Free Nowhere to Run by Nancy Bush Page A

drove her instantly to her feet. She was a newly minted detective and so she stood ramrod straight. “Yes?”
    â€œJust talked to D’Annibal. He’s on his way in.” George cast a glance to the darkened glass cubicle that was their superior’s, Lieutenant Aubrey D’Annibal’s, office. D’Annibal was on the last hours of his vacation and that left George in charge, a dubious honor for a dubious commander. George liked to squeak his heft in his swivel chair and remain at his desk and that was about it. Now he swiveled around and said, “Jesus Christ. There’s been a shooting at Zuma Software. Patrol’s on the way. Get over there and see what’s what. D’Annibal’s orders.”
    â€œAnd me?” Detective Gretchen Sandler demanded in her nasal tone. She was slim, dark-haired and dark-skinned, a gift from her Brazilian heritage, with almond-shaped blue eyes that raked over September as if looking for flaws. She was also September’s partner, a fact Gretchen didn’t like much at all. But then she hadn’t liked her previous partner much, either. Gretchen and George had also tried to work together and that had not worked out. Gretchen’s stormy resentment and George’s deep, long-suffering looks had forced Lieutenant D’Annibal to prudently break them apart and that was how September had become Gretchen’s partner. As soon as they heard her nickname, to a one, the detectives and Lieutenant D’Annibal of the Laurelton Police Department called her Nine. None of them knew the nickname’s origin; they’d just taken it on.
    â€œOf course, and you,” George growled at Gretchen, then swatted at them both as if they were gnats buzzing around his head. “Get outta here.”
    September dropped everything except the wallet she kept in her back pocket that held her identification. She wore gray slacks and a matching gray shirt, buttoned to her neck. Gretchen had on a pair of denim jeans and a black sleeveless sweater with a matching cardigan that she snatched from the back of her chair and threw over her arm as they headed toward the front of the building. Gretchen walked ahead of September and ignored her as they passed by the front desk and outside into the shimmering heat. “You gotta dress for the weather,” Gretchen told her as September felt sweat gather along her hairline and the back of her neck.
    â€œThis is cotton,” she answered, gesturing to the gray shirt as they climbed into an unmarked black Ford Escape.
    â€œNobody wants to see you sweat.” Gretchen threw the SUV in reverse and wheeled them around, then slammed the vehicle into gear and they lurched forward.
    Realizing the gray material was light enough to show moisture, September filed that away for future reference. She’d just moved to homicide from property crimes and it was a whole different ball game. She’d followed her brother into law enforcement but he was currently working with a gang task force in conjunction with the Portland PD and hadn’t been around to congratulate September about joining the Laurelton PD—the same police department he was also based out of—and still wasn’t.
    She glanced back as they headed onto the street. The Laurelton Police Department was on the northern edge of the city, a squat, rectangular brick building that the idiots from the Laurelton City Council had demanded they paint white because it was in the original specs. Now, years later, that white paint had turned a dirty, yellowish beige. So much for city planning. Farsightedness was not their forte.
    The walkie-talkie buzzed and Gretchen grabbed it. September heard squawking and Gretchen snarled back, “Yeah, yeah. We’ll be there in ten.” She switched off and added, “Four people shot. All on the first floor. Shooter didn’t go upstairs, or if they did, the steel door was locked.”
    â€œWhat were they