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Darby
When I returned to my desk, I’d—mostly—gotten over my embarrassment of Mark walking in on Will and me, my partner was absent.
Good. I might have pushed it aside, but my embarrassment was still there, and it would probably start to flourish again as soon as he opened his mouth.
I buried myself in work, looking through reports that were trickling in from the lab.
When Mark came back, he was nearly glowering. I kept my head down and ignored him until he came to attention about an hour later.
My back faces the elevators, so unless I’m up already, I don’t see people coming in most of the time. It can be a little disconcerting, at least on the days where we’re busy riding a desk.
I turned and spotted a tall, painfully thin man. He wore glasses. Odd. Other than Xander, I couldn’t recall many people I’d met in the last five years who did. The man was dressed in a suit and bow tie. He was attractive but didn’t hold the appeal William did, at least not for me.
Women who liked a slightly geeky appearance would probably love him.
Genova trailed the man. She’d changed clothes since that morning, going even more conservative in the last couple hours. Something was up.
Both the man and Genova scowled as they approached our desks.
Mark stood first. “Ms. Murphie.”
He seemed a little surprised. I frowned and glanced between them.
She nodded at him. “Detectives.”
Mark shifted and raised an eyebrow at the man.
Genova cleared her throat, shooting a quick glance at Mark. “This is Richard Pierce. Rick. He works with the SHS offices in the region, Topeka and Wichita particularly.”
I rose and extended my hand to Pierce. “Detective Darby Shaw.”
He took my hand and pressed it firmly, but not aggressively so. “Yes, I know.” His voice was impossibly deep. “I’ve been following your progress, and Genova has kept me abreast of how you’re doing.”
I shifted my attention to my friend, lifting my chin and shot her an Oh really? thought.
We’ll discuss later.
We’d gotten reasonable at sending short thoughts to each other in the last year or so, thanks to her powers.
Mark put his hands on his hips. “What are you here for?”
Rick clasped his fingers in front of him. “We have some information we believe is pertinent to the murder of Prairie Rasmussen.”
“Let’s sit down, then.” Mark waved his hand at the visitors’ chairs we kept nearby for easy availability.
“Not here, Detective.”
I shot Mark a bewildered look. “We could take you to an interrogation room. It would be private.”
“But not private enough,” Genova said. “We can’t even take the chance this could be recorded, even inadvertently. I know your building has secure rooms.”
What the hell was Prairie into?
“We need to share this information,” Genova said. “But I’ve advised Rick it cannot be discussed in the open.”
Mark folded his arms. “So you’re here as his legal adviser?”
“Mostly. I have some information to share as well.”
I turned to Mark. “You’re lead.”
He tapped his mouth, then nodded. “Ms. Murphie, Mr. Pierce, if you’d allow us a few moments? We’ll make sure a room is available. Have a seat.”
Privately, Mark asked me to go get one of our superiors, and I went and summoned Moustakas. He agreed and said he’d be up in the appropriate conference room in a few minutes.
I left, informed our sergeant where we’d be, then waved a hand at Genova and Rick to follow.
The KCBPD headquarters building was a three-story affair in southern Kansas City, away from downtown. In addition to the main floors above ground, there were also two sub-basements. The main floor was where the majority of the force worked with street patrol and the burglary unit. Psychology, Homicide, and Vice, and a couple more departments took up the second floor, as well as most of the interrogation and conference rooms.
But the third floor was reserved for admin and the larger conference rooms. I’d learned I was a superhuman on that floor, learned I’d be partnered with Mark in the same place an hour later.
I tried not to venture upstairs since it held so many emotions.
Unfortunately, all of the secure rooms were up there, too.
Mark stood outside one of the doors, which he’d opened.
“We’ll be in here,” he said. “Do you mind if I have a word with my partner before we begin?”
Genova shrugged. “We’ll get settled.”
Mark made sure the door was shut before turning to me. “Who is this guy?”
I shook my head. “Never met him before.”
“He a super?”
“I’ve never met anyone with the SHS who wasn’t at least a low-level super.”
A tight smile flickered on his lips. “Like your experience with the SHS is this vast pool.”
“There is that.”
He squinted toward the opaque door. “She on the level?”
“I have no reason to doubt her.”
“Think they’re sleeping together?”
I scowled. “He’s not exactly her type. She usually likes them...dumber.”
Mark cleared his throat.
Had I said something wrong? How had I managed to create an awkward moment? “Besides, how could that factor in?” I asked.
“She may be protective if we start going hard after him.” Mark hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. “Can you go get us some drinks? Put it on my code.”
I nodded, then started to turn. “Oh, the captain is on his way up. Douglass wasn’t around.”
“That’s lovely.”
I frowned then turned to him. “Something going on?”
“Yeah. DSHA is pissed. Wants us off the case and BPD to turn it over to the FBI.”
A sudden headache pinched my temples. “Oh, joy.”
“Go get the drinks. I’ll go in with them. But I wanted to make sure we were on the same page. We are, aren’t we?”
I wanted to put my hand on his arm to reassure us both but resisted. “As far as this case goes, I think so.”
“Good. Let’s keep a united front in there.”