JUDE: Book 2 The Justice Brothers Series (5 page)

Skylar looked up to see a stunning, redheaded runway model look-alike sauntering toward their table. She’d met Jerri Ross at one of the many summer parties Hailey had dragged her to. She knew from Hailey that Jerri ran in what Hailey called the fast crowd, which Skylar had learned was code for women who were known to imbibe in recreational pursuits that included designer drugs and wealthy men. She also remembered that Jerri was friends with the youngest Parker daughter, Alicia. She had been the first person on the scene of her parents’ hideous murder.

“There you are, Hailey. I was hoping I’d find you here.” Jerri’s sultry voice matched the leopard-skin jumpsuit that clung to her curvy body like expensive Saran wrap. Skylar wondered what kind of a bra one would wear with a neckline that plunged almost to your waist. She thought with a sigh that if you had breasts like Jerri Ross, you probably didn’t need a bra.

Pulling out the chair next to Hailey, the haughty woman ignored Skylar and the other two officers, appealing to Hailey. “Tell me, dear, are you expecting that handsome hunk of yours to join you tonight? I can only imagine that everyone working the hideous murder will be looking for a way to try to drown out the awfulness. As you know, I volunteer at the precinct and that’s all anyone is talking about. And to think that my dearest and best friend Alicia Parker was the one who found the bodies.”

Glancing at Skylar, the gorgeous woman wrinkled her nose and frowned.

“I think we’ve met, but I’m not sure where. Are you a policeman?”

When Skylar just shook her head, Hailey interjected, “No, Jerri. Remember, I introduced you to Sky at the Matthews’ party? Skylar came from DC with Jared. She’s an intelligence analyst.”

A deep voice interrupted her. Looking up, Sky saw Jared and Jude Justice approaching their table.

Leaning over to kiss Hailey’s cheek, Jared grinned at the other women. “Good evening, ladies. And you too, Mitzi.”

Mitzi flushed and punched Jared’s arm. “Watch out, stud, or I’ll tell Goldilocks what a player you were when you were fourteen going on twenty-four years old.”

Jared squeezed Mitzi’s shoulder affectionately and laughed. “Ah, Officer Olson, if you do that then I may have to tell your friends why we nicknamed you ‘Marvelous Mitzi.’ ”

Jude broke into the laughter and nodded to each of them.
“Good evening
Hailey, Officer Olson, Officer Peterson.” He glanced over at Skylar and said with a grin, “Glad to see that you’re getting some R and R, Specs. It’s been a rough twenty-four hours.”

Jerri jumped up from the table and clutched Jude’s arm. Gazing up at him, concern darkening her glittering eyes, she murmured, “Oh Jude, you poor baby. I was hoping that you were going to get away from the precinct tonight. I’m so glad you’re here. I…I was hoping that you and I could talk privately. You know that Alicia Parker is my best friend and I just need to talk about it with someone who will understand what I’m going through.”

Jude studied her for a moment and his lips quirked up in a momentary grin. Glancing at her hand that was possessively clutching his arm, he nodded. “Sure thing, Jerri. I got your messages and am pleased to see you here. How about we head for a quieter place to…talk?”

Nodding to the women at the table, Jude slipped his arm around Jerri’s waist, letting his fingers rest on the curve of her hip. As he ushered Jerri to the exit, Jude saluted his brother. “Catch you later, bro.”

Jared chuckled as he sunk into the chair beside Hailey. “You do that, brother. Don’t stay out too late. Remember our lead detective called a 7:00 a.m. meeting for tomorrow morning.”

Skylar looked away from the retreating couple to see Mitzi Olson frowning at her.

“Is…is something wrong, Mitzi?”

“Nah, short stuff. It’s just that hearing Jude call you ‘Specs,’ I was wondering if you always wear those God-awful industrial black plastic frames.”

Skylar felt her cheeks heat, but given that everyone at the table was staring at her she felt compelled to answer. “I…I guess I’ve always wanted to look older, more professional.”

Hailey stepped in and said in a careful voice. “I can understand that, Sky, given that you’ve always worked in a demanding profession.” She tossed Jared an accusing glance and added, “Ruled by men.” She hesitated. “But Sky, the other day I saw you at the swimming pool and I have to tell you, I have never seen eyes the color of yours. I couldn’t decide if they’re blue or purple, only that they are the most beautiful eyes I’ve seen.”

