“Sorry about that,” he apologized sheepishly. “Maybe we should exchange insurances?”
“Hmm?” Diana asked blankly.
“Well, we were involved in a crash.” he said with a smile.
Diana smiled back, catching on. “I guess we were. I’m sorry, but I don’t have my insurance handy.”
“Oh well, then we’ll have to exchange contact details to sort this out at a later date.”
“You wouldn’t happen to be trying to get my phone number for nefarious purposes, would you, sir?”
“Me?” he asked wide-eyed and all innocent looking. “Of course not. I just want to make sure I haven’t done you any grievous bodily harm.”
Diana laughed. She patted his arm. “Don’t worry. No bodily harm whatsoever.”
They continued on their way. After a moment of silence, he spoke up again. “You know, Peter can come off as pretty gruff, and his social skills are lacking at times, but he’s a good guy.”
Diana thought it sweet how he was trying to defend his colleague. But she wasn’t in the mood to hear someone defend the boorish oaf quite yet. “I’m sure he’s a great guy. Still doesn’t give him the right to order me around.”
“I’m sure he believes he’s got a good reason. He’s always been the protective sort.”
“I don’t need protection. And I’m not some wilting wallflower who will faint at the first sign of danger. Maybe if he opened his eyes and climbed down from his pedestal, he’d see that.”
Scott smirked at her. “You like him, don’t you?” Though couched as a question, it sounded more like a statement. And that ticked Diana off.
“Oh, I really like him,” she said with a sneer. “I like him so much that I’d love to put my hands around his neck and squeeze—hard.”
Scott’s eyes widened, and he started to laugh. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
“What are you talking about?” she snapped. She knew she was acting nasty but that was Hopkinson’s fault. He managed to push all her buttons.
Scott kept grinning. “Oh, absolutely nothing,” he said innocently, the grin never leaving his face.
“You better be,” she said.
“Swear. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Diana knew Scott meant precisely the opposite, but no matter her personal feelings toward Hopkinson, they had a job to do. And time was running out. They had to catch this crew before the next charity ball took place in three days.
“Whatever,” she said, shaking her head. “Let’s get on with it. We can’t afford to waste time.” Diana cringed at her tone. She had been much too brusque, and Scott clearly thought so too judging by the tension that appeared around his jaw and eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “Hopkinson has a way of bringing out the worst in me. I have never, in my life, considered lobotomizing someone with a frying pan. Yet he inspires me to do so.” She stopped talking when she realized she was revealing a little too much. She wanted to stomp her foot down like a kid and blame it all on Hopkinson. She really did. Because it was his fault.
Scott took it in his stride. He smiled gently at her. “It’s okay. I’m sure everyone in this division has wanted to brain Hopkinson at some point or other. Must be his winning personality.”
Scott made her laugh. She didn’t laugh all that much anymore. “Shall we?” she said, making to continue down the corridor.
“We shall, my lady,” Scott bowed with a flourish. Diana shook her head at his antics but couldn’t help her grin.
A few minutes later, Scott led her into a large laboratory, where a woman in a white lab coat was studying something under a microscope.
“Here we are,” Scott said. Tina looked up and smiled at the detective.
“What brings you to my humble corner of VPD, Detective Rutledge?”
Scott grinned. “I’d like you to meet Ms. Diana Hunter. She’s assisting us with those gala robberies. Diana, this is Tina Chu, the head of our crime scene investigation unit.”
Diana smiled and shook the woman’s hand. “So, you’re Diana Hunter. The one who got kidnapped?”
Diana rolled her eyes. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?” she asked ruefully.
Tina giggled. “Peter Hopkinson told me the whole story. I don’t think I could have done what you did. You were very brave.”
Diana blushed, though she felt rather foolish. Had her old colleagues from CSIS heard about her little mishap, they wouldn’t have let her forget it. She should have never let herself get into that position. Still, it was nice to hear some words of praise after having to deal with Hopkinson’s hissy fit.
