City of Sins

City Wilde coffee shop lay a few blocks off the strip, far enough that the average tourist didn’t waddle down in search of something to fend off a hangover of excess. Completely modern, with a high standard of service, it catered to not only the bump and grind of casino workers but also to the local student population that needed a continual caffeine hit to keep grades above passing level. The dining area lay empty now but usually it buzzed with activity, sections for just grabbing a cuppa and conversation or modern computer peripheral stations that allowed everything from VOIP calls to zoom meetings for those who couldn’t afford the WIFI set up needed at home.  Most customers straggling out at the end of day tended to be swing shift employees though, a large share from some casinos, grabbing a ‘morning’ coffee right before ten and the doors closed till the early a.m. rush.  Mike had made one last latte, double whip, light cream with two shots of espresso and now lugged the last three bags of trash out to the dumpster out back. Flipping the lid back, his gaze caught the tip of a lone Nike Air Force 1, nearly pristine except for a spray of red on the toes. Dropping the bags, he jogged back into the shop to grab a broom, the idea of free high end high tops overcoming the niggling voice of concern in the back of his head. A couple of pokes unseated enough of the refuse to reveal the leg still attached to the shoe. Trash forgotten, Mike backpedaled as he retched, stumbling over the bags next to him and booking it back into the shop, the door slamming behind him with a resounding bang.                                 ***************************************************** Bella glared at the phone screen, fingers beating out a rapid tattoo on the steering while pondering whether to answer it. Hell, the smell of the burger and fries still steaming in the bag on the seat next to her had an audible growl from her belly echoing in the car. Sighing, she shoved a handful of crispy, salty goodness in her mouth while swiping on the little green icon.  “Seriously Bobby?”  She grumbled around that mouthful of fries, words only slightly garbled. The voice on the other end grumbled back, the gruff tones surprisingly affectionate.  “You’re the preternatural consultant and private investigator. Aren’t you used to these kinds of hours?” Bella snorted and unwrapped the burger.  Showing up hungry at a crime scene didn’t come recommended. “No.  I honestly get to go home occasionally and ignore the freaking phone.”  The nose of the lioness just under the skin switched, licking metaphysical lips at the meal coming.  Bobby just sighed heavily. “Well, you didn’t, so I need you down at City Wilde. I got a body, and it’s a mess.” She sighed back, twice as dramatically, before tearing a prodigious bite off and letting the fat and ketchup melt over her tongue with a pornographic groan of happiness.  Chewing, glaring at the poor man who stumbled in front of her car after what had to be an excess of ‘free drinks’ from the Frontier Casino and Gambling Hall where she sat parked next to the side door, the silence stretched till she swallowed. “Fine.  Give me 10 to finish this.”  Thumbing the call end button, Bella fumed while devouring the last two burgers and wiped her fingers clean with angry, jerky movements. Didn’t matter though, the smell of them lingered to a sensitive shifter nose, meat and blood a tantalizing reminder that the beast rarely remained quiescent for long.    Three days, three days of running down the partner of a local jewelry business man through dozens of bullshit leads and red herrings. Today she’d finally tracked his ass to an off strip casino resort with some showgirl wanna be with what had to have been one of the largest set of breasts Bella’d seen in her lifetime.   One call to LVPD had the man in cuffs and the woman accepting phone numbers from half the uniforms meandering about, and it was case closed with a well-deserved day off tomorrow.   Well, it had been the plan until she’d neglected to ignore the phone buzzing incessantly. Putting the car into gear, the angry lioness shot onto the strip with a squeal of tires and a whole lotta attitude.                 ************************************************************ It took a minute to get into the strip mall parking lot, a uni she’d gone to the academy with waving her in with a grin and motioning for the window down with exaggerated hand movements.  Bella obeyed, lifting her hand for the obligatory wave as he spoke. “Damn Bella, look at you living your best life. Still driving the Ford POS, I see.”   Officer Watson, Benny to those who knew and barely tolerated him, was like her in some ways, had parents in the PD and followed suit like a good little boy. He hadn’t run into the string of bad luck that left her infected and unable to continue on the officer’s career path, giving up a promotion and a chance at making detective in one fatal night.  “Yeah Benny, the Tesla’s in the shop again. Damned tech these days.” The smile held an edge of disdain, a turn of her head revealing the gleam of the beast in the depths of her dark brown eyes. “How’s the wife and kids these days?  Still doesn’t know about that waitress at the Aria?” Dropping his hand to the holster at his side, Benny stepped back with an audible swallow, friendly demeanor fading as fear rose, the stink making Bella’s nose wrinkle and a smile curving those full lips. “Bobby’s waiting for you. Better hurry before it gets any riper back there.”  The lean female nodded and rolled the window back up, the aforementioned smell of the scene wafting in from the mess around back.  No missing that bouquet. The lion that lingered just under the skin licked her lips in anticipation at the hints of a fresh kill, decomp barely setting in and all that still warm meat. That coppery taint just added to the flavor anyway, and it took every bit of her tired ass control to shove the contrary cat back in her box.   Parking as far from the cadre of emergency vehicles packing the cracked asphalt lot as she could, Bella walked up to the police line with few if anyone stopping her advance.  “Bella!”  Someone shouted her name and brought that ebon head around. Bobby stood in front of the storefront, looking as bedraggled as always. Over six feet and dressed in a suit that had seen better days, the older man had a grizzled, wrinkled appearance.  Grey hair had a touch of curl, making it stand up in places and it just got worse as he dragged his hand through it, a tic when agitated. HIs tie lay askew, collar open in the oppressive heat even at this late hour.    She gave him a once over on approach when the uniform lifted the tape before grabbing him in a one-armed hug.  “So, tell me, what made you drag me out here when you got all these professionals here?”  