Free Random Victim by Michael A. Black

Frank, you and Hart can check with the ME and see if he has anything
     to add as far as the autopsy. Then we’ll start backtracking on the victim. Let’s compile a list of people we should talk to.
     See what else she had going.” He glanced at his watch. “We might as well get started and compare notes tomorrow at nine.”
    Ryan had obviously done his homework, Leal thought. He had it pretty well planned out for a guy who claimed to be as hungover
     as he looked. But he also had the luxury of reviewing the file before any of them.
    “Getting close to lunchtime,” Ryan said, grinning as he glanced at his watch. “An early lunch. Give me a buzz if you come
     up with any brainstorms. Otherwise, I’ll see you all tomorrow. This is our first day, so let’s all hit the ground running,
     as they used to say in the army.” He stood and plucked his jacket off the back of his chair.
    Leal concealed his displeasure with the rather lackadaisical approach. It was a step in the right direction, but a small step.
     If he were running things he would have really hit the ground running, not be going for an extended lunch break right off
     the bat. But then again, he wasn’t.
    Better not rock the boat at this point, he thought. Besides, if I get something good, I can always follow up on it myself.
     Or with my partner, he thought as he looked at Hart.
    “You want to wait to eat?” he asked, “until after we get back from the medical examiner?”
    “Oh, whatever you want,” she said. “I’m just going to have salad anyway.”
    “Ever been to the morgue?”
    She shook her head.
    This could be a good character test, he thought. See how tough she is. See if she loses her cookies once she smells that smell.
    She was his partner, so he knew he had to find out sooner or later. Better that it was sooner, just in case. She was a rookie,
     and totally unproven in his eyes. That would have to change if this partnership was going to work. Of course, she might have
     reservations about me, too, he thought. But still…
    “Let’s eat first,” he said. “I know a place on the way.”

CHAPTER NINE
    Welcome to the Morgue
    After checking out a dark blue Ford from the motor pool, Leal drove to a nearby fast-food chicken joint. Leal caught a glance
     of the teenaged girl behind the counter eyeing him and Hart as they sat at one of the Formica-topped tables in the small restaurant.
     Maybe she’s wondering if we’re lovers, he thought, smiling to himself. He dipped a few of his fries into the smear of catsup
     and watched Hart eating her salad. She’d folded her jacket over the chair next to her, but sat with her right side to the
     wall so no one could see her weapon. Her muscular arms extended from her sleeves, rippling as she ate her salad.
    Jesus, why would a woman want to have muscles like that? he wondered. Maybe she is a lesbian, like Ryan said. In reality it
     shouldn’t really make any difference, but he knew it would. If it were true, he’d have to be extra careful not to say something,
     anything that might be misconstrued as being antigay, or taken the wrong way.
    Hart placed a bit of lettuce into her mouth with a daintiness that belied her powerful build.
    She’s feminine in a lot of ways, though, Leal thought. She looked up at him and seemed to notice his stare. He felt himself
     blush.
    “Is something wrong?” she asked.
    “No, why?”
    “I was just wondering why were you looking at me like that just now?” she said, smiling. “Do I have something stuck between
     my teeth?”
    “No, I was just wondering if you’d want to carpool tomorrow. That way I could drive the unmarked back and then we could start
     using the county’s gas instead of our own.”
    “Sounds like a plan,” she said. “Want me to pick you up?”
    “Yeah, if you don’t mind,” he said, thinking that he didn’t want her to see how pathetic his rust-bucket car looked from the
     inside. She took another bite of salad, then looked at him