Blood Orchids by Toby Neal Page A

hand into her pocket now as she followed Jeremy for a long day of interviewing. The triangle shape of the folded note touching her fingers felt hard and reassuring.
    She and Jeremy dropped in on six of Haunani’s contacts, all of whom had claimed not to have known who her “secret admirer” was, nor had any idea who might have had access to Rohypnol or wanted to harm her. A couple of them weren’t home and they left messages with relatives.
    Far from the banter and teasing she had with Pono, Jeremy spoke only when necessary, answering her questions with monosyllables. Eventually she gave up, reading her Criminology text between the stops. She found the silence unexpectedly relaxing.
    They met Stevens for lunch at Local Grindz, a popular cop restaurant. Lei started on her Japanese bento box lunch as Stevens and Jeremy hashed over the fruitless interviews.
    “These kids are really upset over the girls’ murder. I think they’d tell us if they knew anything,” Jeremy concluded. His reserve was gone, she noticed. She stirred chicken katsu into the rice and added a little kim chee on top before deftly scooping it up with her chopsticks.
    “What do you think about the interviews so far?” Stevens asked, turning to her.
    “Nothing’s popping. Just a bunch of high school kids, and so far they’re broken up when we start talking about Haunani. We haven’t found anyone obvious she could have been getting drugs from.”
    They cleared their trays back onto the counter, and Stevens draped his arm over Lei’s shoulders as they followed Jeremy out.
    “My back hurts,” he whispered in her ear. “Got anything more comfy for tonight?” Jeremy turned back to them and frowned as he pushed the door open. Stevens dropped his arm when Lei elbowed him hard.
    “Forget it,” she snapped. “You’re not getting in my bed.”
    “Hey,” he said, trying to sound injured. “I just meant a futon or something.”
    “I can work a phone if I need help. You guys are overreacting, seriously.”
    Jeremy had moved ahead of them and was already unlocking the car. She hurried after him and they got in and pulled away.
    There was no mistaking the icy silence as they drove to their next interview. Lei was equally quiet. Jeremy was jealous. How ridiculous, she thought. Like she and Stevens were anything but colleagues, maybe friends. What the hell was wrong with the guy?
    Somehow they completed the rest of the interviews without speaking to each other.

Chapter 16
    He sat in his truck across the street from the bar in the waning light of evening. He’d been tracking her patterns, and today she usually finished her patrol shift and went in to eat and change before class. Sure enough, her vehicle roared around the corner and into the alley. She got out, pulling a rubber band out of her hair as she walked briskly, carrying a duffel bag, to the alley entrance into the bar.
    He put the truck in gear and pulled across, parking just in front of her vehicle. He checked once again that he had everything he needed, and then slipped into the unlocked back alley door.
    Inside, the hallway was empty, dimly lit by a bare, apathetic bulb. The battered door of the women’s room was to his left. He heard splashing from inside. She’d taken her uniform off to change and was having a quick rinse at the sink. He imagined her as he’d seen her through the high louvered window on another day: washing her face, skin glowing pearl in the dim light, serviceable bra and panties only hinting at her unique treasures.
    He put his ear against the door and heard rustling. She was getting clothes out of the duffel bag. He slid the wire through the crack of the door, catching the old fashioned latch and pushing it up and out of its metal loop. He gave the door a hard push and it swung wide.
    She jerked upright, clutching a T-shirt against her breasts.
    “Hey!” she said indignantly. He registered the swirl of loose hair, startled eyes, white cotton panties: then he shot