Page 65 of Wild Frost

It was a little after 2:00 AM when the sheriff called. Never a good thing at that hour.

35

Red and blue lights danced across the parking lot behind Forbidden Fruit. It was the premier strip club on the island. Deputies kept the crowd of onlookers at bay. Paris Delaney and her news crew were on the scene, soaking up the gory footage.

A man lay face down in a pool of blood in the parking lot, not far from a pearl SUV.

A few 9mm shell casings littered the asphalt nearby.

Dietrich snapped photos, and forensic investigators chronicled the evidence. Brenda pulled on a pair of nitrile gloves and approached the remains. She knelt down and started her evaluation. Sheriff Daniels looked on with a grim face.

By the tan line on the victim's wrist, his watch was conspicuously absent. Probably stolen.

I asked the sheriff, "What happened?"

"It's pretty obvious, don't you think?" he said in a dry tone. He pointed to a rather well-endowed blonde standing nearby with long, straight hair, wearing pink sweatpants. Traumatized, shehugged her boyfriend. He was a good-looking guy in his late 20s with shaggy brown hair. He wore sunglasses, which at this hour was a little odd. I'm sure he was stoned out of his mind.

I approached the blonde and flashed my badge. "I'm Deputy Wild, this is Deputy Donovan. Special Crimes. Your name is?”

"Alexis," the blonde said, still frazzled by the whole thing. "This is Ryan.”

"Tell me everything you saw."

"I had just gotten off work. Ryan was waiting for me in the parking lot. I stepped out the back door just as this guy shot him."

"What did the assailant look like?”

Alexis shrugged. "I'm not really sure. It was so dark. He wore a dark hoodie, sunglasses, and a surgical mask over his face.”

I shared a look with Jack. He matched the description of Miriam Renick's shooter.

"How tall was he?”

Alexis shrugged again. "Maybe 6-feet tall.”

"Describe his body type.”

"Athletic. He wasn’t a bodybuilder or anything, but he was in good shape.”

I asked Ryan, "What about you?”

"I was just waiting for her to get off. To tell you the truth, I fell asleep in the car. I heard gunshots. When I peeled open my eyes,that guy was on the ground," he said, pointing to the victim. "The guy in the hoodie took off that way.”

"I suppose you didn't get a look at his face either.”

Ryan shook his head.

I asked Alexis, "Do you know the victim?”

"No. Not really. I think he was in the club earlier.”

I gave her a card and told her to hang around for a moment.

Jack and I stepped close to the body, trying to get a look at the victim.

"No wallet or identification," Brenda said.

"No need," I said. "I know this guy.”