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Mark
Mark and Darby headed over to the lab after they finished getting admonished by both Captain Moustakas and Lieutenant Douglass not to do anything stupid where the DSHA was concerned.
Like they weren’t already treading carefully.
It was a delicate balance to keep between having a dead DSHA agent and dealing with the agency that had kidnapped Darby two years ago, and all the emotional entanglements both of them had after that.
Darby was quiet as they tracked down Xander and Nettie. He could sense she was deep in thought, but what about was a mystery.
Given everything they were facing, it could be any number of things.
They found Xander and Nettie in a secure room. Mark knocked on the door, and after a moment, they were let in.
Both techs gave Mark handshakes.
“It’s good to see you’re well,” Xander said to Mark. “We feared the worst yesterday, especially after seeing the way your vehicle looked.”
“I haven’t seen it yet. I was pretty out of it when they got us out of there.”
“We’ll head over there in a bit,” Nettie assured. “Want to see what we’ve been working on?”
“That’s why we’re here,” Darby said.
Mark noted she was careful to keep a sizable distance between them.
“Good call on the shadow drive,” Xander said to Mark. “You were right.”
“What did you find on it?” Darby asked.
“On which machine?” Nettie asked.
Darby’s eyes popped open wider. “Both machines—her work and her home—had hidden drives?”
Nettie nodded. “Apparently, Prairie didn’t trust her employer.”
Mark shifted, shoving his hands into his back pockets. “What kind of data did you get?”
“You’re going to want to see this one. There was this weird file on here that was deleted, but some line of programming set itself to repopulate the file if she didn’t input her password every 72 hours.”
“Which computer?” Darby asked.
“Personal,” Xander said. “But it’s possible it was on her work computer as well. We haven’t found it yet if it’s there.”
“What’s in the file?”
“We sent it over to you when we found it. You should have it now. It seemed pertinent.”
“Good,” Mark said. “Thanks.”
“What about anything related to Rick Pierce?” Darby asked. “Did he threaten Prairie really? Or was she doing research on behalf of the SHS?”
“It sounds like he was telling the truth,” Nettie said. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and continued. “I backtracked that threatening note, and it was bounced everywhere in the world before routing through Rick’s e-mail.”
“Where’d it originate?”
Xander lifted his chin a little. “A coffee shop in midtown.”
Darby sighed. “Okay. We’ll check it out.”
“You have the details on that, too.”
“So the research for Rick and the SHS, that was true, too?”
Nettie nodded. “Sadly, yes. It looks like there really is some conspiracy they’ve uncovered within the DSHA to re-institute the detention camps.”
Mark tensed. He could sense Darby’s anger as well and was impressed with how she kept it down. Instead, she nodded with a neutral look on her face.
He cleared his throat. “What else do you have for us? Any of the angles we’re working?”
Xander glanced at Nettie. “Garage?”
She nodded.
Mark cringed. “Our car?”
“Yes,” Xander said, opening the door to the secure room and waving them all through before securing it again. He took the lead, and they followed him to the garage.
They all put on jumpsuits, partially to protect any evidence from their contamination, and partially to protect their clothes from any fluids. Most garages could be messy, a crime lab garage more so.
Mark recognized the Flexion as soon as they stepped in. It was the only Flexion in there to start off, but it was the only vehicle on a hydraulic lift, suspended six feet or so in the air.
A garage tech ambled over and shook all their hands, then asked Mark and Darby if they’d like to look at the car. They exchanged a look and followed wordlessly.
“You two are lucky you survived at all, let alone are here walking and talking with me,” the tech said as they strode over. “In fact, I’m really surprised you’re both here today, you especially, Detective Herman.”
“Well, I’ve always been a lucky S.O.B.,” he said as they stepped underneath the Flexion.
“Your luck held. There was so much that could’ve gone wrong, especially with the explosives.”
“Explosives?” Darby and Mark said together.
The tech nodded and pointed at an area between the front tires. “See the scorch marks?”
Mark stepped closer and looked up, his mouth slightly open. The tech aimed a powerful light at the blackened spot on the chassis.
“That’s where the hover thruster should be,” Mark said. “They took out the thruster and its computer.”
“You know your cars, Detective.”
“Hobby.” He reached a sealed and gloved hand and lightly touched the spot where the module had been. “How powerful an explosive are we talking about?”
Nettie stepped up. “We’re still working on it. Obviously powerful enough to take out the works, but not to do much more damage. It didn’t take out the backup, but the backup isn’t strong enough to hold control.”
Mark nodded, remembering how it felt like he had been flying with a monkey on his back, how it had been hard to maintain altitude long enough to reach the crash zone the BPD had designated. He shuddered and noticed Darby do the same. Her thoughts had to be running a parallel track.
“We lost nav,” Darby said. “How’d it take that out?”
The tech shook his head. “We’re not sure. The systems aren’t related, though they can be interfaced.”
Xander cleared his throat. “We think it could have been programmed.”
“How could someone have tampered with a police car?” Darby said, incredulous.
“And not be noticed,” Mark added. “That’s something. We were all over the place yesterday.”
