A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1)(106)

She managed the barest hint of a smile before realizing the halls had fallen completely silent. Row by row, the students turned and faced the walls, and Auri was completely lost until she saw Lynelle and Liam walking toward the classroom.

The students turned their backs as she walked past. Every. Single. Student.

Auri took in a sharp breath, watching Lynelle as she turned up her nose and walked like a model at fashion week. Liam lagged behind her. At least he had the decency to look ashamed.

Lynelle strode past them and into the room. Liam followed suit, and the students stayed in their positions even after the tardy bell rang. Teachers had to come out of their classrooms to usher them inside.

Auri turned to Cruz, her top applicant and career hopeful, and she hugged him.

He hesitated, then hugged her back. His long arms wrapped around her and pulled her tight, and he buried his face in her hair. They hugged until someone, a teacher perhaps, cleared her throat.

Auri pulled away and hurried into the classroom. The kids were standing. They greeted her, too, each one introducing himself or herself and welcoming her to DSH. Besides Team Lynelle, that is.

She sat at her seat just as the room fell completely silent. That was when she got a good look at Liam. He sported several bruises and a swollen eye.

Lynelle had raised her hackles, her defenses on DEFCON 1, when she glared at everyone and turned in her seat. “Please. Like I care what you hacks think.”

The teacher began taking roll when slowly the students started turning their desks. The legs scraped along the floor, the sound making as much of a point as the action. By the time all the chairs had been moved, not a single student faced Lynelle or Liam. They’d all turned their backs on them.

Lynelle stood and ran from the room as Liam sank down in his chair.

Auri sat dumbfounded. And confused. And grateful.

God, she loved this town.


“Now, Ravinder, just hear me out.”

Levi Ravinder tore into the sheriff’s station with a bone to pick. Or a bone to break. Either way, he was testy.

The way Sun saw it, he could just be mad. He was her number one at the moment for a homicide—and possibly more—and he could not deny the evidence that put him there.

Admittedly, the bracelet was thin. No DA in the world could get a conviction on such circumstantial evidence, but it was a starting point.

Even after this, however, her feelings toward him hadn’t changed. She could read people to an almost eerie degree. Well, everyone but her own daughter. But Levi threw her off balance. Her sixth sense was what had kept her alive and moving up the proverbial ladder in Santa Fe. It was legendary and had never let her down.

Until now.

She was beginning to wonder if she’d lost it in the move.

Quincy led him back, and Levi went straight for her office. Quincy followed to stand between him and Sun should he need to intervene.

Levi stopped short in front of her. “You think I’m a murderer now?”

She glared at Quincy.

He showed his palms. “I said nothing.”

“He didn’t have to.” The fury on Levi’s face was only part of the picture. She sensed something else. Pain, perhaps. Homicidal tendencies? It was hard to tell. “You think I’m an idiot? You find my uncle’s body and now you want my DNA?” He stepped closer. “Fuck you. Get a warrant. And don’t ever drag my ass in here again unless you talk to my lawyer first.”

“We found evidence that places you at the scene when he was killed.”

“Bullshit.”

“And we found a secondary source of blood on his clothes.”

“So it must be mine.”

“Prove me wrong. Give me a sample, and we’ll have this cleared up in a matter of days.”

“Like I said, get a fucking warrant.”

“People only say things like that when they’re guilty.”

He almost came unglued. He stepped even closer, and Quincy stepped even closer, and the whole situation got up close and personal real quick.

“You know, if you’d finished what you started yesterday, you wouldn’t need my DNA. You’d already have it.”

“What’d you start yesterday?” Quincy asked.

“We were going to rule you out, but if you don’t want that . . .”

“How many times can I say fuck you before you get the picture?”

“Levi, he was holding your ID bracelet. The leather one you used to wear.”

He scoffed. “Holy shit, that’s what you have? A bracelet my uncle took from me after my name had been worn off because he liked it and that bastard stole anything and everything he could from me? That’s your evidence?”

She smiled. “Don’t forget about the blood.”

He smiled back. “You know what? Let’s do this. My DNA is your DNA.”

“Really?” When he only stared down at her, she grabbed the swab kit, took it out of the box, and lifted it to his mouth.

“Just remember what happened when Pandora opened that pretty little box.”

“What does that mean?”

He didn’t answer. Nor did he open at first, preferring to glare at her instead. Then his lips parted, just barely, and he waited.

She didn’t dare ask him to open wider. She was about to get his DNA without a warrant. Score one for the home team.