Deb shouts for Quinn to hurry up. They're going to interview the families of the two victims and she wants to get out before the start of the weekend traffic gets even worse. I scribble the name of the murder weapon on a piece of paper and he nods his thanks and follows Deb out to the elevator. I am left looking at the 1955 Ford Zephyr.
I never liked Pete but I put it down to mixed up feelings. How he acted around Lumen had me on edge but I couldn't be sure exactly why he gave me the jitters. I guess this is how Doakes must have felt about me, how he couldn't quite out his finger on what was wrong but that he knew there was something off about me. He was right. And now, it seems so am I.
I bring up a new tab and type his name into the criminal database. Nothing. Not even a parking ticket. I stare at the screen, willing it to tell me something. All it shows me is Pete's driver's license and there he is, smiling like one of the Beach Boys. The door opens and it's Masuka, licking the remnants of his donut off his fingers.
"What did he do? Break the 24 hour promise?" Grins Vince as he sits down beside me and gestures with a sugary finger at the screen. I frown, what is he talking about? "Courier dude, did he not deliver on time?" He points with a sticky finger at the screen and for a moment he's still lost me but then I realise, Pete is a courier. Lumen said it to me when she said about how she found out about Daniels. I smile and nod.
"No, just wondering where I'd seen him before but, yeah, that's it. Courier dude. Has he delivered to this floor?" Vince pauses and then shakes his head.
"Nope, but Janice down in reception might know him?" Doesn't he know that Janice is off sick? That Su Lin is the new receptionist? I'm not about to tell him. I'm about to move the conversation along but then I realise this isn't what friends do.
"Vince, do you know we have a temp receptionist?" He looks at me; I can see him wondering why on earth I'm telling him this. Suddenly I wonder too. Keep out Dexter, mind your own business. He cocks his head and it's a question. Fuck. "It's er... Su Lin." I tell him, keeping it short because I don't know how else to tell him this. His eyes go wide and, for a moment, it looks like he might just run out of the office. When he answers, his voice is a whisper.
"Su Lin? Like, as in, my Su Lin?" I frown, not sure if that's technically correct but then I nod. Vince shakes his head slowly, like he's struggling to take it all in.
"I thought that was maybe why you'd been avoiding reception?" He looks at me sharply, as though he's just seen me for who I am. Not the mild mannered blood guy but someone who notices things.
"Uh, right. Well, I've not been coming in through reception because I didn't want to..."
"Attract attention? Have a clear routine?" I offer and he nods, relieved that I get it. "Su Lin... downstairs. Has anyone spoken to her?" I nod and he goes visibly paler.
"Me, Deb. She interviewed her, I think. Look, she's ok. Deb definitely thinks this isn't about her or she'd never let her carry on working, you can't have the suspect in a murder enquiry working the desk of the police station!" He blows out a long breath and nods but I can see he doesn't believe me.
"I think I'm going to talk to LaGuerta, take a personal day," he says, looking though the blinds with narrowed eyes. I nod and he pats me on the shoulder. "Thanks for telling me, Dex. You're a good friend."
When he's gone I realise that maybe I need to talk to Su Lin. She might have seen Pete while he's been working and maybe she can tell me something about him, something more than he drives the car of a rape suspect. I need more on him than just my confused feelings; my serial killer sense is mixed up by possessive boyfriend. It was so much easier to discern the truth when life was neatly compartmentalised.
I take the elevator downstairs and arrive in reception to hear Su Lin explaining to a group of scantily clad women that this isn't somewhere they can drink their coffees while they wait for their friends to be released by Vice.
"Look, honey, it's glorious sunshine out there and your white ass could do with a tan so why don't you just take the girls and move it outside?" She's laughing, it's not aggressive and the group of women seem to respond, moving towards the door and joking around. Su Lin laughs when one of them suggests that she join them. "No, I've got to make sure that the good citizens of Miami can keep in touch with the boys in blue," she tells them as she goes back behind her desk, the lurid socks and shoes hidden again by the circular desk.
I walk over and lean on the counter. Su Lin looks up, about to ask me if she can help. Her expression goes from politely helpful to a wide grin when she sees me. Two elderly women come up beside me and I wave to Su Lin to show her she should serve them first. I step back and listen to her direct them smoothly to the right department, handing them visitor passes and then telephoning the floor in question so they know who to expect.
"So, Dexter, what can I do for you? More stabbing?" She mimes wielding a knife and laughs. I grin.
"No, no more stabbing today. I just wondered if we could talk?" She raises her eyebrows but nods.
