An Offer You Can't Refuse by Sal Bianchi (best beach reads .txt) 📕

I chuckled as I watched her go. She was fun to tease, but honestly, I wished I could figure out how to get along with her.

“What did you do now?” Jase sighed as he turned to look at me.

“Nothing,” I protested. “She came up to me all aggressive. I didn’t do anything to provoke her. I even told her she looked pretty.”

“See, there’s your problem right there,” Jase retorted. “You shouldn’t have done that. She’s super weird about people complimenting her, and she already didn’t like you, so it was probably doubly as annoying that it was you who complimented her.”

“That’s... weird,” I muttered. “Most women I know love being told they look pretty, especially ones as good-looking as her.”

“Eh,” Jase shrugged nonchalantly, “I don’t know. She’s just kind of a mean person, to be honest. She’s cold to everyone.”

“Is that so?” I grinned cockily. “I bet I could get her to warm up to me.”

“No,” Jase replied bluntly. “Whatever you’re thinking, just no. You’re not even here that often. If you annoy her, I’m the one who’s going to be dealing with the fallout.”

“Fine, fine,” I sighed placatingly.

“Anyway, aren’t you here to speak to Director Flint?” Jase asked, smoothly changing the subject.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Is it a good case?”

“Define ‘good,’” Jase replied. “I don’t know if I’d ever consider it ‘good’ when a crime is committed. Anyway, just go and get the details from him. I’ve been waiting all day.”

It was the largest one, tucked into the furthest corner of the floor. The curtains were closed, as usual, so I couldn’t tell if he was actually in there. I knocked on the door.

“Come in,” the gruff response came just a moment later. I walked in without hesitation and closed the door behind me. The office was quiet, unlike the boisterous bullpen outside. “Sit down.”

“What’s the case about?” I asked eagerly as I took a seat in the plush leather chair across the desk from him. Flint still looked the same as I remembered. He still had the same stoic unfriendly expression that belied his kind-hearted personality. The biggest difference was the few errant strands of gray hair I could see framing the edge of his hairline.

“A woman was found dead in her home this morning,” Flint explained. “Senator Alexis Rothschild.”

“Oh, yeah,” I blinked in surprise. “I heard about that on the news. The SDCT is investigating that case?”

“Yes,” Flint nodded. “The senator was outspoken on a lot of controversial issues, domestically and internationally. She had her fair share of enemies, any one of whom could have done this. Since this is a potentially politically motivated attack, the SDCT is being called in to help solve it. I called you because you’re good at finding people.”

I beamed proudly at the compliment. Despite what those fake reviews claimed, I had a one hundred percent success rate. I’d never failed to find anything or anyone a client hired me to locate.

“Great.” I nodded. “So, what are the details?”

“She was found by the nanny this morning,” Flint replied without preamble. “According to her, she left the house at around midnight after the senator got home. She arrived this morning at seven AM and called the police at seven-oh-three.”

“So she was the last person to see her alive and the one who found the body?” I mused.

“Yep,” Flint nodded. “Both of the senator’s kids were in the house last night. According to the nanny, the oldest child, Josh, was sitting beside his mother’s body when she arrived.”

“What?” I gasped. “Poor kid.”

“Yeah.” Flint sighed. “Neither he nor the little sister sleeping upstairs were harmed, though, which makes the case all the more puzzling. Even more mysterious is the fact that there were no signs of forced entry on any of the exterior doors or windows of the house. There were signs of a struggle, though. Several items in the kitchen were knocked around and broken, and the police found traces of skin under Rothschild’s nails.”

“No DNA matches?” I asked as I committed all the known facts to memory.

“None in the system.” Flint shook his head. “From what the police could ascertain from the wounds on the victim and the blood spatter found in the kitchen, it seems whoever attacked Rothschild stabbed her first and then bludgeoned her with the base of a kitchen blender as she tried to escape. No money or valuables were taken from the home.”

“What about the husband?” I asked. “If the kids weren’t harmed and nothing was taken, wouldn’t he be the most likely suspect? I heard on the news that there was a big scandal about their divorce a few weeks back.”

“He was the first one the police investigated,” Flint confirmed. “But his alibi was airtight. He was at a party in the city last night, with pictures all over social media to prove it.”

“That seems awfully convenient,” I muttered.

“I thought so too,” Flint nodded. “Which is why I want you and Agent Park to go speak with him first. There are a lot of rumors flying around right now about who killed the senator, and I need you to parse through them and figure out which have any credibility. The husband’s name is Ryan Rothschild. I’ll forward his address and information to you.”

“Got it.” I nodded as I got up and left the office to tell Jase.

I walked through the bullpen toward his desk. His back was to me, and he was bent over his computer, looking at something intently. I smirked mischievously as I approached him slowly.

“Get your stuff,” I announced loudly as I snuck up behind him. I snickered as he flinched in surprise. “Offic-- Er, Director Flint wants us to go speak to Senator Rothschild’s ex-husband.”

I’d almost slipped into my old habit of calling him ‘officer.’ It was difficult to break after knowing him for so many years.

I waited as he quickly packed his work bag before getting up from his desk. Jase was one of the only agents that didn’t have any reservations about working