Free Dead Reckoning by Linda Castillo

hall, she didn’t wait for him, but started toward her office to get the tape. She was aware of Matrone moving behind her. One of the administrative assistants passed them in the hall. A young woman Kate had seen a hundred times before but had never spoken to. She passed by Kate without so much as making eye contact. Then Kate heard the young woman speak to Matrone. “Hey, Frank.” He called her by name, then said something beneath his breath that made her laugh. Kate rolled her eyes, but it didn’t elude her that he’d only been around a few days and already knew the woman’s name when she did not.
    Kate retrieved the tape from her office and met Matrone in the conference room. He was standing at the window, looking out at the Dallas skyline and a slate sky that was threatening rain. He’d removed his leather coat. She got the impression of a tall man—well over six feet—wide shoulders, narrow hips, and legs slightly bowed with muscle. She felt herself hesitate as her eyes took in the length of him and an unfamiliar sensation that was both pleasant and uncomfortable went through her.
    She was keenly aware of his eyes following her as she crossed to the VCR. She inserted the tape and hit the Power button. “Here we go,” she said.
    Rather than sitting, he leaned against the edge of the table, folded his arms and watched the video in silence. Kate stood a few feet away and watched the crime unfold, trying hard not to let it affect her.
    When the tape had played out, she turned back to the VCR and started to hit the Eject button. Frank stopped her by putting his hand on hers.
    She jolted with the contact and jerked her hand away before she could stop herself.
    “I want to see it again,” he said.
    She felt herself flush, but within seconds she’d regained her composure. “Any particular reason?”
    “I just want to see it again.” Touching his head with his index finger, he hit the Rewind button. “Cops are slow. Sometimes we have to do things twice before we get it.”
    Not believing it for a second, she rolled her eyes and hit the Play button. The chilling scene unfolded again. Only this time Kate found herself watching Frank. Even though she had no idea what he was thinking, she didn’t miss the narrowing of those dark eyes when Bruton Ellis entered the store. The tightening of his jaw when he pulled the trigger. The flex of his jaw when Evangeline Worth was shot in the back and then brutally raped as she lay paralyzed on the floor.
    When the tape finished, Frank leaned over, ejected the tape, and handed it to her. “Okay. You ready to go?”
    Kate blinked at him. “Aren’t you going to tell me what you think?”
    “I haven’t decided what I think yet.” One side of his mouth curved. “I need to mull it over. Could take a while. It’s that slow thing.”
    She shook her head. “Now that we’ve pissed away half the morning, maybe we should get over to evidence.”
    Frank laughed. “Kate, I think we’re going to get along just fine.”
    It was the first time he’d called her by name, and for some reason it seemed too personal. “As long as you come in on time and do your job, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
    He was still smiling when he walked to the conference room door and opened it for her. “After you.”

FIVE
    WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 11:36 A.M.
    The Dallas Police Department was located on Lamar Street just south of downtown. Kate had wanted to drive, but Frank overruled her and they piled into his Chevy pickup truck—which was closer because it had been parked illegally—and headed south. Ten minutes later they entered the Jack Evans Police Headquarters building. They showed their identification and were issued visitor badges, and after a quick security check the elevator whooshed them to the fifth floor where homicide was located.
    The division was large and consisted of mostly cubicles with a few offices along the outside wall. Even though the new building was a designated no