“Thank you. The reason I’m here, though, is rather urgent.”
“Shoot,” Tina said, all business.
Rutledge excused himself. “I’ll leave you two ladies to it, if you don’t mind. I have a lot of phone calls to make.”
“So, what can I do for you, Diana?” Tina asked.
“Well, I think we might have a big problem. I think this crew of thieves is using an aerosolized form of scopolamine to carry out the gala robberies.”
Tina eyebrows shot up.
“Aerosolized scopolamine?” The scientist was obviously intrigued by the idea. “Why do you think they’re using that?”
Diana quickly explained her theory. Tina nodded thoughtfully. “You could be right. It makes sense. But why do you think they aerosolized it?”
“It’s the only way they could ensure everyone would be exposed at the same time.”
“R-i-g-h-t. If it’s in the air, everyone would breathe it in. The time between the first and last person being affected would be a matter of seconds, especially if it was distributed from different points around the room.”
“Exactly. We need to prove it, though. We need to check out the crime scene to confirm the presence of the drug before we go any further.
“If they did aerosolize it, then it must have landed on every surface in those ballrooms,” Tina said thoughtfully.
“Precisely. But it’s been two days since the last robbery, and I’m sure everything’s been cleaned by now.”
“But most places don’t wash down the walls,” she pointed out.
Diana grinned. “Good point! You are a genius. And maybe we should check the air conditioning, too. I’m thinking they got it into the room through the vents.”
“Right,” Tina said, looking extremely pleased. “I like how you think, Diana Hunter.”
Diana laughed. “Thank you, Tina Chu. I like how you think, too.”
“Okay, let’s get going. We don’t have much time to waste. The longer we wait, the more the trace evidence will deteriorate. Can you get Rutledge or Ericson to call the Fairmont and tell them we’ll need access to the rooms where the event was held?”
“Of course.”
“As soon as we get the green light, I’ll gather my team together and we can head out.”
“Great,” Diana replied with a grin. “See you soon.” She started to retrace her steps out of the lab, then came to a stop. She realized she had not asked Scott where she could find him and Nik. She had not even thought to get either of their cell numbers. It was all Hopkinson’s fault, again. Another rookie mistake. Her brain seemed to stop working properly whenever he was around. She groaned in frustration as she pushed the door out of the lab into the hallway beyond.
Speak of the devil. Really? Why now? Why her? Didn’t he have a case to work on or something? Was leaning against the wall waiting for her the only entry in his job description? And why couldn’t she look away? Admittedly, the whole broody, coiled-predator-ready-to-strike pose looked good on him, but still.
“Hey,” said the bane of her existence, softly.
“What do you want?” she replied, entirely too snappily.
He held his hands up in supplication. “Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot and I’m sorry. I overreacted. I shouldn’t have been so…”
“Disrespectful? Rude? Crude? Ignorant? Uncouth? “
Diana glared at him. She was tempted to continue the hostilities, but she knew it would be mean-spirited and pointless. She did like him, which was precisely why he was able to push all her buttons. “Fine,” she said with a massive sigh.
“Don’t sound so happy about it, will you?” he said with a rueful smile.
Diana laughed. “Alright, alright, truce.”
Hopkinson breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Because Donaldson’s assigned me to work on this case with you, Rutledge, and Ericson.”
Diana’s eyes widened, then promptly narrowed. “What? So this is another scheme of yours. Donaldson told you to play nice if you wanted in and—”
“He did say that, but it isn’t the reason I’m apologizing, and it’s definitely not a scheme. I did overreact.”
Diana looked at him. Now, like Rutledge, Peter also had lines of tension marring the side of his mouth and his eyes. Did she always have this effect on men? Something was going on. “And what?” she prodded him.
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “I still can’t get the sight of you strapped to that table out of my head. You could have died, and it would have been all my fault,” he said quickly, putting his hands in his pockets and looking down at the floor.
