“Whatever you need,” Xhex said tightly as she left.
Making her way through the club, she prayed no one rubbed her the wrong way, especially given that a badge was in the house.
When she finally got to her office, she reined her frustration in and opened the door, sticking a tight smile on her face. “Evening, Detective.”
De la Cruz turned around. In his hand, he had a small ivy plant, one that was no bigger than his palm. “Got a present for you.”
“I told you, I’m not good with living things.”
He put it on the desk. “Maybe we’ll just start you off slow, though.”
As she sat on her chair, she stared at the fragile living thing and felt a flare of panic. “I don’t think-”
“Before you say I can’t give you anything because I work for the city”-he took a receipt out of his pocket-“it cost less than three dollars. Which is cheaper than a coffee from Starbucks.”
He put the little white slip next to the dark green plastic pot.
Xhex cleared her throat. “Well, as much as I appreciate your concern for my interior decorating-”
“Got nothing to do with your furniture choice.” He smiled and sat down. “Do you know why I’m here?”
“You found the man who murdered Chrissy Andrews?”
“Yeah, I did. And if you’ll excuse my French, he was in front of her headstone with his cock cut off and stuffed in his mouth.”
“Wow. Ouch.”
“You mind telling me where you were last night? Or do you want to get an attorney first?”
“Why would I need one of those? I’ve got nothing to hide. And I was here all evening. Ask any of the bouncers.”
“All evening.”
“Yup.”
“I found footprints around the crime scene. Smallish, combat boot-style ones.” He looked down to the floor. “Kind of like what you wear.”
“I’ve been to the grave. Of course I have. I’m mourning a friend.” She put her soles up so he could see them, knowing they were a different make and manufacturer than the ones she’d worn the night before. Different size, too, with padding all along the interior making them a ten wide, not a nine medium.
“Hmm.” After his inspection, de la Cruz leaned back and put his fingertips together, elbows resting on the stainless-steel arms of the chair. “Can I be honest with you?”
“Yup.”
“I think you killed him.”
“Do you.”
“Yeah. It was a violent crime, the ins and outs of which suggest it was committed for the purpose of payback. See, the coroner believes, as I do, that Grady was alive when he was…shall we say, worked on. And this was no hatchet job. He was disabled in a professional way, like the murderer had been trained to kill.”
“This is a tough neighborhood, and Chrissy had a lot of tough friends. Any one of them could have done it.”
“There were mostly women at that funeral.”
“And you don’t think females are capable of something like that? Rather sexist, Detective.”
“Oh, I know women can kill. Trust me. And…you look like the kind of female who could.”
“You profiling me? Just because I wear black leather and work security in a club?”
“No. I was with you when you IDed Chrissy’s body. I saw the way you looked at her, and that’s what makes me think you did it. You have a revenge motive, and you had the opportunity, because anyone could slip out of this place for an hour, do the business, and get back here.” He stood up and went to the door, pausing with his hand on the knob. “I would advise you to get a good lawyer. You’re going to need one.”
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Detective.”
He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think so. See, most people I go and talk to when there’s a body involved, the first thing they tell me, whether it’s true or not, is that they didn’t do it. You haven’t said anything even close to that.”
“Maybe I don’t feel the need to defend myself.”
“Maybe you have no remorse because Grady was a shithead who beat a young woman to death, and that crime sits no better with you than it does any of us.” De la Cruz ’s eyes looked sad and exhausted as he turned the knob. “Why didn’t you let us pick him up? We’d have nailed him. Put him away. You should have let us take care of it.”
“Thanks for the plant, Detective.”
The guy nodded, like the rules of the game had just been laid out and the playing field agreed upon. “Get that lawyer. Fast.”
As the door shut, Xhex eased back in her chair and looked at the ivy. Nice green color, she thought. And she liked the shape of the leaves, the pointed symmetry pleasing to the eye, the little veins forming a pretty pattern.