Skylar knew that her cheeks had to be flaming bright red, but she aimed for diffidence.

“Uh, thanks, Hailey. I just wish they worked as well as they should. As for the color, according to my father, they are the color of tanzanite. Again, according to my father who is an expert in everything, tanzanite is a blue gemstone surrounded by a hint of purple. It…it occurs in only one place in the world. Tanzania.” With an embarrassed rush as if they would actually want to know or care where Tanzania was, she added, “Tanzania is an…an…East African state.”

Jared frowned then smiled softly. “I’m glad to know that, Sky. But Officer Olson is right. Do you always wear those God-awful Buddy Holly frames?”

Skylar laughed with the rest of them. “No, I actually have several pair of contact lenses. It’s just that I’m accustomed to seeing myself in glasses. Especially the ones with God-awful black plastic frames.”

Sky was surprised how easy it was to laugh along with the others. In fact it felt good. Sort of like she belonged.

Chapter 5

Skylar walked into the conference room at 7:00 a.m. sharp. She was taken aback to see that most of the officers were already at the table, several of them discussing the papers in front of them. Only the Justice brothers weren’t seated at the conference table. Jared, Commander Justice, and Detective Justice were in a huddle by the coffee bar involved in a sotto voice conversation. Sky wondered for a moment if she had misunderstood the time. But she was a stickler for being prompt, neither early nor late, ever. She was sure that Detective Justice had indicated they would meet at 7:00 a.m.

“Good morning, Sky. Glad you could make it.” Jared’s greeting was cheerful—although Skylar didn’t miss the momentary surprise that flashed across his face then quickly disappeared. That was when she noticed that none of the CSI squad were present, nor was the coroner. Only police officers, who were all members of the homicide squad, were at the table. Feeling a little anxious and wondering if she had misunderstood Detective Justice’s orders, she sought for calm and filled a mug from the steaming carafe. Her stomach growled at the site of the mammoth pile of doughnuts on the tray beside the coffee urns. She cast a glance at the guys already seated and saw that none of them had anything but coffee mugs in front of them.

Shoving aside her nervousness, Skylar decided to skip the doughnuts, at least for now. Eschew now but chew later, as someone had once jokingly told her. But at the protesting rumble in her stomach, she changed her mind. She had barely anything to eat yesterday and nothing this morning. Plus, she loved doughnuts. Her father never let her eat them. Said they were ridiculously unhealthy, hardly the brain food her body required. At the soft chuckle beside her, Sky looked up to see Jared smiling at her.

He handed her a plate and took one for himself. Grabbing a large apple fritter and a cinnamon twist, he piled them on his plate and nodded to the tray of goodies. “Don’t worry, short stuff, I wouldn’t touch those maple-frosted beauties. They have your name engraved all over them.”

Sky felt her cheeks heat but reached for one of the doughnuts, then squaring her shoulders, took the other one and plopped it on her plate. She forced herself not to look over at the two men still standing to the side, but her eyes had a mind of their own.

Glancing up, she saw Detective Justice watching her. His eyes were narrowed, hard to read. Sky thought she saw the merest gleam of amusement in his emerald eyes. His lips quirked up slightly at the corner when he caught her gaze.

Confirming he saw her hesitation, Jude said with a dismissive shrug, “Hey, Specs, don’t stop on my account. Obviously you don’t have to worry about downing one thousand calories of sugar and grease unlike the rest of us, who have to watch our girlish figures. And at least today we’re not being treated to scenes on the monitors that could have come from
Antichrist
or
Clockwork Orange
flicks. But then, apparently you’re more desensitized when it comes to violence and gore than we cops are. Hell, you probably order extra-large popcorn with gobs of butter when you watch a horror movie featuring dismemberment and other graphic mutilation.”

Skylar stood stock-still, holding her plate and mug in her shaking hands. It was a challenge to breathe, much less move. The conference table looked as though a giant hand had jerked it out of the way of the formidable detective and moved it across the room. She wasn’t sure how she could reach it without dropping her cup of steaming coffee and the damnable doughnuts.

Commander Justice’s voice at her side was crisp. “Here, Sky, let me help you. The coffee is scalding today. Don’t want you to burn yourself.”

