The Frenzy War Read Online Free

cops—ask around.”
    â€œI have.”
    â€œWhat did you learn?”
    â€œThe guys in your old unit think you’re a dyke.”
    â€œWhat if I am?”
    â€œThat’s cool. We can go watch girls together.”
    â€œ
That’s
why I won’t date you. You’re a dog, and you’re too old for me to teach you new tricks.”
    â€œMaybe I could teach you some.”
    â€œYou never give up, do you?”
    â€œI’ve got to be true to myself.”
    â€œThen how about this: you’re my training officer. You’re using your position of authority to pressure me into submitting to you.”
    Willy stared at her for a moment, uncertain what to say. Karol got out of the SUV, and he did the same. Had he taken the game too far? He liked Karol but not enough to risk his career over. Staring across the top of the vehicle at her, he saw her face split into a big smile, her white teeth dazzling against her dark skin. He wagged one finger at her. “You had me going.”
    â€œGood. Because if I didn’t like you I just might file a complaint, and people would pay attention. You just want what you can’t have. Your macho Latin ego can’t handle that I’m not interested.”
    Willy joined her on the sidewalk, and they started forward. “Hey, don’t stereotype me.” Upon seeing their destination, he stopped in his tracks:
Synful Reading.
    Two police officers stood outside the door, one of them speaking to three civilians. Yellow crime scene tape blocked off the sidewalk, forming a square around the store’s entrance and forcing pedestrians into the street.
    â€œIs something wrong?” Karol said.
    â€œOur crime scene figured into an old case of mine.”
    â€œWhich one?”
    â€œThe Manhattan Werewolf.”
    Karol raised her eyebrows. “How involved?”
    â€œThe woman who ran the store witnessed one of the homicides. We considered her a person of interest. She disappeared. We put out an APB for her, but she never turned up. Her brothers own the store now.”
    â€œNo shit? I’m sure there’s no connection.”
    I’m not so sure.
    They ducked beneath the tape, and Willy pulled his three-quarter length coat back, allowing the PO stationed at the door to see his gold shield. “Willy Diega and Karol Williams.”
    The PO recorded their names on his clipboard.
    â€œNo press. I don’t care how pushy she—
they
—are.”
    The PO nodded. “CSU is here.”
    Pulling on his latex gloves, Willy looked over his shoulder at the Crime Scene Unit van pulling up to the curb. “Who are the civilians?”
    â€œThe woman says she saw some guys drag a girl out of the store and throw her into a white van that took off. She went inside and found the vic. The two men went in after she came out screaming. We got here two minutes after Dispatch called us. We put out an APB on the van, but no luck so far.”
    Karol put on her gloves, and Willy opened the door for her and followed her inside the bookstore, where two other POs stood guard. Exotic scents unfamiliar to Willy filled his nostrils, and he wanted to gag: incense. A pool of blood spread across the floor from the gaping neck stump of a headless body. Willy experienced déjà vu. He had seen more than his share of headless corpses on the Manhattan Werewolf case. Glancing at the wall units he saw only books, not messages scrawled in blood. Karol froze in her tracks, the first time Willy had seen her affected by a crime scene, and he stepped around her. The corpse’s head lay tilted on one side on the floor. He caught himself sighing with relief. The Manhattan Werewolf’s victims’ heads had all been missing.
    â€œYou guys touch anything?” Willy said.
    â€œNot us,” one of the POs said.
    Willy pulled on rubber shoe covers and circled the pool of blood to see the victim’s face. His heart skipped a beat. The