Luciano

3

Dedicated to ToBeGolden thanks for be supportive, I've lost a lot of readers but I'm so grateful for the few left💕

UNEDITED💛

"You're late" Quinton grabs me by the crease of my elbow the moment I step foot outside my car and onto the wet mucky grass. I jerk my arm but that does more harm than good when we're positioned behind the Coroner's van away from prying eyes checking all the ins and outs on the secluded property.

"Let go" My teeth grit in irritation, he flings my arm away and now we're face to face. My back to the cold van while his hand stays posted beside my face, clenched into a tight veiny fist.

"Where the hell have you been! What, you don't answer your phone anymore? I've been calling you all day!" His nose is pinned to mine. Angry brown eyes spill into mine, the angry vein on the side of his temple perks up from behind  messily quiffed auburn hair.

"Who the fuck are you to question me on where I've been!" I bite back, shoving my finger in his cardigan clad chest. He steps back and crosses his arms with pursed lips. I take a minute to look at him; the navy blue cardigan is matched with dark jeans along with his gold plated badge tucked into the mouth of his pants.

"You've been so introverted and all I'm trying to do is be a good friend and stay in your corner but you are not making this easy." A heavy sigh leaves me. I don't want to go through this right now. For the longest time I've been doing so well at keeping my emotions at bay- now is not the time.

"Stop" I mumble. My eyes squint in warning when his brows furrow and he steps closer.

"Stop, what?" His retort has me closing my eyes, wishing he would have just left me alone and allowed me to do my work.

"Stop trying to be my friend. I know what you want in return, Alani may have been clueless to your faux Prince Charming routine but I've been through nothing but men like you. I don't NEED your help"

"Your mouth is your biggest-" He's cut off by my name being called from across the yard. Through the swarm of busy crime scene detectives, police officers and state officials , like magic my eyes immediately connect with my boss'. My heart is in my throat, the air is thicker than a vat of boiling adhesive. Slowly my feet lead me away from Quinton's now reserved stance and towards the three broken steps leading into the creaky house. My eyes hone in on the smudged pool of blood at the front entrance from where I punched Grant in his  nose and drug him inside by an old rope I found outside.

"Chief" I acknowledge. He's decked in his black polyester jacket adorned with colorful ribbons and matching slacks. Grey eyes layered with bags tell me he's exhausted. His hand comes around my shoulder as he leads me into the artificially lit house. I see groups of different responders occupying separate locations around the room. They won't find anything here; I wasn't dumb enough to come in clothes I owned: everything I wore were from victims of prior  murders that were discarded at the precinct years ago. To my knowledge that pile was either to be donated or incinerated. No fingerprints, no DNA. They'll be lucky if they even find a drop of sweat from me.

" Sir, what's going on?" I whisper naively. He grunts and leads me to the doorframe from which a makeshift plastic curtain is hoisted.

"A gruesome act took place this evening , and a  man has been murdered, for now we're unable to recognize  the body due to the severity of their wounds. Now I'm not privy to the type of things you've witnessed while under active duty before moving here but even with years of experience the most seasoned man can fold in cases like these." My eyes widen but quickly I mask it with a cough and nod my head, fingers barely  brushing the dry plastic.