Read Online The Blood Detail (Vigil) by Arvin Loudermilk - Free Book Online

like two Chicken Marsalas—my favorite dish. There was no way he could pull a bullseye like that without outside assistance.
    “You seem to know a lot about me,” I said once the waiter was out of earshot.
    Douglass took a drink of his wine. “Is this really what we want to talk about?”
    “Yeah, I think need to. Obviously someone has been giving up a few of my secrets. And since I’m only friendly with a couple of people on the force, I wonder who that could be? Burt Kendrick maybe?”
    “I will not give up my sources.” He set down his glass. “But this defensiveness is the kind of thing that people point out about you. You are not the least bit trusting and you domineer every situation you are placed into. One of your superiors even went as far as to say you are not a team player. Do you realize how damaging that is to a cop’s reputation? The literal kiss of death.”
    It wasn’t the first time I’d heard this crap, but I’d been the one who had pushed things, so I couldn’t get too defensive.
    “I neither condone or reject anything you’ve regurgitated. But you’ve been working with me for a decent stretch now. What do you think of my ability to be a team player?”
    “I can’t say, not with any perspective. I think you’re beautiful, remember? That kind of trumps everything else, at least in my mind.”
    I leaned back, instantly suspicious. “Was tonight your idea, Detective? Is all of this your lame way of getting close to me?”
    “You don’t seem to be having such a bad time.”
    “I never said that I was. But I might start to if I find out that tonight has been one big scam.”
    “It’s not a scam.”
    “The Detail is watching us then?”
    “They are. And listening to us.”
    “And you don’t mind letting your feelings be known while everyone you work with is listening in?”
    “Only Sam is listening in. And he knows precisely how I feel about you. He’s known since the moment we met at the murder scene.”
    “Then maybe I should have picked him for this date,” I said, in an attempt to knock Douglass down a peg or two. “Racine would never use an important operation to try and get into my pants.”
    “Give him half a chance he might. I’m surprised the whole department doesn’t hit on you. There are not many cops who look like you do.” His eyes widened and his head began to sway. “Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.”
    His obsession with my looks irked me, so I glanced away. “I loathe compliments. You’re not going to seduce me that way.”
    When I turned back a few seconds later, he was still staring at me.
    “You’re lying,” he said. “You love it.”
    “I’m many things, but I’m no liar. You, on the other hand, could be that or worse, and I’m starting to get concerned. I seem to have picked up two lunatic admirers. Tell me, Douglass, am I going to need special protection from you after all this is over?”
    “Come on,” he said, his voice taking on a whine. “Can you just call me Mac from now on?”
    “Why? Is that important to you?”
    “Yeah, it is. You always refer to me by my last name, and I’d rather you didn’t. My friends call me Mac. My partner calls me Mac. There’s no reason you can’t call me that as well. It’s what everyone at work calls me.”
    He had a point. “Mac is short for what…McCarthur?
    “Mackenzie.”
    I made a sickened face, my nostrils flaring. “Isn’t that a girl’s name?”
    “It can be used either way. But that’s why I prefer to be called Mac. That and the fact that my last name is also a first name. All I can say is my parents weren’t thinking straight when they named me.”
    “Oh, don’t sell them short. Maybe they realized something you still haven’t.”
    The kitchen door swung open and the smell of sautéed mushrooms wafted inward. I was hungrier than I thought, and the food was taking forever, like it always does in the swankier establishments. I began to eye my glass of wine. I’d become