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Darby
“You look like you need to switch to water, or at least decaf,” Genova greeted me as I came into the coffee shop fourteen floors below her office.
I rolled my eyes. “You and Mark and Doc Jacoby...what is with you?”
“We want you to be rested, sweetie. You can’t be when you’re hyped on caffeine.” Genova hugged me when I came close enough. “You seem distracted.”
I bit my lip. “I am. It’s...it’s this case.”
“No, there’s something more.”
Crap. Her power to read emotions. There was no getting out of this one. I could brush it off with Holly or my friends in the department, but not with Genova.
“Yeah,” she continued. “Now I know there’s something going on. What’s up?”
“Can we talk about this after coffee?”
“You’ll have tea. Herbal. Clean some of that caffeine out of your system.”
I rolled my eyes but agreed. She was probably right. “Fine, I’ll grab a table.”
Five minutes later, we were tucked away in the farthest corner of the outdoor balcony. No one was around to bother us.
“Okay, spill. What’s going on?”
I blew over the surface of my tea. “Mark nearly kissed me again this morning. And I think I’ve been an idiot where he’s concerned.”
She dumped some sugar into her cup, stirred. “Well, yeah. He’s a good-looking man. I’ve wondered why you haven’t laid him.”
I scowled. “Just because I don’t nail every guy I meet...”
“Darby, I’m teasing.”
“He told me he still loves me,” I blurted.
Her brows furrowed sympathetically. “Oh.”
I fought to keep the tears from falling. “Not in so many words. But I know what he was trying to say.”
I hadn’t realized how upset I was, not until I could sit down and pour my soul out to my friend. Sure, I was unsettled, but I didn’t realize I held so much emotion over the situation.
“What did you say?”
“We were at a crime scene! What do you think I said?”
Genova raised an eyebrow. “No wonder Detective Sexy Pants isn’t with you.”
“I wouldn’t let him.”
“Makes sense.” Genova glanced at her watch. “Should I cut to the chase and do a full probe, or do you want to shift to business?”
I sipped the herbal tea. It was something floral Genova liked, but definitely lacked the punch of coffee.
I closed my eyes. “Probe away.”
It would be better for her to probe and get the gist of the story, rather than to take five more minutes to tell her about it and my confusion.
It helped clear the debris, too. Genova could press into my mind and help me straighten things out.
It was a painless process, and I felt at ease during her probe, which only lasted thirty seconds. When she was done, I opened my eyes and felt much calmer.
She sipped. “Better?”
I nodded. “Much.”
“Good. I can see why you’re upset. You didn’t tell me about Will’s flower.”
My neck flushed, and it wasn’t from the tea. “Well, I haven’t seen you since Monday night. There hasn’t been time.”
“He seems nice.”
I glanced down. “I agree.”
“Is that why you don’t know what to do with Mark?”
The corners of my mouth twitched a little. “Maybe? I don’t know. Will seems nice. I don’t work with him, even though we’re in the same building.”
“That’s not why you don’t want to date Mark. There’s something more, isn’t there?”
I nodded.
“Are you going to tell me? Or should I probe again?”
I shook my head. “No, I...I’m not ready to talk about that. Not even with you.”
Genova scowled. “I’m your best friend.”
“I don’t have to tell you everything, Genny.”
She glanced down at the table. “Okay. You know you can, right?”
“I know.”
“That’s also not why you’re here.”
“No.” I took a deep breath. “We came into some information a little while ago, and I need to ask you some questions.”
She broke off a corner of her cinnamon scone and popped it into her mouth. “Ask away.”
“I’d better record this.”
Genova frowned. “I’m not a suspect, am I?”
I reached into my bag and brought out my glass, then smiled at her. “I want to make sure I get this right. You did probe my mind after all.”
“I did you no harm.” She put a hand to her head. “But I may have done some to me. Have you been having headaches?”
I grimaced. “Yesterday was horrible.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” She shared my grimace. “How do you stand them?”
“Mostly make myself sick.” I started the recorder on the glass. “Okay, Ms. Murphie, I need to know whatever you know about things the DSHA may be working on that may have gotten their agent, Prairie Rasmussen, killed.”
Genova’s whole manner shifted from good friend to knife-sharp lawyer. “A rather broad question, Detective. Care to narrow it down?”
Damn. I didn’t have much in the way of specifics, and I’d figured out too late she wasn’t going to play nice, even for me. “Are you aware of anything Prairie Rasmussen was working on specifically which could have made someone murder her?”
She reached over and hit the pause button. “Darby, what are you trying to do here?”
“Find a murderer.”
“Yeah, well your questions tell me you know something, and you don’t know what to do with the information you have. Come out with it, off the record. Delete the file.”
I scowled, looked around, and lowered my voice. “Prairie’s work computer was strategically wiped before Mark and I showed up at the DSHA yesterday morning. Her home unit is also showing indications of something similar from the night she was murdered. So, are you aware of anything the DSHA was working on they would have wanted to hide from either KCBPD in general or me specifically?”
She straightened in her seat, lifting her chin slightly. “I told you everything I know about Prairie Rasmussen the other night, which is next to nothing.”
I may not be an empath, but being a detective, I can tell when someone’s lying to me. I could sense it from her. What did she not trust about me?
“That’s crap and you know it. A woman is dead. For some unknown reason, a massive amount of her computer’s data files have gone missing. We know something is going on. We just don’t know what or why. Now, either you or someone within the SHS has to have some dirt on why Prairie is dead, maybe even who killed her. You can’t tell me you don’t have spies, whether they’re supers or normals, within the agency, especially after what they tried to do to me. Everyone may not like me, but they damn well know what the DSHA tried to do was wrong and a threat to their own freedom.”
She leaned forward, hugging her cup within her hands. “How much sleep have you been getting, Darb? Is your insomnia acting up?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t try to change the subject. My insomnia is not the subject of our present conversation.”
“Do you have any idea how delusional you sound? You’re a step away from a conspiracy theorist. Look, what they wanted to do to you was serious business, but you can’t go looking at the DSHA and believing they’re this evil organization. By and large, they’re necessary.”
My mouth dropped open. “Necessary? To restrict our freedoms? Genova, what the hell?”
Her eyes darted away. “Look, I have to get back. Maybe you should take a day off and consider what you just asked.”
“Genny, no! There’s a woman who’s getting closer to going six feet under and I can stop it, but to do that I have to know what she was working on! You have to know something, or someone who does. Come on, would you please look into this? If it goes nowhere, fine. But at least try to find something. Please.”
She sighed and finished her scone.
“Please, Genny.” I reached across and covered her hand with mine. “Your contacts won’t talk to me, and they probably won’t talk to Mark because he’s a normal. But they’ll talk to you.”
“Look, I don’t know if I know anyone. I’ll ask around. I’m not promising anything.”
“That’s all I’m asking. Please, I don’t want to have to tell her fiancé or her parents we failed.”
“Prairie was engaged?”
“Almost.”
Genova’s eyes softened. “How do you do your job in the face of such tragedy, never knowing whether you’ll be able to even get justice for the victims, let alone bring them back?”
“When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.” I took another sip of the weak tea. “Look, thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.”
She shrugged. “A mind probe isn’t much.”
“It helps settle me down. I probably needed it.” I wrapped up my unfinished scone in a paper napkin. “And thanks for asking questions.”
“I’m not making any promises I’ll get anything, but I may have a couple people who may know something.”
“May?”
“Don’t read too much into it, Darb.” She stood, urging me to my feet. “Look at it as an empathic super’s intuition.”