Блейк Пирс - Cause to Dread

He answered on the second ring – pretty quick for Connelly. Avery supposed that said a lot, all things considered.

“Black,” he said. “I honestly didn’t expect to hear from you.”

She ignored this formality and said, “So, this case you were calling me about. Was it the one involving Alfred Lawnbrook and the spiders?”

“It is,” he said. “The scene has been combed over repeatedly, the body has been scrutinized, and we just have nothing .”

“I’ll come in for it,” she said. “But just this one case. And I want to be able to do it on my terms. No over the shoulder hand-holding just because I’ve been through a rough time. Can you see to that?”

“I can do my best.”

Avery sighed, resigned to how good it felt to be needed and to know that her life would soon feel like her own again.

“Okay then,” she said. “I’ll see you at the A1 tomorrow morning.”

Avery wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting when she walked back into the precinct for the first time in over three months. Maybe some butterflies in her stomach or a wave of nostalgia. Maybe even a secure feeling that would make her wonder why she ever thought it had been a smart idea to quit in the first place.

What she wasn’t expecting was to feel nothing. Yet, that’s what she felt. When she walked back into the A1 the following morning, she felt nothing special. It felt almost like she hadn’t missed a day and was just churning out another day – any other old day, just like before.

Apparently, though, she was the only one in the building who felt that way. As she made her way through the building and back toward her old office, she noticed that the busy rush of the morning seemed to quiet as she passed by. It was almost like a wave of silence followed her. The receptionists on the phone went quiet, the murmur of conversation by the coffee pots fell silent. They all looked at her as if some huge celebrity had entered the building; their eyes were wide with wonder and their faces were slack. Avery wondered for a moment if Connelly had even bothered telling anyone that she was coming back.

After weaving her way through the central part of the building and to the back where the offices and conference rooms were, it felt a little more natural. Miller, a records and research guy, gave her a little wave. Denson, an older officer who had maybe two years left before retirement, gave her a smile, a wave, and a genuine: “Nice to have you back!”

Avery returned the woman’s smile, thinking: I’m not back.

But on the heels of that there was another thought. Whatever. Tell yourself that lie all you want. But this feels natural to you. It feels right.

She saw Connelly coming out of his office at the end of the hallway. The man had caused her some pain and headaches over the years but damn if she wasn’t glad to see him. The grin on his face let her know the feeling was mutual. He met her in the hallway and she could tell that the A1 captain – usually a staunch hard ass – was holding himself back from giving her a hug.

“How was it coming in?” he asked.

“Weird,” she said. “They looked at me like I was a celebrity or something. I couldn’t tell if they wanted to avert their eyes or bust out into spontaneous applause.”

“Truth be told, I was worried you’d get a standing ovation for coming in. You’ve been missed around here, Black. You…well, you and Ramirez both.”

“I appreciate that, sir.”

“Good. Because I’m about to show you something that might piss you off. You see…deep down, I had this hope that you’d come back some day. But we couldn’t just make the entire A1 stay on pause until that day came. So you don’t exactly have an office anymore.”

He explained this to her as he led her down the hallway, in the direction of her old office.

“That’s not a big deal at all,” Avery said. “Who got that dump anyway?”

Connelly didn’t answer. Instead, he took the last final steps toward her office and nodded toward it. Avery approached the door and poked her head in. Her heart warmed a bit at what she saw.

Finley was sitting at her desk, sipping from a mug of coffee and reading something on a laptop. When he saw Avery, his face went through a variety of emotions: shock, happiness, and then settling on embarrassment.

He did not show the same restraint as Connelly had. He instantly got up from the desk and met her at the door with a hug. She had underestimated how much she had missed him. While they had never truly worked together, she had enjoyed watching Finley slowly make his way up the ladder. He was funny, loyal, and genuinely kindhearted. She’d always felt as if he were a distant brother in the workplace.

“It’s good to have you back,” Finley said. “We’ve missed you around here.”

“I already went through all of that with her,” Connelly said. “Let’s not give her a big head her first day back.”

Dammit, I’m not back, she thought. But it felt even flimsier than it had five minutes ago.

“You want me to take her out to the site?” Finley asked.

“Yes, and soon. O’Malley is going to want to touch base with her later and I’d like her all nice and caught up when he lands here. Ride her out there and catch her up on everything we know. Try to get out of here in the next ten minutes or so if you can.”

Finley nodded, visibly happy to have been given the task. As he hurried back to the computer, Connelly motioned Avery back out into the hallway. “Come with me,” he said.

She followed him farther down the hall, to the big office at the end. Connelly’s office hadn’t changed a bit since she left. Still cluttered but in a neat sort of way. There were three coffee mugs on his desk and she guessed at least two of them were from this morning alone.

“One more thing,” Connelly said, walking behind his desk. He opened his top desk drawer and pulled out two things that Avery had missed probably more than any of the people in this building.

Her gun and her badge. She smiled as she reached out to them.

“I already filed the paperwork for you,” Connelly said. “They’re yours. In terms of pay and the duration of your stay, I’m handling that paperwork, too.”

Avery honestly didn’t care about the pay or how long she was expected to stay onboard for the case. When her fingers fell on the badge and then picked up the Glock, she felt something slide into place inside her heart.

As sad as it seemed, the badge and the gun felt familiar.

They felt like home.

The crime scene was six days old and, therefore, was vacant when she and Finley got there. They ducked under the yellow tape and she watched as Finley unlocked Alfred Lawnbrook’s apartment door with a key he took from a small envelope that he’d kept in the breast pocket of his shirt.

“You got a fear of spiders?” Finley asked as they stepped inside.

“A bit,” she said. “But that goes no farther than right here, deal?”

Finley nodded with a grim smile. “I only ask because while there were arachnologists and exterminators that came in and took care of them, there were a few stragglers. Just common ones, though. Nothing fancy.”

He led her through he apartment. It was very basic; the layout and appliances told her that Lawnbrook had either been a divorcé or a bachelor. “But there were ones that had no business here, right?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Finley said. “At least three species. One was local to India, I think. I’ve got the detailed notes saved on my phone if you want them. The spider expert that came out and looked the place over said that there were at least two species at the crime scene when the body was found that would have had to have been ordered from a dealer. And that it would likely have been hard to get.”