Page 35 of Nothing More

Raven was torn. In those first shocking moments, with Toly holding her clasped firmly to his side, she’d stared at the thing. Let her gaze wander over every crinkly line of it, noting that, despite similar signs of having been cut off an already-dead corpse that had been stored for some time, the skin tone was different from that of yesterday’s finger. It was a large ear, one she suspected belonged to a man. She’d noted the texture of the desiccated skin, the shriveled-up hole in the lobe where it had been pierced. That had brought to mind Toly’s tiny, dark hoops, which had been left behind at the agency, along with his lip ring, and his street clothes, and his bike. She’d wanted, absurdly, in a moment of escapism amidst her initial panic, to breathe in the dusty leather of his cut, to know she was with a Dog. To feelsafe. Because no matter how much she’d judged and poked fun at her brothers’ outlaw lifestyle, the Lean Dogs were always going to represent a kind of safety she’d never known in the public part of her life.

Now, though, she found she couldn’t look directly at the ear. Didn’t even want tothinkof it as an ear – but, rather, “the evidence.”

“I’ve already pulled footage from the camera in the lobby,” Miles said. Raven didn’t know if he’d placed a camera of his own, or hacked the building’s security feeds; either was possible, and she didn’t need to know how the sausage was made. “It was a real USPS letter-carrier that put it in the box, along with all the rest of the post. He delivered to every box in the building.”

“So either the mailman’s living a double life as a gangster,” Bennet said.

Melissa finished, “Or it was mailed. If this was an official investigation, I could have the postal codes scanned, figure out which post office it went through, and check their security footage.”

Before Raven could issue another denial of anything official going on, Bennet said, “There’s hundreds, maybe thousands of drop-boxes all over the city. It’s not likely you’d find the guy on camera walking into a post office anywhere.”

Thank you, Raven thought, and glanced at a smudge on the front of the microwave – she’d wipe that with some 409 in a moment – as Melissa tipped “the evidence” this way and that beneath the pendant lights.

“You’re right,” the detective agreed, sighing.

Raven took another swallow of her drink, enjoying the cold of it, the tease of its bubbles against her nose. Was she dissociating? She wished she could. Properly. Float away on mundane thoughts of a tricky dress hem and the decision to be made between two models and a spring dress line ad campaign.

Melissa was speaking, though, and she had to listen.

“I’m seeing similarities to the finger. Post-mortem wound, no blood. The finger had been painted to look like there was fresh blood, though, and this one hasn’t. I’d say it came from a different body than the finger, and one that’s been stored longer.” She sniffed. “No odor. Looks to have belonged to a male, but I can’t say for sure. The lab will be able to tell us more.”

“What did they say about the finger?” Toly asked. He sounded angry, impatient – but, then, he always sounded like that, didn’t he? He shifted his weight, and his shoulder pressed more firmly against hers; she wanted, suddenly and fiercely, to lay her head down on it. Sipped more of her G&T instead.

“That it was paint instead of blood, like I said. DNA’s still running.” When Raven looked at her face, she found her frowning, the evidence thankfully back on the counter (Jesus Christ there was an ear on her counter! She’d never set food on it again!) “It’s not like on TV. Results take time – and that’s if the investigation is–”

“Official, yeah,” Toly said, and Melissa’s frown deepened. “Did your pet tech go running to her supervisor?”

“Okay, one, she’s not my ‘pet.’ But she does owe me her job, since her screwup was big enough to get her fired and I covered for her. I trust her not to rat me out, if that’s what you’re worried about. But if you want things to move faster, then you’ll have to go through the proper channels.”

“Can you run the ear or not?”

“I can. Can you be patient?”

“Hmph.”

Melissa must have taken that as a “yes,” because she produced clear evidence sleeves and began bagging both envelope and ear.

Raven drained the last of her drink, and the moment she set the glass down, Toly scooped it up and went to fix her another. She regretted the loss of his warmth at her side, but was unspeakably grateful – nearly to the point of tears under the current circumstances – to have him react so swiftly, without having to be asked. He could anticipate her in a way not even her best assistants and secretaries had been able to.

He wasn’t one of those, though. Not at all.

“Raven.” Oh, she was drifting again. Drifting, drifting…

She attempted to rally. Met Melissa’s gaze. “Yes?”

The detective was watching her in a way that once again brought the wordvictimto the forefront of Raven’s mind.Let me help you, that look said. It put her back up.

“I know,” Melissa said, lowering her voice, stepping around the island into the place Toly had abandoned, “that you’re worried about getting the family involved, but–”

Raven gathered herself; donned the voice that had powered her through a cutthroat industry for two decades. “Detective Dixon, I appreciate your concern, but I would think that the woman who stood quaking with fear at the threshold of Maverick’s chapel would understand something about remaining loyal to the club, even at the expense of a little peace of mind.”

Melissa blanched.

“Additionally, I should think that you went haring off in pursuit of a rapist with only our dear Anatoly for backup, rather than yourofficialpartner, because you understand that one is far safer with a Lean Dog sitting watch than a police officer.”

Her throat jumped as she swallowed. From forceful detective, she’d been reduced to that trembling, petite girl Raven had spotted from her place at Maverick’s table. Uncertain, cringing back as if she would have rather been anywhere else.

Raven felt cruel, but only a little. And needs must.