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Darby
I stared at Nettie. “They tampered with Prairie’s files before we arrived at the office?”
She nodded.
I stared at Mark. “How would they know Prairie was already dead?”
He frowned, rubbing at the scruff on his chin. “Winifred Labbee. She wasn’t exactly happy you were involved in the case. She told her boss. They may have ordered files removed. I presume they’re files?”
Nettie’s brogue became almost impossible to make sense of when she continued, she talked so fast. “We’re not certain, but it’s pretty likely. It also seems e-mails and records of data accessed in server databases were removed as well.”
“Are you certain?”
Xander pushed his glasses up his nose. “It may have been a malfunction or an automatic data dump, but it was awful coincidental timing with Prairie’s death thirty-odd hours earlier.”
“Can you figure that out?” I asked. “Can we know if it was automatic, or if it was manually done? And if so, by who?”
“We’re trying, but it’s going to take a while. It was a masterful job. That’s why I’m leaning against this being an automatic dump. All we can tell for sure is that something was removed and when. It’s going to take a lot of work to retrieve whatever it was and trace it back to the proper location.”
I turned to Nettie. “What about her personal computer? Anything?”
“Same deal. Data wiped. Around the time of death.”
“So the murderer did it?”
“It’s unlikely Prairie would dump so many files in such a methodical way moments before her death. Most people aren’t that careful when it comes to their data. It’s possible she was a fanatic, but I don’t buy it, not with the other files she had in her trash bin.”
“How long until you’ll be able to tell?” Mark asked.
“Couple of days, if we’re lucky.”
“Keep us posted.”
* * *
“I’M CALLING GENOVA,” I announced when we walked out to the Flexion ten minutes later. “There’s something bigger going on in the DSHA, and she’ll actually talk to me.”
Mark nearly tripped, then caught himself. “Sounds reasonable.”
I glanced back at him quizzically. “You okay?”
He nodded. “Perfect.”
“You move the car, I’ll walk across,” I said.
Mark furrowed his brows. “You sure?”
I nodded
He looked like he wanted to argue, but diverged from my path in the general direction of the lab’s lot.
I called Genova’s office on the way to the crosswalk.
“Darby. I was just talking about you.”
“Good things, I hope?”
“You know it!” She shifted, and I could see ceiling tiles above her, moving as she walked down a hallway. “What’s up?”
I arranged to meet her at a coffee shop downstairs from her office in half an hour as I hustled over to the company Flexion, where Mark had parked it in our slot. It was vacant. I’d watched him walk into the building as I’d waited for the crossing light to change.
After climbing in and adjusting everything the way I needed for the disparity in our height, I figured I’d better let him know what I was doing. I programmed the car for Genova’s downtown offices, then made the call.
His projection showed me he hadn’t made it past the employee entrance. He scowled when I told him I was heading out.
“I think I’d better go with you.”
I shook my head. “There’s really no need. I can go talk to her while you take care of stuff from here. I think we need to split up for a while.”
He stared at me for a moment. “Is this because of what happened earlier?”
I pressed my lips together. “Maybe.”
He turned away and cursed. “I’m sorry, Darb. But we should be together for the case.”
I shook my head again. “Mark, I need some space right now. Please just give it to me. You can stay and follow up with CSU, revisit our data. We’re already nearly four days into this. I’ve got to try to resuscitate Prairie soon, or she’s not going to have a chance.”
The scowl on Mark’s face deepened. “You’re not lead on this case.”
I glowered. “I may not be lead, but I know what I’m doing. Now, I’m already headed to her office, so would you quit it?”
He frowned and for some reason, I had the distinct impression that his wanting to come with me had nothing to do with the case. Was he wanting to continue our discussion from Prairie’s home?
I really wasn’t ready to deal with that right now.
“Okay. I guess there’s no talking you out of it anyway, right?”
He ended the comm before I could reply.
I sat back in the seat. Could he not figure out I needed some time away from him after our near-kiss? Why did he have to complicate matters so damn much?
We did have a pretty long history of flirting like crazy. My thoughts drifted back over the last couple of years.
Good God, we’d actually been dating this whole time. Not calling it that, but we went out a few times a week, especially after a hard case, or an extra-long day. Pizza, Chinese, the occasional beer for him and glass of wine for me. I’d gone to some of his family’s gatherings, and he’d shared quiet holidays with Simon and me. We’d even attended some of the city’s festivals together.
Had I been leading him on this whole time? I dragged my hands over my face.
It certainly hadn’t been my intention.
But we’d had an agreement. While he’d been keeping up his end, had I taken my part for granted—enjoying his company and having a “safe” relationship with a man ten years my senior?
He’d stopped dating other women. Did he think what we had constituted a relationship? A romantic relationship?
“Darby Shaw, you are so stupid!” I closed my eyes and slammed my head against the headrest.
What had I done?