Robin Jenkins and Christina Clark find the dead body of Violet Hayes in their apartment. They strike an investigation of their own and enlist the help of their neighbor, Finn Dallas.
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A TALL FIGURE EMERGED FROM THE DARKNESS, hands shifting in the shadows until a soft hiss of a lighter tore through the silence, spouting a small flame that radiated the lower half of their face.
The red tip of the lightened cigarette was trapped between long fingers, and Christina's eyes followed it as it leisurely dropped to the person's side.
Her eyes slid back up again, able to identify him now that he stepped into the light.
James.
"Clark," he offered as a form of greeting, smoke escaping his lips and Christina's insides coiled.
"James." She nodded her head once.
She kept her cool as she pushed the document back into the folder and tucked it into the inside pocket of Robin's blazer. The sounds of wrinkled paper ricocheted around them in the quietude of the night, and she looked back at him.
He was watching her every move.
She tipped her chin up, refusing to show any signs of unease.
"Olivia Winters is doing her speech and you're out here?" She asked, tucking her hands inside the pockets. Her breath hitched in her throat when she felt Robin's whistle, the metal cool against the blazing heat of her fingertips.
James stepped closer, inhaling another drag and Christina watched the speed of the fire as it ate away at the paper, ash brimming the tip. She looked down at the distance between them, counting the steps he needed to take until she considered him too close. Five left.
"Don't really care." His brows gently pinched together at the admission, looking down at his fingers and back out into the dark sky.
"Spoken by the possible future mayor." Christina couldn't hide the bite behind her tone. Her fingers clutched around the whistle, inspecting his state carefully.
Currently, Fairford was run by the council alone, the Hunters. For James to become mayor, he had to be a minimum of thirty-five of age, which was a long way. For Olivia Winters to become mayor, the people should vote the entire council out, and the new members would vote for a mayor in a post-Hunter system, whether it would be Winters or someone else. But Hunters have been ruling Fairford for generations; the possibility of the current regime prevailing for years to come wasn't an insane predictability.
Christina took her time inspecting him. He looked worn out. Red patches smeared his lower eyelids, and his posture hunched. He didn't seem to pose much of a threat at first glance, but the more she studied his demeanor the more she felt the telltale signs of warnings from her body. The setting certainly didn't aid his case. It was dark outside on the rooftop, and the only source of light was the city below.
A whistle wouldn't aid her in this - she needed a weapon, something to knock him with would he choose to attempt something.
James snorted, shaking his head. "I don't care." He shrugged, looking somewhat defeated as he looked down at the soles of his shoes. A second passed before he leaned against the stones of the roof's fence, looking out into the landscape.
