to deal with. He tried not to smirk at her. “Yes, I do. Can I see the photo?”

She looked tense and gave him a very guarded look. “Why?”

Realizing this wasn’t going to be one of those times he got complete cooperation, he walked over and sat in the chair in front of her desk. “Look, Miss Brown, I’m trying to do this as easy as possible.” He smirked at her. “You’re not helping.”

***

Jac leaned on the desk and clasped her hands slowly in front of her. “I promised my client their name would not be brought into anything.”

He frowned. “And why is that?”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “If I tell you why, I’m basically bringing their name into it.”

He blew out a long breath. “Well, I have a body in the morgue with no name. You show me the picture, and I can see if we’re talking about the same woman.”

She sat back and looked at him. A body? Reaching over, she opened her desk drawer and pulled out a file. She looked at him again; his expression was like he’d just told her he liked her shoes. His face was expressionless. Sighing, she opened it and handed the photo across to him.

He took it, glanced briefly back at her and then looked at it again. From the expression on his face the body had an identity now. “It’s the same person,” he said quietly and then looked up at her. “Who is she? Why were you looking for her?”

She sat there silently for a few more moments. Elaine was dead? In all the hours she chastised herself for taking this client, she never once thought that this would be one of the possible outcomes. This was not how she wanted to tell Mandy she had found her sister. “I had done some research for her, and her sister found my card and came to me,” she glanced at the photo he still held. “She’s been missing for five days now, and her sister is worried but didn’t want to alarm the family.”

“What’s her name? What research did you do?” He pulled a notebook from his pocket as he spoke and opened it.

He was so emotionless in his questions. His tone was as if they were discussing the weather. “Azaire.” He looked up at her quickly. She nodded. “Yes, Azaire industries. Elaine is the one in the picture.” She clasped her hands in her lap for a moment. “Elaine’s sister, Amanda, came to me, because she didn’t want to alarm their father or the media.” He wrote something down and then looked back up at her.

“And what research did you do for her before?”

She cleared her suddenly dry throat. “I researched the history and authenticity of a priceless armoire she was interested in purchasing.”

He leaned back in the chair. Something in his eyes told her that she had just surprised a man that wasn’t often caught unsuspecting. “You investigate furniture?”

“I investigate and research anything that anyone needs researched.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

“Why?”

Jac stood up and walked over to the small fridge in the corner. Reaching in slowly, she pulled out a bottle of water. Her hands weren’t as steady as she’d like them to be. She opened it and took a small sip before turning back to answer him. “Because I have this ability to look at something and not see the same things everyone else does.”

His eyebrows went up, but he didn’t offer a comment, only continued to study her for several long moments. “You knew the victim?” She frowned but nodded. “Would you be willing to identify her, before I call the family?”

Jac’s heart was racing. She definitely didn’t want Mandy to be called down to the morgue. Was there a chance it wasn’t Elaine? She’d never been involved in anything like this before. Could she walk into a space filled with death and not be overloaded with the emotions from the others that had been there before her? She honestly didn’t know. She turned and studied him for a moment. “I’ll get my purse.”

He stood up and watched her walk back behind her desk. The look on his face wasn’t one she could read, and for a brief second, she thought of touching him to get a better sense of what he was thinking, but she decided not to.

Jac stopped when she reached the door and motioned for him to go ahead of her. “Do you mind giving me a ride? A friend dropped me off today.”

He shook his head as he watched her lock the office. “Not a problem.” He turned and headed down the hallway.

She felt numb as she glanced quickly up at him and then back down at the floor. “Do you mind if we take the stairs? I prefer them.”

“So do I.” As they wound down the stairs, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed it. She kept walking. He spoke quietly into the phone. “Rusty’s is on hold, I might have a positive ID.”

She moved down the last flight, trying to stay ahead of him.

“On our way to find out.” He must be talking to a co-worker.

He was now beside her again and looking down at her. “Meet us down there.” He hung up the phone and stuffed it back in his pocket.

When they reached a line of cars, he motioned to one. She climbed into the black car, careful to not touch anything then looked over at him as he put the key in the ignition. “I’d like to be there when, if you have to tell her family.”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

***

When they pulled up to the morgue entrance, she almost panicked. She took a few steadying breaths before she got out of the car. He stood by the entrance waiting for her.

Jac didn’t look directly at him, just looked straight at the door as she walked through it. He led her over to a door then stopped before he opened it.

“Just give me a minute.”

He went in and closed the door, leaving her standing there. Her first thought was she should have called Sandy to be here with her. Her second thought was, there was a better chance of Sandy passing out here then her. Sandy was one of those squeamish kinds of people that couldn’t deal with blood or anything unpleasant.

“Hello.”

She turned to see a large redheaded man standing a few feet away from her. “I’m waiting for Detective Merritt to come back out.”

He leaned against the doorframe. “I’m his partner, Detective Jordan.” He extended his hand. “Brent.”

She quickly shook his hand, moving fast enough she wouldn’t have a chance to pick up anything from him. “Jacinda Brown.”

He offered her a friendly smile. “Why are you waiting for Reid exactly?”

“Oh, I’m here to see if the—I called the station looking for someone, and they sent him to see me.”

He grinned again. “You’re the investigator?”

She nodded. “Is she— was she …”

“Her appearance wasn’t altered.”

She swallowed. “Okay.”

Reid opened the door and held it for her. “This way.” She followed him inside.

She kept to the center of everything; being careful not to touch anything. In the center was a table with a white sheet covering what was obviously a body. She walked over and stopped two feet away. For one fleeting moment, she wished she could lean on someone, just once to be able to use physical contact as a comfort like other people. She sensed Detective Jordan step beside her and imagined his emotions were as frozen as his partner’s, but still didn’t chance resting a hand on him to steady her through this. Help me do this. She could do this.

A man she hadn’t even noticed walked over and stood on the other side of the table. He watched her for a moment and then reached and held the edge of the sheet. She looked at him, took a quick breath, and gave him a brief nod.

She watched as he slowly revealed blonde hair. When the sheet moved from the face, he stopped and stood there watching her. She looked at the lifeless face and remembered when Lanie Azaire had been so excited with the information she gave her. The face that was so expressive in every word as it was spoken was without life, without expression. It was her.

Jac was both sad and relieved. She licked her dry lips and turned away. “It’s her.” Without looking at anyone, she quickly made her way back through the room. Pushing the door open with her forear,m she hurried out.

“Elaine Azaire.” Reid said quietly to Brent as he turned and went after her. When he finally caught up to her, she was back outside, standing beside his car.

“I’m okay,” she said quietly before he could get too close to her. “I just didn’t want to stand in there.”

He looked at her for a moment, then nodded, walking around to the driver’s side of the car.