Damn this man. He always seemed to know what to say. “Peter,” she said as he looked up quickly, almost hopefully, “if that had happened, it wouldn’t have been your fault. I chose to get involved. You couldn’t have stopped me if you tried.”
“But I should have shielded you better. The moment I came to see you and asked for help with the case, I should have known something like that could happen, and I should have taken better care.” He left off, “Of you.”
“Peter, it was an unfortunate turn of events no one could have predicted. If anyone is to blame, it’s me. I should have been much more careful. My guard was down. I’ve been through much worse, so I should have been better prepared.”
“You’ve been through worse? Do you think that makes me feel better? Whatever you say, you were my responsibility. When I saw your face all banged up, I wanted to kill that brute.”
“Don’t worry, I wanted to kill him too when he smacked me,” she said with a small snicker.
Peter didn’t so much as crack a smile. Diana sighed. “Let’s make a deal. You stop obsessing over the past and something that can’t be changed, and I’ll let you have my back, okay?”
“You’ll let me have your back? How does that work exactly?”
“Well, I’ll let you stick close to me, of course. That way, you can make sure the boogie man doesn’t get me.”
“And what if I’m not around? Who’ll have your back, then? Rutledge and Ericson?”
“I think I’ll be able to handle myself. This time, I’m not going in blind, and I’ll be ready.”
Peter sighed. “Look, just promise me that if I’m not with you, you’ll be careful. No rushing into situations without backup and definitely no taking on strong, ugly men who might tie you up and hold you hostage, okay?”
“I promise,” she said seriously. “I will not do any of those things. I will allow you to be my knight in shining armor and do your manly duty. Got it.”
“Diana, come on,” Peter was exasperated.
“Okay, okay, I promise, I promise! I will do as you ask and take all the necessary precautions. I won’t do anything stupid.”
“Good.”
“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’m assuming you’ve been briefed on the situation.”
Peter’s countenance changed immediately. He was once again the experienced detective. “Yeah, and it sounds bad.”
“If they did use aerosolized scopolamine, it could get a whole lot worse. I just hope I’m wrong.”
“I have the feeling you are right on the money.”
“I need to find Scott and Nik. Tina and I need to check out the crime scenes again but we need to speak to the venues to allow us back in.”
“Scott and Nik is it?” Peter bristled.
She looked at him curiously. “Yeah. So?”
“If I remember right, it took you a whole lot longer to call me by my first name.”
Diana turned and smirked at him. “You were so much harder to train,” she replied, shrugging one shoulder.
“Excuse me?”
“Definitely much more pigheaded than your two colleagues,” she said with another small shrug and a twinkle in her eye.
“Considering those guys, I don’t know whether I should take that as a compliment or an insult,” Peter seemed completely baffled, then he gave her a big smile. Diana gave herself a mental shake. She was much too tempted to stare at him. The fact was that when Hopkinson smiled, which was rarely, he went from handsome to devastating. So, she did the only thing she could to avoid embarrassing herself. She got down to business.
“So, shall we go find the boys? We really need to get those tests done.” Her manner was brusque, but it didn’t seem to bother Hopkinson.
“Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 4
“THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY no need for you to come, too,” Diana said as she got out of Hopkinson’s car. She slammed the door, probably a little too forcefully. Peter was being irritating. Again.
They were just down the road from the Fairmont Hotel where the Police Ball had been held two days prior. From her vantage point, she could see the entire building. It was breathtaking. It was a majestic pile with architecture that mimicked a French chateau. It even came with gargoyles for that extra touch of authenticity.
“I told you I wouldn’t leave you alone,” Hopkinson muttered as he got out of the car. She tore her gaze away from the building to glare at him.
“I’m in the middle of the city, at the Fairmont Hotel, no less, with two of your colleagues, so I’m not alone.”