Darby frowned. “Someone followed us and planted a bomb on our car, and managed to program our nav to fail when the bomb went off? How does that one work?”
He shook his head. “This case is one for the record books, that’s for sure.”
Darby chewed her lip for a moment, staring off into the distance of the garage. “What did Labbee do in the military?”
Mark shrugged. “You’d know more than me.”
“I can’t remember anything specific.” She frowned more deeply. “I can put in some inquiries.”
“Do it,” he said. “While we’re at it, figure out if the military tested beyond the surface level. See if they have any record of her being a super.”
“You must’ve read my mind.” She smiled a little in his direction.
It was enough to make him hope there was a light at the end of the tunnel between them, that she was on a path to forgive him for thinking with the wrong part of his anatomy one time.
“We’ve got some items to go over back in the lab still,” Nettie said.
They got out of the jumpsuits and made their way back to her station. Nettie held up an evidence bag. Inside was the teddy bear that had turned Darby into a sobbing mess at the scene in her apartment two days ago.
Mark put a supportive hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
“Let go,” she said.
He did, though Nettie and Xander didn’t seem to notice her words.
“Bear, from Darby’s flat,” Nettie said. “Violently torn apart, so we decided to look at it first.”
Mark saw the wince on Darby’s face, even if no one else did.
“We found traces of DNA in the stuffing. What’s more, we found traces of the same substance found in the wound tracks on Prairie Rasmussen.”
“Do we know what that substance is yet?” Mark said, more composed than Darby was.
Xander shook his head and took over. “Not yet. I’m hoping the analysis will be complete later today.”
“But it was pink and sparkly, right?”
“The DNA appears to be the same, but we’re waiting on final confirmation, too. Again, hopefully later today. Maybe first thing in the morning.”
“You got people coming in tomorrow?” Mark asked.
“We weren’t planning on it.”
“I’ll bring donuts,” Darby said in a dull tone. “You get your people in here, I’ll bring donuts in for them.”
Xander folded his arms and glanced at Nettie. “It’d have to be some bloody good donuts.”
“Fluffy Fresh,” Darby said.
Mark quirked an eyebrow. Arguably the best in the city.
A few of the other techs heard the discussion and chimed in they’d come in for donuts.
“See what happens when you bribe my techs?” Xander said with mock exasperation. “I have to find overtime money in the budget.”
Darby smiled. “Oh, you administration guys.”
He grinned back at her. “You’ll have your lab time.”
“Thanks, Xan.”
Mark cleared his throat. “So do you have any guesses on the particles on the bear and in Prairie’s wounds?”
“Probably a makeup with the color,” Xander said. “But I won’t hazard a guess until I know for certain.”
“We’ll come check again before we head out for the day,” Mark said.
“Why, Detective,” Nettie said with a wink. “That sounds a bit like a threat.”
He masked a smile. “Call it what you want. Thanks, guys.”
They started to head out when Mark called to Darby, “I’ll catch up with you, Darb, back in the station.”
She stopped and turned. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Just...have a call to make. Personal.”
She rolled her tongue over her teeth, then nodded. “Okay.”
He watched her head out, and after she’d turned the corner, he went back into the main lab. “Xander, can I have a minute?”
The chief tech was already back at his station, tiny blue earbuds sticking out. He glanced up, popped the buds out, and nodded. “Sure thing. Here?”
“Is there somewhere more private?”
He frowned. “Of course.”
Xander led them out of the main lab to his small personal office.
Mark slid the door behind them and shoved his hands in his pockets. “If you have a blood sample of someone who was drugged with MDMA, would you be able to run the specific version of the drug to a batch?”
Xander nodded. “Sure. Who’s the unlucky victim?”
Mark weighed his response. The DNA in the blood would be enough for them to match it to, so it was either tell it now, or they’d figure it out when the lab ran it. “Darby.”
Xander blinked. “Our Darby?”
“Yeah. But you have to do this under the radar. Attach it to one of our old cases or something. We don’t have an official case yet, but the captain has me looking into it on the sly.”
“Is she okay? Why is she not in the hospital?”
Mark sighed. “She got drunk off it, but not enough to be assaulted. She left the event she was at, got to my place. Doesn’t remember what happened. Didn’t, at the time, even seem to know she’d taken it. My sister took the blood sample last night.” He gave the Brit a hard stare. “You cannot tell her you know any of this. From what I can tell, she wants to sweep this under the rug.”
Xander dragged his hands down his face. “Bloody hell.”
“My sentiments are a bit more colorful than that.”
“Who would do that to her?”
“I’ve got my suspicions, but I need some evidence.”
“She’s not dating anyone, is she? Would he be capable?”
“There’s a guy, but they’ve only known each other since Monday. I’m not going to say any more than that.”
Xander blew out a breath. “She’d be better off if she’d just date you.”
It wasn’t exactly a secret how he felt for his partner. Half the local BPD knew, even if Darby chose to pretend to be oblivious.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Mark paused a beat. “I’ll have Melinda bring over the sample.”
“Have her bring it to me directly. I’ll handle it personally.”
“It’s not your normal thing, though.”
“But I’m not going to let this one be handled by anyone else, Mark. I care about our Darby girl, too.”