Determinant by E. H. Reinhard

you?”
    I nodded my head.
    “You’re stupid. Hold on, this is going to be good.” He got up from the chair and went to sit on the back couch. “Ok, much better. So how did that conversation go? I bet not so hot.”
    I rocked back in my chair. “That’s just the beginning.”
    Hank smiled. “Go on.”
    “So Callie storms off into the other room—I gave her a few minutes, and went after her. I told her that I couldn’t control who called me and it was nothing to worry about.”
    Hank pointed at me. “That’s screw up number two right there. Never try to use logic with an emotion woman. I should write these down for you. It’s been a while since you dated. So then what happened?”
    “She told me she loves me and doesn’t want to lose me.”
    Hank nodded. “So you had to tell her you loved her back. Is that what’s got you all scatterbrained?”
    “Nah, I can deal with that. As soon as I told her, she…”
    Hank interrupted. “Told you she was a man?” He smirked, pleased with himself that he could slip a zinger into the situation.
    I shook my head. “Pregnant.”
    Hank’s head snapped back. “Pregnant?”
    I nodded.
    “Yours and going to have it?”
    I nodded again. “She threatened to stab me in the face with a knife when I started to ask those two questions. So I’m pretty much positive on that.”
    “Damn.” He shrugged his shoulders unsure of what he should say next. “I guess congratulations?”
    “I guess.”
    “You know, my parents were only together a few months when they got married. I’m guessing my mother being pregnant with my older brother had something to do with the shotgun wedding. They’ve been together forty some years now. They’re still married and get along.”
    “Can we leave the marriage thing off the table for today? I’ve had my fill of things to think about.”
    “Nothing gets your mind off of problems like greasy food and dead bodies. Want to grab a late lunch and take a ride over by Ed?”
    I thought about the mounting work on my desk. I hadn’t done anything all morning or afternoon. “Nah, I’ll raid the vending machines in the lunch room. I have too much stuff to do.”
    “Well, what do you need? I don’t have too much on my plate.”
    I sat up and looked over my files and to-do list for the day. “Go down by the forensics lab and see if they found our murder weapon and came up with anything else concrete from the crime scene yesterday. Pax was supposed to be working on that foot print.”
    Hank stood from the couch. “Anything else?”
    I handed him the sketch of our suspect. “Get some copies of that made up, check with the other departments and give them out to the guys in Patrol. I’m going to call Ed and get him to fax over that autopsy report if it’s done.”
    “On it.” Hank walked out.
    I scooped up my desk phone and dialed Ed at the medical examiner’s office. The secretary picked up right away.
    “County Medical Examiner’s office.”
    “Hey, it’s Lieutenant Kane. Is Ed in?”
    “Sure Lieutenant, he’s right here. Hold on a sec.”
    “Yup.”
    “Lieutenant. My crystal ball tells me you’re calling about that autopsy report.”
    “Bingo.”
    “Finished it up earlier, but we had family in identifying the body.”
    “You have positive identification?” I grabbed a pen from my desk to write down the man’s name in the file.
    “Yup. Reggie Robinson, the homeowner. His two sons came in to I.D. the remains. I guess they were in Miami and came home this morning to the scene. They showed up here around eleven. Both of the boys are covered in gang tattoos—just a little FYI there.”
    “Thanks. You have the names of the two that identified him?”
    “Yeah, it’s in the report. You guys heading over to get it or do you want me to send it?”
    “Fax it over if you can.”
    “Alright, you should see it in a few minutes.”
    “Thanks, Ed.”
    “You want the highlights? The report is right here.” I could hear him flipping