Jake reached for her coffee cup and then grasped her elbow and led her to the table. Jared was already there, pulling out the chair beside his and motioning for her to sit.

There was a decided edge to his voice when he leaned over and said loudly enough for the others to hear, “Don’t mind Jude, short stuff. He’s a pussy through and through. Hell, even though he’s three years older than me I always had to put the worms on his fishhooks and I was only four years old.”

In the uneasy laughter that followed, Sky took her place at the table, keeping her eyes lowered and staring at her hands.

Jude’s voice cut through her embarrassed bewilderment. “Hell, Specs, my baby brother is right. I’ve always been the brother with the weak stomach.” He took back what might have been an apology when he added, “Like I said, you need the calories no matter how unhealthy they are. So eat up. We have another long day ahead of us.”

Making a production of pulling out the chair at the head of the table and depositing a pile of papers in front of him, Jude sunk in his seat and then waited until he had the attention of everyone at the table. Ignoring the pitchforks both of his brothers were staring into his chest, he began making assignments. He’d about given up trying to figure out why he was piling on the

spiky, dark-haired pixie.

Unbidden, he remembered Jerri Ross asking who was the ugly duckling was at the table with Hailey and the others. Jude had just finished screwing the voluptuous woman, most of whose assets were her own, although he conceded the surgical additions weren’t bad either. As always, when he was in the middle of a case, mindless fucking was one way of de-stressing. However, he’d found that forty-five minutes in the gym or a half bottle of straight up whiskey was as good a stress reliever as sex—in fact, often better. At least at the gym the leather bag didn’t talk back and the booze didn’t ask questions or try to get him to stay. The problem with gratuitous sex was that every babe wanted more in the aftermath than Jude cared to give. No, at the gym or the bar he didn’t have to talk and could leave when he was through. Hell of a lot less complicated.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the bespectacled squirt eying the fucking doughnuts on her plate as if deciding if she was going to eat them. The tension in his gut released, seeing Specs pick up one of the doughnuts and take a bite out of it then take a swallow of coffee. Damn, he was going to have to figure out why he had it in for the sprite or given the ill-disguised anger stiffening both of his brothers faces, he was in danger of being relieved of some of his more critical body parts.

Remembering Jerri’s dismissive description of the squirt as an “ugly misfit”, Jude realized that was just it. That was the problem. She
wasn’t
ugly. She was just…odd. He grunted, catching a side glimpse of her. It was those damn ugly clothes she wore, and for Christ’s sake, those industrial-framed glasses. Again, he couldn’t figure out why any woman would present herself that way—not merely as modest or coolly professional, but deliberately making herself unattractive. Or, shaking his head to try and clear it, or, he thought with a twinge of guilt, a better question was why he gave a good goddamn if she did or not.

“Okay, men…and woman. Here’s the drill for today. We’re going to divide and conquer.” Glancing at the team, he spoke first to Sgt. Solberg, the most senior member of the homicide squad. “Solly, I want you and Mac to go over to the morgue and question the hell out of Doc Evans. See what he’s concluded since yesterday and if any more of the lab results are in. Christ, it’s impossible to make headway if we don’t even know what the victims had to eat or drink—or what they ingested.”

At Solly’s nod of agreement, Jude addressed Sgt. Anderson. “Andy, you and Bates hightail it over the CSI shop. I want a detailed report of every fucking thing those evidence geeks found at the site, whether they think it is important or not. I want all their raw data, as well as their interpretations. I’ll decide what’s critical and what isn’t.”

He glanced at his brothers and said, “Jake, as we agreed, you need to go back to commanding the DPD. Hard as it is to imagine, there’s more happening in our unassuming little burg than one of the biggest crimes any of us have been involved in. It will also help me if you can keep the media whores at bay. I’ll be available to talk with them if absolutely necessary, but if you can tamp down their ardor, it’ll allow me to begin to make some sense of this insanity.

“Jared, I appreciate your offer to bring in some of the specialists you’ve worked with on other complicated cases. If Specs is correct and finances are at the heart of this chaos, then we’re likely going to need help from the IRS and other agencies.”

Skylar waited as Jude worked his way around the table making assignments. When he finished talking with his brothers she was the only one who hadn’t received an assignment. Her concern that he would further embarrass her by not giving her a task was relieved somewhat when he directed his comments to her.