Jase Vaughn said, then sipped a fresh cup of coffee. He closed his eyes, savoring the rich taste of the brew. He didn’t know where Abu at the Drive By got his beans, and he didn’t really care. He was just grateful for the fact that every single time he walked into that dive of a gas station the coffee was hot and it was fresh. “Ya think?” Vangie Duncan, the crime-scene tech assigned to the scene, said. Jase opened his eyes and looked up from his squatting position next to the trussed-up body over to the little blonde tech. “I can see why you graduated top in your class.” He bestowed his most dazzling grin on her and watched the color rise in her cheeks. Maybe later he’d take her out for a beer and see what developed. He looked around for a place to set his coffee cup but realized he couldn’t. Instead, he frowned. Fire had done their usual bang-up job decimating a crime scene. Jase took another sip of his coffee. Good thing rigor had set in; otherwise, they’d have left all their shit lying around after they ran a line, cluttering up his scene even more.
