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Mark
Mark tried to keep his mind focused on the case on the twenty-minute drive to downtown. But he could practically hear Darby thinking in the next seat. He wasn’t sure what was up, but he finally groaned inwardly and decided to try to be hospitable. It wasn’t a barbecue night, and it seemed she’d forgotten about her invitation since it hadn’t come up again.
He cleared his throat as he exited the highway near the Light & Power District. “You’re distracted.”
“I’ll deal with it.”
“DSHA?”
“How’d you guess?”
“Because they’ve been a thorn in our side since you found out you were superhuman.”
She shifted in her seat and began to rearrange the contents of her gear bag. “Yeah. Doesn’t mean they will be in on this case. Prairie’s job may not play into her death at all.”
Mark lifted his chin. “You saw how the co-worker reacted when she realized who you were.”
“DSHA’s offices closed hours ago. Can’t dig into that tonight.”
He nodded. He had the distinct impression she wasn’t relishing the thought of going to the DSHA offices in town. But maybe that was more his perception than what she was thinking.
Mark double-parked outside the bar, and joined Darby on the curb. Several drivers felt the need to roll down their windows and yell. A few flipped them the bird.
A scream rang out down the street. Both Mark and Darby looked toward the noise.
On the ground not fifty yards from them was a woman screaming and pointing to a man in a baseball cap running right for them. Darby moved to block his path. “Stop! Police!”
Mark watched helplessly as the guy barreled into Darby. When it looked like the guy was going to take off again, Mark tackled him.
“You not understand English, buddy?” Mark hauled the guy up and slapped on a pair of cuffs. “Cop says stop, you stop, got it?”
The guy growled.
Darby rolled onto her side.
Mark glanced down. “Shaw, you okay?”
She nodded. “Need a minute.”
The woman who had screamed ran up. “Oh, thank you! He stole my purse!”
“Just doing our job, ma’am,” Mark said.
When the patrol units arrived, Mark told them what had been observed and turned custody over to them. Then he crossed to where Darby sat on the sidewalk. He squatted next to her, the arthritis in his knee screaming at him.
“You sure you’re okay?”
She shook her head. “Not really. It feels like he could’ve cracked a couple ribs.”
“He’s a big guy.”
“I barely noticed before he barreled into me.” A deep breath had her wincing in pain. “We’d better go do what we came to do.”
Mark stood and offered her a hand up. The tingle made its appearance. He’d been shocked before while doing routine maintenance at home. Their connection was like that, but stronger, and yet not painful. It got his heart racing, though whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was yet to be seen.
But it was worse when she was hurt. An ache went right to wherever she was feeling bad. Now he could feel her ribs were bothering her. Even though he was still upset about their fight a few weeks earlier which still hadn’t gotten resolved, he didn’t want to see her hurting. As they talked to the officers who had arrived to take their purse snatcher into custody, Mark casually left a hand on Darby’s arm. Normally, he’d be reluctant to do so.
But the fact she’d be healed of her injuries if all he did was touch her had him feeling sympathy for her, at least for now.
Besides, it beat the hell out of her having to go get an X-ray later and maybe being put on restricted duty for a few weeks.
She winced occasionally, yet didn’t ask him to stop.
Being Monday, the bar was quiet. The after-work crowd had already come and gone. Mere blocks from downtown, their business was driven by the workers in the tall skyscrapers, or when there was a concert or tournament at the aging convention center a few blocks away.
A few patrons were scattered around, some watching a baseball game on the screens scattered around the room. One screen had Monday Night Football, which was still in pre-game. Two guys, one in drag, sat off to one end of the bar, talking quietly. Mark raised an eyebrow and mentally shook his head. Takes all kinds.
The bartender was cleaning glasses.
“That him?” Mark asked
Darby nodded as they approached the bar.
The bartender was drying a beer glass with a towel that matched his yellow shirt. “Can I get you anything to drink? Half-price bottles tonight, and buy one, get one half-off on wine if that’s more your style.”
Darby pulled out her badge. “Ian Brecunier?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Uh, sure. What’s this about?” He threw the towel over his shoulder. “I swear, I paid those parking tickets and—”
“We’re not here about parking tickets. Is there somewhere private we could talk?” Mark asked.
“What’s this about?”
“We’d prefer some privacy. We’re pretty sure you’ll prefer the same once you hear what we have to say.”
Ian gave them a sidelong look, and Mark recognized the nerves. He’d seen it often as a detective when two plainclothes cops showed up to give someone bad news. Were they about to be arrested for something? What was the bad news? They hadn’t done anything! It didn’t make the job any easier, but Mark could still understand what went through their subjects’ heads.
It took a minute, but the manager took over, and the three used the office. Ian sat in the lone chair and looked up at them expectantly. Mark had his glass at the ready for the recording and note taking.
Mark and Darby had a system. When they were informing someone their loved one had died, the detective of the opposite gender did the telling. So today, it was up to Darby. “Ian, we’re sorry to inform you Prairie Rasmussen was found murdered earlier today. We’re so sorry for your loss.”
“Prairie?” He stared at them blankly, absorbing the words. “No, that’s not right. She...she can’t be.” He nearly whispered the last words. Tears came to his eyes, but didn’t fall. “She can’t be!”
“We just came from her place. One of her co-workers was worried. She didn’t show up for work today, and she called us to check on her.”
Ian stared at a point between them. “Who would want to hurt Prairie?”
“We were hoping you could help us out,” Mark said kindly. “Did she have any problems with anyone at work? Any personal enemies?”
“No, no. Prairie is a good person. Everyone thought so.” He looked to Darby. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I’m so sorry.”
“When?”
She stepped closer and crouched in front of him. “Last night. When was the last time you saw her?”
“Yesterday morning. I’d stayed over at her place. Left around eleven or so.” He looked at his hands. “We were...she was trying to get pregnant.”
Mark looked at his glass and made a note to let Holly know.
“Did she seem in good spirits when you saw her last?” Darby said.
“Maybe a little distracted. She had some work to do that afternoon, or we would’ve probably gone to the lake. Why didn’t I push for us to go to the lake? She would’ve been fine if we’d taken the boat out!” The big man’s tears fell, and he buried his face in his hands.
They gave him a minute, and Darby gently patted his arm. “Do you know what she was working on?”
He shook his head and wiped his eyes. “No, she never discussed work. She sometimes brought it home, but not all the time. I knew better than to ask. God, who would do this to her? We were going to get married. I hadn’t proposed or anything, but we were talking about it, especially since we were trying to have a baby.”
After a moment of silence to let him absorb, Darby said, “Is there anyone we can call for you? A sibling? Friend? Parent?”
Ian sniffed. “Umm, my brother. Craig. He lives in the Western Auto building. Have...have Prairie’s folks been told?”
“Tulsa Bendex PD is telling them right now.” She gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.”