“And what’s Tina going to do if someone tries to kidnap you again?” he demanded.
“Now you’re being ridiculous,” she scoffed.
“Maybe, but I’m sure you could do with an extra pair of hands, and this way, I’ll have peace of mind.”
Diana rolled her eyes and decided to drop the subject. The fact was that his badge would come in useful when questioning people and he was a good detective. She was just annoyed that he had taken it upon himself to shadow her this closely, whether she wanted him to or not.
“Fine. Whatever. Let’s go. I’m sure Tina’s already arrived.”
Peter shrugged, locked his car, and they were on their way. A few minutes later, they walked into the lobby of the hotel, and sure enough, Tina was there waiting for them. She had her lab assistant, Ruth Jennings, with her. Ruth was quite young, probably just out of college, but seemed confident and competent.
“I’ve spoken to the manager,” Tina said. “He’s gone to get the keys to the ballroom. He locked it up as soon as we called to avoid further contamination of any evidence that might still be in there.”
“Excellent,” Diana replied.
“Oh, here he comes.” Diana turned to see a portly man with greying hair headed their way.
“This is Detective Peter Hopkinson and Diana Hunter, a special consultant with VPD,” Tina introduced them.
They shook hands. “Robert Drummond, manager of the Fairmont Hotel. Pleased to meet you.”
“Mr. Drummond,” Hopkinson replied, rather tersely. Diana bristled. Did he really have to alienate everyone with his winning personality? They needed this man’s help and the last thing they should be doing was antagonizing him.
“It’s a pleasure, Mr. Drummond,” Diana said.
The man, who had stiffened at Hopkinson’s greeting, relaxed and smiled warmly at her. “Come, I’ll take you to the Pacific Ballroom. We’ve cleaned it up, of course, but they’ve not yet started setting up for the Firefighters Ball on Thursday. ”
“Thank you, Mr. Drummond. That’s very kind of you,�
� Diana said before Hopkinson could utter another word.
She glared at Hopkinson who looked at her blankly. What? He mouthed at her behind the manager’s back. She rolled her eyes again and shook her head.
She turned her attention back to the manager, who was still speaking. “Nothing like this has ever happened at the Fairmont Hotel,” he was saying. “It’s simply not right. Our hotel hosts some of the most important people in the world and now our guests don’t feel safe.”
“Have you held any events here since the Ball?” Diana asked.
Drummond looked over his shoulder at her and shook his head. “No, ma’am. The ballroom’s been free for the past two days.”
Diana looked at Hopkinson. “Hopefully that will help,” she said.
They reached the large doors that led into the ballroom, and Drummond bent over to unlock them. He threw the doors open wide and waved them in. They wandered in, looking around.
“Will you be needing anything else?” Drummond asked. He was fidgeting and kept looking over his shoulder. Obviously, he had other things to deal with.
“Actually, yes. We’d like the blueprints of the hotel,” Hopkinson said.
“I’ll have to get them from the office.” Drummond sounded put out.
“We’ll wait for you right here,” Hopkinson said.
Drummond turned on his heel and left the room, closing the doors behind him.
“Blueprints?” Diana asked.
“Just a hunch. Blueprints are always useful. Besides it gives Mr. Drummond something to do.”
Diana turned to Tina. “Okay, let’s get to work.”
“Ruth, let’s start with the walls,” Tina said to her assistant. They spent the next half hour taking samples from every surface available, even those that had likely been cleaned. Like all good scientists, Tina was thorough.
“We need to check the air vents, too,” Diana said.
“Why the air vents?” Hopkinson asked.
“Well, if they did aerosolize the scopolamine, it would be the easiest place to hide the canisters or whatever they used as a dispersal system.”
“Couldn’t they have just hidden them in these potted plants?” Hopkinson asked, indicating the shrubs in question. “That way, they could just grab them on their way out, without leaving any evidence.”
Stolen (A Diana Hunter Mystery Book 3) Page 4