| |
Mark
Mark’s blood boiled. “Who the hell ordered any of those plans?”
“We don’t know.” Genova’s face was devoid of emotion, but there was anger in her eyes. “Rick and Prairie and several other people haven’t found the source yet.”
“What’s more,” Rick continued, reaching for his sweet tea, “Prairie was supposed to check in with me on Monday or Tuesday. She’d sent me a message saying she’d found something over the weekend. I was out of touch and didn’t get it until midday Monday. I tried to reach her, but never was able to, for obvious reasons.”
Darby’s whole demeanor changed.
Mark could only imagine what she was experiencing right then.
Darby shifted her attention to Genova. “So, let me get this straight. For the last two years, you’ve been involved in an investigation to find out who ordered my kidnapping, and I’m only now finding out about it because one of your sources was murdered?”
Genova shook her head. “I’ve only known about this for the past year. But I did suspect something was going on. Rick started showing up at our office a bit more often.”
“So, you basically lied to me on Monday, Genny? I asked you about this case, and you kept it from me. You knew who the victim was—”
“No, I didn’t, not on Monday. You told me what she was, not who. I found out who she was on the news like the rest of the city.”
Mark rose. “Ladies, you can settle this later.”
Darby’s eyes shot swords at him. They hit their target and stung.
“If it’s any consolation,” Rick said, “Genova was only doing what we agreed to in order to protect your safety, Detective Shaw.”
“My safety?” Her voice was thick with incredulity.
Mark put a hand up to keep her from leaping across the table. He echoed her, adding, “You do realize Detective Shaw is a police officer. She’s surrounded daily by multiple other officers. She’s usually in a pretty safe environment. Hell, have you checked her apartment? It’s a fucking armory.”
“None of which protected her from the government agencies who wanted to experiment on her,” Genova said icily.
“I wasn’t armed to the teeth two years ago. I had my service weapon, and that was it,” Darby growled.
“Your arsenal won’t protect you from an IED. It’s not going to protect you from someone who launches a flash-bang into your apartment or messes with the air conditioning system to knock you out. Your apartment is not the safest place to be.”
“Where would you recommend, Genny? A bunker?”
“Yeah, maybe I would.”
The two women glared at each other, and Mark was glad for the table between them. They might be best friends, but yeesh.
Rick cut through the tense silence. “This is about more than your security, Detective Shaw. Other supers, some with almost as rare skills as you, are on the short list. I’ve seen it. I know a handful of them personally. You think what they did to you when they kidnapped you was bad? It will only be a tiny fraction of a percentage of what they’ll do if they put you and others with rare powers in camps.”
“Yeah? And why should you care? What’s your power? Speed reading legal documents?”
Rick took off his glasses, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m on the list too, Detective. There’s only three other supers worldwide who can look at things and see all the way down to the cellular level.”
Moustakas lifted an eyebrow. “You’re a human microscope.”
“Essentially.” He put his glasses back on.
Mark tapped his fingers on the tabletop, beating a short tune. “You’re a lobbyist with exceptional powers.”
“Mostly.”
“So what puts you in a position where you have access to this information? What makes you so special?”
Rick opened his mouth.
But someone knocked on the door. The captain rose and went to the door, opened it.
An officer poked his head in.
“I’m sorry, Captain, Detectives. We’ve been trying to reach you.”
“What is it, officer?” Moustakas prompted.
The officer took a deep breath, then looked to Darby. “Detective Shaw, there was a break-in at your flat. The security company called it in. Officers are on scene, and an investigator is en route. But by all accounts so far, your apartment has been totally trashed.”