Do You Want To Play: A Detroit Police Procedural Romance Read Free

he or she would have only one side of their lips curved up, which shows contempt. But there is too much chaos and the crowd keeps moving around. The first policeman came around about an hour ago, so the killer could have left by now.
    “What do you think, Williams?” Tobias asks. “Is your psychology education telling you anything?”
    “He’s good at remaining undetected and highly intelligent,” I say, thinking about all of the crime scenes where the murder was committed in a public place. He grits his teeth.
    “Of course, he is,” he says. “How else would he know how to piss me off without me catching him?”
    “I’d put him at an above-genius level,” I say, ignoring his comment. “Video games must have had a profound effect on him, so he likely has not had much of a social life…and he must still not have much of one if he has time to make these extravagant crime scenes. It’s a dangerous mixture…intelligence without anyone to show off to…”
    “Are you talking about the killer or yourself?” he asks. “Because your profile isn’t helping me.”
    I glare at him. “You’re an asshole.”
    “It’s better to be an asshole without anyone to show off to than a genius who is busy showing off.”
    I shove him. He stumbles backward over the fountain edge and falls into the fountain water. He curses up a storm but I’m already walking away. It’s no wonder that Detroit has so many unsolved murders. Their policemen are uncooperative jackasses and half the people here are begging to be killed.
     
    ~~~~~
     
    I spread out every crime scene photo on the floor and rewrite every piece of evidence on notecards to place around them. The new crime scene photos are laid directly in front of me.
     
    Victim: Ashley Barker
    Occupation: Teacher (High school English and Drama)
    Method of Murder: Throat cut—bled out
    Date of Death: September 30, 2014, between 12:00 a.m. and 2 a.m.
    Place of Death: Osborn High School
    Video Game Emulation of: Primal Instinct
    Details: Barker had stayed at the school late because her students had just finished a production of Twelve Angry Men and she was cleaning up the stage.
     
    Victim: Geoffrey Black
    Occupation: Factory worker
    Method of Murder: Five bullet wounds—two in his chest, two on either side of his navel, and one in the center of the other bullet wounds
    Date of Death: August 17, 2014, around 4 a.m.
    Place of Death: Classic Blue Factory
    Video Game Emulation of: Unknown
     
    Victim: Aubrey Morrison
    Occupation: Store owner of Check ‘n Go
    Method of Murder: Shot in the back of the head
    Date of Death: September 4, 2014, between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m.
    Place of Death: Alley off of Albany Street, next to the Check ‘n’ Go.
    Video Game Emulation of: Land of Survival
    Details: Shot execution-style (Morrison was on her knees); a balloon was tied to her wrist that had a skull and bones sketched onto it.
     
    Victim: David King
    Occupation: Unemployed/Homeless
    Method of Murder: Beheaded
    Date of Death: August 1, 2014, between 3:50 a.m. and 4:15 a.m.
    Place of Death: Along the Detroit River near Jefferson Avenue
    Video Game Emulation: Road Kill or Dangerous Intentions
     
    Victim: Jeff Patton
    Occupation: Security guard
    Method of Murder: Drowned
    Date of Death: October 8, 2014 around midnight
    Place of Death: Belle Isle State Park (James Scott Fountain)
    Video Game Emulation: Ryder’s Revenge
     
    ~~~~~
     
    Tobias walks up to the photos on the floor, the tip of his Oxford shoes touching the photograph of Geoffrey Black.
    “What are you doing?” he asks.
    “I’m trying to find new connections,” I say.
    “I’ve made all the connections that could be made. The victims were all killed close to where they worked except David King, and nobody knows where he came from since he was in the river. Our best bet is that they were all chosen because the killer looked at them and saw an opportunity,” he says. “You don’t think I’ve looked up every possibility?”
    “I