"Sure, I have a break due. Want to go for coffee?" I glance outside, she was right; it is bright sunshine out there. It looks inviting, I nod and she grins. Grabbing her bag from the back of the chair she stabs the phone with her long black lacquered nails. "Brad? I'm on a break, cover for twenty minutes?" She looks at me and grins again. "Make it thirty minutes? You're a doll."
A couple of minutes later a big black guy in a security guard suit wanders out from the back. Su Lin slaps him on the back as he sits in her chair.
"Let's go, handsome," she links my arm and leads me outside.
She grabs a seat at the wooden bench of the picnic table and I go to get the coffees. She shields her eyes in the sun and looks up at me as I pass her the cup.
"Thanks, so, is this more about Masuka?" She rummages in her bag, finally pulling out a pair of black Hello Kitty sunglasses which she puts on, flicking back the longer strands of hair which fall over her ears. The spiky haircut, the purple streaks and the way the sunglasses hide her piercings make her look about twelve years old, until she grins and suddenly there is sexuality, a dark worldliness about her. She takes off her bag and unbuttons her blouse, stripping it away to reveal a flimsy black vest, something Lila would have worn. Her muscles are tanned and lean. She has the physique of a fighter.
"No, not Vince," I realise she hasn't used his first name and, for a second I wonder if she ever used it? Were they in bed, having sex and she was calling out 'Masuka'? I shake my head to clear it, what am I thinking? She leans further over the table and licks her lips. I notice she's put fresh lipstick on while I was getting coffee, it's red and shiny.
"Ok, not Masuka. Interesting, come on, what?"
"Do you know a courier guy called Pete?" I say, realising this sounds incredibly dumb. Her eyebrows raise a little and I see the tiny black balls of her piercing peep over the rim of the glasses. She nods.
"Yeah," she draws the word out so it's got about five syllables. Then she shuts her mouth with an almost audible snap. She knows something.
"And? What can you tell me about him? It's just, he knows a friend of mine and well, and I'm feeling a bit possessive." I add, realising I need a cover for my enquiries. Su Lin tips her head to the side and smiles.
"Lucky friend, with you looking after her and him interested in her, it is a her, right?" I nod and she giggles.
"So, you think he's a nice guy?" I ask, leaning forward, elbows on the table trying to judge the reaction of this person not tainted by complicated feelings. She nods, then shakes her head, then she shrugs.
"Yeah, he's pretty, but that's not what you asked me is it?" I shake my head and she frowns. "Is he a nice guy?" She looks up at the sky and bites her lip, like she's feeling inside for the answer. Finally she looks back at me. I can't see her eyes behind the dark shades of the glasses and I have the disconcerting feeling that I am being watched by Su Lin and Hello Kitty.
"No, you know, I don't think he is. Do you know Janice? The girl I replaced?" I nod, Janice always smiled in the morning and I used to offer her a donut. "Yeah, well, she's been off sick because her doctor said she was in danger of having a breakdown. And that was partly due to Pete, the handsome courier."
"What? What did he do?" The alarm bells are ringing in my head and I want to shout at her to hurry up and tell me, but she's thinking.
"They dated for a while, well, not really dated but they went to the movies, rented movies out, that kind of thing. Then he got really attached to her and Janice didn't want a relationship. I don't know much else but I know he got weird, stalked her I suppose, but nothing that would have got him in trouble." The words hang on the air between us, I can almost see them, black and barbed like wire. This is what Pete really is. This is why my Dark Passenger had its hackles raised when it saw him, even at the first. He's a monster too. Su Lin must see this and she hurries on.
"He's not a whack job; at least I don't think so. He just got a little intense and Janice, well, Janice took it all a bit seriously. All the guy needed was a warning off. I coulda done that for her." She mimes a slashing movement. I snap out of my dark reveries and grin.
"Yeah, I'm sure you could. You have a hell of swing on you. Where'd you learn to use a sword?" She grins and finishes her coffee.
"My mom, she's Japanese. My dad's English though, they moved here before I was born. He's an artist and mom is a performer. She does sword shows and traditional plays and dance. All very sixties." She holds up her fingers in an ironic peace sign and grins. "So, mom taught me how to use a blade, it's part of her act. Good for frightening potential douche bag boyfriends." I chuckle and look at my watch. She checks her own; I see the enigmatic face of Hello Kitty again on the face.
"I'd better get going, listen, thanks for the talk. It was useful." I stand up and she nods, rising with me.
"No problem, Dexter, anytime. In fact, next time you fancy a coffee break, let me know ok?" She doesn't wait for me to cross back over the street with her and I watch her walk through the traffic in her alarming footwear, sober skirt and her tiny vest.
