"Is Detective Demetri always like this?" Susan shrugged noncommittally. Marsha grinned. "Sometimes he's worse, but his heart is in the right place. It's obvious he's worried about you." "He has never lost a victim on his watch," Susan added, warming to the topic. "Captain Samson once staked his life on Carlo, and the detective didn't disappoint. With his prickly personality, respect for him has been hard earned, but well deserved." The elevator slid to a stop. Allison waited for her bodyguards to step out. Susan murmured, "I'll go first." Smiling, she glanced around as if getting her bearings and turned to them. "Looks like we have to stand in line." "There's more than one line," she soon discovered. "Marsha, why don't you wait in the line for the M's and N's with us? Then we'll stand in your line and not risk one of us becoming separated in this crowd." "This is convenient," Marsha said as Allison and Susan stepped in front of her in line. "I can ask for Carlo's packet at the same time I do mine." Registration went smoothly and the officers soon turned toward the elevator, but Allison paused.