Waving to the assorted people milling around, uniform and CSI alike, she tried to ignore the slowly increasing tendrils of scent from the crime scene. It didn’t help that the cacophony of perfumes from the shop got caught up in the mix and it was a sharp contrast, blood and offal, coffee and cherry pastries.  He just grinned and started pulling her through the shop proper, past the kitchen and coolers and out the service entrance in back.  “Well, this one is just up your alley.” Bobby signaled the crime scene team to back off and waved her forward.   “Because they have nibbled him on.” Bella blanched, feeling the burgers roll a bit and sucked in a breath. Big mistake, as it rolled over her tongue. One thing stood out though, through all the mess, the musk of another feline. Not her kind, but similar. “Bobby, the dead guy’s a shifter, tiger, if I don’t miss my guess.” Her voice was low, almost a sibilant growl. Lips parted, flehmen response of her beast, letting her taste every aspect of the scene without touching a single thing.   Ignoring the trash and coppery aroma of blood that rolled like candy over her tongue, there were hints of other shifters, other species that weren’t known for getting along all over the place. Knowing not a single soul would halt her advance, she approached the body with a cop’s eyes.  The man had been young, Bella guessing maybe early twenties with a shock of deep orange hair that probably lay in a neat fall of layers when he’d been breathing. On his back after being pulled out of the dumpster, half the face below the hairline was missing, deep indentations where something had scraped at the bones under the flesh of the cheek. Farther down, the throat and chest lay open, framed by tattered strips of a bright blue shirt. Bone glinted white under the ragged edges of the wound, gristle and wet ribbons obscuring what was left uneaten. Her own beast rose, pushing the edges of control, and Bella let her eyes close, struggling to keep the urge to reach out and coat her fingers in the congealing puddle of crimson nestled where his stomach should have been. Swallowing heavily, she stood, stepping back and let her eyes move over the area around the body. No blood pooling in large quantities that could be seen with the naked eyes.  Indicating the rest of the alley with a wave of her hand, Bella glanced over at the head of homicide with an eyebrow raised. “Your people sweep this yet?”   Bobby nodded. “You’re good, but pick nothing up. I’ll have Reese keep you company.” A man detached himself from the crowd near the backdoor of the coffee shop and approached without the usually proffered hand, instead giving the lithe female a nod and a once over.  “Glad to finally meet you.  I’ve never worked with one of your kind before, so anything you do or don’t want me to do?” Bella grinned. “You’re the first person who’s ever asked me that.”  Her kind. Bobby told half the force of that accident that demolished her return to the rank and file of the LVPD had left her psychic. Only he knew the actual story. Reese probably wouldn’t be standing so close had the man understood the cat that lay so still within thought he smelled delicious.  Motioning him to follow, she started down towards the north end with a slow, measured pace and the graceful stride of a born predator.  “Stay behind me. I don’t want your energy interfering. I’ll talk and point if I find something, okay?” Half a dozen steps from the dumpster they’d found the body in, a twitch of the nose revealed the first droplets and she crouched down, pointing them out to the man tailing her. “So, it’s a body dump, and it looks like they tossed him from here.”  No mean feat to toss someone who probably tipped the scale at 180 or better, at least twenty feet away, into the open recycle container. Eyes that had lightened glanced up and down the expanse of the alley, focusing on each door in turn. Reese probably wouldn’t be able to make it out from that distance, but two doors from the end a small security camera sat bolted to the wall above the scarred metal exit to whatever shop it protected.  “You might wanna check some of the store owners for cameras. There’s one there on the end that may be connected. “ Reese squinted and then shook his head. “How far is that? Sheesh without lights at all.”  He took a couple of notes and dropped an evidence tag down where the blood droplets lay. “Anything else?”   Bella snorted in amusement. “What, you think I have superpowers?  All I can tell you is he was partially eaten by another shifter. Probably attacked from the looks of his abdomen, but with part of the body missing, it’s gonna be anyone’s guess if I’m right or not.”  From behind, Bobby intoned gravely. “What ate him Bella?” Eyes that had faded to a warm chocolate brown rose to that familiar face, a man who’d bounced her on his knee when she was six and had attended her graduation from the police academy only five years ago. “Another tiger Bobby. This is gonna get messy.”  Her glance slid back to the body, now covered and awaiting transport to the morgue. “You’re gonna have to go talk to Aleizander.”   This time, Bobby was the one grinning from ear to ear. “No Bella, that’s your job. It’s why we pay you.”  “Not well enough to do it tonight.”  Pulling the cell out of her butt pocket, the lanky female started scrolling thru her contact list till the number for the streak compound came up. “I’ll call them in the morning but AFTER you give me the victim’s name. They’re not gonna let me past the gates without that. You know how territorial they are.” Reese raised a hand, forgotten till he piped up from behind her. “Who… you mean you’re going to see the head of the tigers here in Vegas?”  The man sounded as awestruck as a teenager on his way to his first concert. “The guy who does the shows at the Palazzo?  Do you need…” Bobby cut him off with an exasperated grunt. “Crime Scene Tech Reese, you have a scene to process. Go find Lopez and give him a hand with getting the individual business details down so we can canvas them when they open.”   Waiting till the man walked off with shoulders a little slumped in disappointment, he continued. “Do you need anyone to go with? I can send a couple of uniforms…” “No, you know that won’t help. That’ll just get their back up.  I’ll get in touch with Zander in the morning. He’s a fairly early riser.” Glancing back as a clatter announced the gurney from the medical examiner approaching from the left. “Just text me the guy’s name. I’m hoping this is a stray. If it’s a local, this is gonna get complicated really fast. The streak won’t take police involvement any better than Law would take you meddling in pride business.” Bobby’s face split into a grin. “Maybe they should have eaten the rest of him instead of discarding the remains behind an internet cafe.”