I stand for a minute in the hot sun. Closing my eyes and seeing everything, the whole world, go red. The blood is pounding in my head and my heart is beating at a strange tempo. I recognise this feeling as anger, it's how I felt when Miguel played me, how I felt when Lila tried to hurt the kids, it's how I feel right before someone dies. Pete is not in luck.
I cross the road and g straight to the SUV in the parking lot. Once inside I switch on the AC, hoping that the cool breeze will clear my head. All it does it make me see more clearly. Pete is a rapist, he hurts women and he's living in the same building as Lumen. He doesn't fit the code in anyway but last time someone threatened my family, they didn't just threaten and Rita died. I have to do something.
I start the engine, pulling out onto the street and realising somewhere inside me that I just described Lumen as family. The palms move slowly by as I cruise through the beginning of weekend traffic. People are smiling, listening to their car stereos and talking on their cell phones, making plans for the weekend with their loved ones. For a moment I let myself think about my weekend plans, Greco and DiMarco. The thought of their deaths goes some way to quenching this terrible burning inside me but the Dark Passenger wants more. He sees the threat to Lumen and he wants to strike.
I notice my knuckles are white on the steering wheel and I deliberately relax my hands and flex my fingers. I turn on the radio and skim through the channels until I find a marching band. It's months since I've listened to this station but I need to calm down. Maybe I can just warn him off? Get him to clear the fuck out and leave Lumen alone? Even as I think this I know that he won't believe that the Dexter he has met would ever be frightening enough to make him stop what he's doing.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. It's Lumen.
"Hey you!" I say, trying to damp down the anger in my voice.
"Hey Dexter, are you ok? You sound... off?" She's too quick, too tuned in to my tones and nuances. I grimace and nod.
"Yeah, I'm ok, just a tough day at work. Where are you? Do you want a ride to the apartment?"
"Sure, that'd be great. I'm not at home though, I'm at Mary's. It's two block down from the kindergarten." She reads out an address and I make a mental note.
"Ok, I'll see you there in..." I check my watch, "thirty minutes?" She thanks me and hangs up. I have thirty minutes to calm down.
The marching bands play on as I drive down the street where Mary Chester lives. At the door of the apartment building Lumen is standing with her back towards the street, her golden hair catches the light like a star, glittering and sparkling. Behind her I see a flight of stairs, someone is coming down them and Lumen turns to the SUV and smiles. Only, it's not Lumen, it's another girl. Blonde and fair skinned like Lumen but her features are sharper, more pointed and her smile is crooked and there is a long purple bruised around her throat. She is Mary Chester.
I am struck by the likeness, from behind they could be the same girl, even I mistook Mary for Lumen and I know her so well, her posture, her gait. Now Lumen stands beside her and I can see that Mary is shorter, slightly thinner than Lumen but I was fooled for a moment. Something begins to prickle in the back of my head.
"If you mistook them for each other then maybe Pete did too?" Harry sounds quiet from the back seat of the SUV. I glance in the rear view mirror and he looks serious, he's wearing his uniform, the modern one he wore before his illness forced him to quit working. There he is, Detective Harry Morgan, telling me out loud what my subconscious is afraid to let me think. And of course he's right. Ever since he died, Harry is usually right. I nod my mouth tight and I feel my jaw clench.
"What are you going to do, Dex?" Lumen and Mary are hugging each other, Lumen watching her friend go back into the building, looking up and down the street in a manner that tells me she's still wary of the world. I shake my head, feeling my hands clench the wheel again, feeling the restriction of blood making my hands tingle. It's too easy to imagine they are itching to wrap themselves around Pete's throat.
Lumen gets into the car beside me and looks at me for a long time before she speaks.
"What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong." Her voice is soft and she puts out her hand and covers my white knuckles with her soft fingers. I don't look at her; I don't know what I should say.
"Work, it's work," I tell her, looking over at her, seeing her register the lie and I try to tell her with my eyes to let it be, let me have this secret. She blinks and I know she understands. She pushes her hand through my hair and leans over and puts her head against mine. It's like she's joined to me, mind to mind.
"It's ok babe," she tells me, still rubbing her fingers though my hair, "it's the weekend, we're going to have a good weekend." I look up at her, through the blood pounding and the red light seeping through everything and she is smiling. She kisses me softly.
Ok, I know I've slowed right down but work has been hectic and life even worse. I will get round to finishing and still have three chapters in hand but I don't want to put them all up and then have a big gap while I finish. Thanks for your patience with this. Thanks to Staceuo for being a birthday twin star and to the gorgeous, talented, clever VB for beta and excellent friendness!