Free Anniversary Day by Kristine Kathryn Rusch Page B

overwhelmed her.
She was so far behind, and she had just started.
The man the cop had indicated stood near a dark government-issue car. The man was tall and broad-shouldered, clearly uncomfortable in a suit. It tapered along his muscular body. His features were so chiseled, he looked like a model rather than a security agent. Only the muscles in his shoulders and arms gave him away. No model would let himself get so enhanced that he couldn’t squeeze properly into a suit.
“Credentials,” she said as she approached.
He held up a hand. A badge appeared on his palm. That wasn’t enough for her. She extended her hand, and touched his.
Banyon Kilzahn, Security Office of the United Domes of the Moon. Fifteen years’ experience in dome government security, three years with the United Domes. In other words, he had worked security for the various governments on the Moon before the United Domes had become the dominant entity, certainly before the Security Office for the United Domes of the Moon had been created.
He watched her as the identification ran. Her palm warmed as the credentials and his DNA got approved through Armstrong Police Department’s database.
“You’re an observer only,” she said. “You’re here on my sufferance. You make any mistakes, interfere in any way with my investigation, and I’ll have you out of here so fast, you won’t know what hit you.”
He smiled. The smile was warm and made him even more handsome. “It’s nice to meet you too,” he said.
She glared at him. “You may mock me all you want, Director, but this is no laughing matter. When the news about the mayor gets out, this entire city is going to be in an uproar, especially considering this is Anniversary Day.”
His smile faded. “I wasn’t mocking you, Detective. I’ve just never met anyone who didn’t go through the niceties before.”
“I don’t have time for the niceties,” she said, “and neither do you. You have a choice. You can stand where I tell you to, or you can get briefings from one of my assistant detectives. Which do you prefer?”
“I’ll stick with you, if you don’t mind,” he said.
“I didn’t say stick with me,” she snapped. “I said you can stand where I tell you to.”
He nodded, his smile so far gone that it almost seemed like his face didn’t bend that way. “My mistake, Detective.”
“Don’t make another one,” she said. “And come with me.”
She turned her back on him without seeing if he was going to follow that order. She was being unduly harsh with him, but she wanted him to know who was in charge. And she wanted to keep a close eye on him. Observers like Kilzahn often reported the wrong things back to their superiors, making investigations worse.
She stepped around the crime scene lasers and went back into the restaurant. Then she checked to see if he was following her.
He was, as if he was guarding her.
“You will stand right here,” she said, placing him next to the reception desk. “You will not speak to anyone without my authorization. Nor will you report to your boss without clearing that report through me. Is that clear?’
“I’m sorry, Detective,” he said. “But I don’t work for you.”
“I run the crime scene. That means I control the information which leaves this crime scene. If you want to be in my crime scene, you will do as I tell you. Or I will send you back to the Security Office and ask Chief DeRicci to send me a liaison who knows his place. Do you understand me?”
A hint of a smile returned to his face. “Yes,” he said.
“What am I doing that’s amusing you so?” she asked.
He shrugged one of those massive shoulders. “I have never met such a fierce detective before.”
“You haven’t seen fierce yet,” she said. “You interfere with my crime scene in any way—and that means releasing the wrong information to your boss at the wrong time—and you will see fierce.”
He nodded once, crossed his arms, and started to lean against the