Bentley shrugged. “I used to play football in college.”
“I played soccer. Don’t get to do much tackling, but I can knock a ball half a block with my head.”
“Is that why it looks that way?” a familiar voice drawled from the cubicle doorway.
“Kilraven,” Marquez grumbled, “will you stop stalking me?”
“I’m not stalking you,” the tall man said easily. “I’m just waiting for you to answer my ten phone calls, six voice mails and twenty e-mails.” He glowered at the younger man.
Marquez held up his hands. “Okay. Just let me finish up with Miss Drake and Dr. Rydel and I’ll be right with you. Honest.”
“No hurry,” Kilraven said, smiling. “I’ll be standing right out here, intimidating lawbreakers.”
“Thanks for looking out for Kell,” Cappie told him.
“What are friends for?” he asked.
“How would you know, Kilraven, you don’t have any friends,” a passing detective drawled.
“I have lots of friends!”
“Oh, yeah? Name one.”
“Marquez!”
“He’s your friend?” the detective asked Marquez, sticking his head into the cubicle.
“He is not,” Marquez said without looking up as he glanced over the statements one last time.
“I am so,” Kilraven said in a surly tone.
Marquez gave him a speaking glance.
Kilraven moved back out of the cubicle, muttering to himself in some foreign language.
“I know what that means in Arabic,” Marquez called after him. “Your brother speaks Farsi fluently and he taught me what those words mean!”
A rolling barrage in yet another language came lilting into the cubicle.
“What’s that?” Marquez asked.
Kilraven poked his head in and grinned. “Lakota. And Jon can’t teach you that—he doesn’t speak it. Ha!”
He left.
Marquez grimaced.
“He’s really very nice,” Cappie said.
Marquez leaned toward her. “He is, but I’m not saying it out loud.” His expression became somber. “I’m working on a cold case with him and another detective,” he said quietly. “It involves him. He’s impatient, because we got a new lead.”
Bentley nodded quietly. “I know about that one. One of my vet techs is married to the best friend of our local sheriff. I hear most of what’s going on.”
“Tragic case,” Marquez agreed. “But hopefully we’re going to crack it.”
Bentley got to his feet, tugging Cappie up with him. He winced as she turned toward him.
“I appreciate the copies of those X-rays,” Marquez added, walking out with them. “Everything we can throw against Bartlett will help put him away.”