Hunter and Garcia both drank their whiskies in silence, each having his own rollercoaster of thoughts to deal with. Hunter had spoken with Doctor Hove on the phone. The toxicology-test results for Andrew Nashorn were in. Their prediction was correct. Traces of propafenone, felodipine and carvedilol were found in his blood, the same cocktail of drugs that was used to reduce Derek Nicholson’s heart rate.
A tall, long-haired blonde with a dancer’s lithe body and a walk that was as charming as it was sexy entered the bar. She was wearing skin-tight blue jeans, light-brown stiletto shoes, and a cream-colored shirt tucked in at the waist. Her surgically enhanced breasts stretched the thin cotton fabric so much the buttons were almost popping off. Hunter’s gaze followed her short walk from the entrance to the bar counter.
Garcia smiled at his partner but didn’t say a word.
Hunter had one more sip of his Scotch before stealing another peek at the tall blonde.
‘Maybe you should go talk to her,’ Garcia said, quickly tilting his head in the direction of the bar.
‘Sorry?’
‘Well your eyes are about to pop out of your head. Maybe you should go and say “hi”.’
Hunter studied Garcia’s face for a quick second before subtly shaking his head. ‘It’s not what you’re thinking.’
‘Of course not. But I still think you should consider talking to her.’
Hunter placed his glass down and stood up. ‘I’ll be right back.’
Garcia looked on, surprised, as Hunter made his way towards the bar and the tall blonde, who had already attracted plenty of male attention. Garcia wasn’t really expecting Hunter to make a move so quickly, if he made a move at all. ‘Now this should be interesting,’ he whispered to himself, shifting on his seat to get a better viewing position before leaning forward and placing both elbows on the table. He’d have given anything to have bionic ears at that moment.
‘Excuse me,’ Hunter said, coming up to the woman at the bar.
She didn’t even glance at him. ‘Not interested.’ Her voice was cold, monotone and a little snobbish.
Hunter paused a fraction. ‘I’m sorry?’
‘I said, I’m
Hunter smiled to himself. ‘Well, neither am I. I just wanted to call your attention to the fact that you have sat on some gum, which is now stuck to the back of your jeans like a big blob of green gunk.’ He tilted his head to one side. ‘Not such a great look.’
The woman’s gaze finally met Hunter’s for a split second before moving down. She twisted her body awkwardly, trying to look at the back of her jeans.
‘On the other side,’ Hunter said with a nod.
She twisted her body the other way, her hand shooting straight to her bum. The tips of her carefully manicured fingers touched the gooey mess of gum that ran from her bum cheek down to the top of her leg.
‘Shit,’ she said, pulling her hand away and looking at it with disgust. ‘These are Roberto Cavalli jeans.’
Hunter had no idea what difference that made. ‘They’re nice jeans,’ he said sympathetically.
‘Nice? They cost a fortune.’
Hunter stared back at her blankly. ‘I’m sure if you take it to a laundry service they’ll be able to get it off for you.’
‘Shit,’ she said again, making her way towards the rest room.
‘Well that was subtle,’ Garcia said when Hunter returned to the table. ‘What the hell did you say to her? All I saw was her grabbing her ass and then shooting straight out into the bathroom like a rocket.’
Hunter had a sip of his whisky. ‘Like I said, it wasn’t what you were thinking.’
Garcia chuckled and leaned back on his seat. ‘You’ve gotta work on your pick-up lines, man.’
Hunter’s cellphone rang in his pocket. He placed his glass down on the table and reached for it. ‘Detective Hunter.’
‘Robert, it’s Terry. I’ve got some info for you.’
Detective Terry Cassidy was part of the RHD team. Hunter had asked him to find out whatever he could on the whereabouts of the now-released Raul Escobedo, the rapist Nashorn had beat up before sending to prison.
‘I’m listening, Terry.’
‘Well, this guy you asked me to look into, Escobedo, he’s a bona fide piece of shit,’ Cassidy began. ‘Scumbags-R-us, you know what I’m sayin’? A rapist with a second hard-on for violence. They believe he raped as many as ten women.’
‘I know the original story,’ Hunter interrupted him. ‘What have you got?’