TLS Special SNEAK PEEK Feature

 

The Lemonade Stand has spent so many years bringing you the best the Twilight fandom has to offer, and we are very excited to have the chance to offer you even MORE. We've watched stories grow and develop from first post through COMPLETE, and now we're lucky enough to share previews of the stories that will soon be your new addiction.

Today we are featuring the amazing drotuno, author of fandom favorites like the Gravity Series, the Angel Series, Once Upon Another Time, Man Behind the Mask, and Masen Manor. She has graciously agreed to share a sneak of her upcoming new fic, Common Ground. 

banner by Lizzie Paige

Common Ground

by

drotuno

Summary: Common ground or mutual understanding – the ability to find a shared event, feeling, or mind-set. Detective Edward Masen rarely cared about finding common ground with anyone, but he may find he has no choice when it comes to solving his current homicide case. AH/ExB/Rated M

~oOxOo~

The sun tried to peek through the early morning drizzle of Seattle as I made my way across to the park. I pulled my truck up next to the Crime Scene Unit’s van, reaching into the console to pull out a few pairs of rubber gloves.

Garrett was standing by my door when I opened it.

“Who’ve we got?” I asked him, pulling on the gloves.

“Maria Navarro. Originally from Texas. Twenty-seven. Her throat was cut, so she bled out.”

“Here?”

“Looks like it.”

Nodding, I gestured for him to lead the way. His former partner had retired six months ago, and I’d put in the transfer from Narcotics to Homicide. Garrett Spears was a few years older than me. He was tall, lean, and as laid-back as someone who’d smoked a joint, though his came naturally. His wife, Kate, was expecting their first kid by summer, and he was obnoxiously happy about it.

I ducked under the crime scene tape, ignoring the media and waiting for the coroner to finish making an assessment. Once he stood up, I stepped closer to the body.

No wounds showed other than the slice across her neck. The ground beneath her was saturated in blood, so she did die at the scene.

“I know her,” I said, glancing over my shoulder to Garrett.

“Yeah, she’s from your old department, I’d guess.” He pointed to the track marks along the inside of her arms – and probably between her toes if we took her shoes off.

“Mmhm, she’s a dancer down at The Inferno, but she had lots of extracurricular activities – online adult entertainment, part-time prostitute, and drug mule. Nasty drug habit – heroin. All under the watchful eye of James Hunt.”

“Fuck me,” Garrett hissed.

I gazed back down at the victim, pulling out a pen from my pocket to shift her hand a little. “She’s holding something,” I stated, waving over one of the CSI techs. “You might want to bag her hands. She’s got something in a grip.”

“Will do, Masen,” the young girl said, taking a few photos before pulling out a bag to cover Maria’s hands. She looked nervously to me. “We’re just about finished processing, which means we’ll be moving her soon.”

Nodding, I stood up and walked the whole scene. As the morning got lighter, I could see that they’d picked the perfect location to kill her. She was on the bank of a small pond, not easily accessible from the park’s walking trail. The park was known for drug deals – nothing big, just weed and a little coke. 

With a glance around, I saw a middle-aged man holding the leash of a black lab.

“Let me guess. The dog found the body,” I asked her.

She smiled. “Good guess. He’s the one who called 911. He said his dog went after a duck, and well, there you go.” She gestured to the body. “She’s soaking wet, and rigor has already set in, so she’s been here several hours. Overnight.”

“Thanks…”

“Jessica.”

“Thanks, Jessica. Can you let me know when you’ve processed evidence? And a tox report too?”

“Yeah, yeah. For sure.”

Garrett stepped up as Jessica started to turn the body over to document more pictures.

“It doesn’t bother you that every female on the fucking force knows your name, yet you pay zero attention to that shit?”

Raising an eyebrow his way, I shrugged a shoulder. “Why would I give a shit?”

~oOxOo~

Remember to put drotuno on alert so you don't miss out! Common Ground will begin posting soon.