Page 29 of Junior Has a Secret

I tsk at him.“Testy, aren’t you?Were you here when they found the body?”

“Yes.”

“Who found the body?”

“I did,” he replies tightly, a hint of defensiveness in his tone.

“Did you touch it, Mickey?”

“Of course not.”He sounds genuinely disturbed at the idea.Figures a guy named Mickey Smalls would have an emotional side.

“Did you squish on the wet carpet?”

“Yes,” he bites out.“I had no idea it was wet.”

“Good thing I haven’t decided if I want to insult you, arrest you, or call you useful or I’d be telling you that you might want to fix that radar.”

His lips pull tight across his teeth.“I wanted to be sure he wasn’t breathing.”

My brows shoot up.“You thought he looked alive?”I hold up a hand.“Spoiler alert.I know the answer.”

“Agent Love-Mendez, I’m aware he was stiff and well past dead, but I’m former military police.There are instincts that say try.We try.We always try.”

Military police may or may not make him a good guy but being dead is just being dead.“I thought you said you didn’t touch him?”

“Ididn’ttouch him.I jolted to my senses the minute I stood in front of the body.He’d been dead since well before our arrival.”

“Which was when?”I ask.

He glances at his watch.“Two hours and five minutes ago.”

“Why so early?”

“Your father was freaked out about safety,” he replies.“I’m not privy to what caused that freakout.”

“And yet, you’re right here, with him.”It’s not a question.

“See no evil.Speak no evil.That’s the motto around here.”

Which he wouldn’t know, if he didn’tknow.

“Are you still wearing those same shoes?”

“I bagged them.Adams has them.”

“And you just happened to have extra shoes to put on?”

“I’m expected to be on property in seventy-two hour shifts.I came prepared.And just to be clear, agent, I told at least four people to stay outside, that are now inside, even after we knew a dead dude was hanging up with no hands.No one listened.”

I tilt my head.“You sure you work for Pocher?”

“I work for your Dad.”

“Why’d you say you worked for Pocher?”

“Two sides of one coin.What Pocher wants, Pocher gets.”He lowers his voice.“It’s all about who has the money.”

“Rich people become beggars for richer people,” I say dryly.“At this point, those who stayed, may wish they left.They aren’t going anywhere until I know all their bad habits.You’re included.Right or left to talk to my father?”