Inspector Rames

Chapter 16

"So, that's it?" Gem asked the following night as she poured my drink at The Silver Star. "Lynn's gone now?"

"She's gone." I tapped my fingers against the bar in time with the music. "She'll be locked away until her trial, and there's no question about her being found guilty and hanged. First comes murder, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage...that's about the only thing I got right, by the way. The order of the rhyme."

Around us, the New Year's Eve party was in full swing. Some tables at the edge of the room remained, but most had been removed to create a wide space to act as a dancefloor. The guests were wearing light-up neon clothes, and they flitted about like fireflies as they networked.

Cassia was waiting for me among them. I'd already caught a glimpse of DC Emily Laney and DS Otto Gibbs, and I knew that Gem had invited Ryker James after she'd heard the arrest story. He was one of very few suspects who weren't in trouble: alongside Lynn's murder charges, Jason was still going to court for possession of a Class A drug, and I'd arrested Maxx for ABH.

Gem slid my water across the bar. "This is on the house. You saved my life."

"I was convinced Maxx Ackerman was the killer."

"You got the right one in the end. You're a good detective."

"Thank God you think so." I picked up my water with a smile. "I don't have any other talents to my name."

She snorted. "Really?"

"What?"

"You have plenty of talents. Firstly, making people feel welcome. I remember how good you were at settling Nina in when she became a sergeant. And Alex is settled now, too." Her gaze drifted over my shoulder.

I turned around. Alex was weaving through the crowd, wearing a work suit without the tie. I wondered if he ever dressed casually.

"Hi," I said when he stopped next to me. Gem had gone to serve another customer. "How was the wait?"

He gave me an impish smile. "Long. I wasn't dying, so they didn't seem to be in a rush to treat me."

"You should have got stitches yesterday like I told you to, instead of letting fresh air work its 'magic.'"

"Well, it's done now." He glanced at my hands, still resting on the bar. "How are your knuckles?"

I examined them guilty. "Fine."

"My governor is an angry chocoholic, it seems. That poor desk. I'm glad it wasn't mine."

I grinned. He held my gaze. A bolt of chemistry passed between us.

A glass was plunked down on the bar next to us, and we both jumped and looked away. Gem had returned with a lime crusher. "Is this what you wanted?"

"You read my mind," Alex said roughly, moving towards the eye-scanner.

"No, it's on the house for you, too," Gem said. "Thank you again. Now find Cassia and have some fun."

We pushed through the throng of dancing people and found Cassia exactly where I'd left her, standing out in a glowing two-piece body-con dress that showed the scrapes on her knees. She would have looked beautiful regardless, except Miles had arrived while I'd been gone, and her smile wasn't as bright as before.

"Hi, Alex," she said when we reached them. "Did you finally get stitched up?"

"Yes, thank you." His gaze swept over Miles. My sister's husband was of average height, which made him look short beside my sergeant, and he was handsome in a respectable way, rather than hot and rugged: a respectable haircut, a respectable suit, a respectable tie, a respectable stance. Everything about him screamed I am a respectable lawyer, which was appropriate given his profession as a Crown Prosecution Service barrister.