Data Capture

by Jesse J. Thoma

  The door started to open. As soon as it was open a crack, Lola grabbed it and yanked it open and pulled the intruder inside. She threw them on the ground and they landed facedown. Lola put a knee in their back and secured the door with the chair under the doorknob.

  Quinn recognized the woman pinned under Lola. It was Jessica. She saw Lola cock her fist, ready to strike at the back of Jessica’s head.

  Does she not know who she has? Is she in a blind rage?

  Jessica started sobbing. Quinn could hear banging on the door and shouting. She tried to yell for Lola to stop, but she wasn’t sure if anything came out. Her feet felt sunk in the floor.

  Miraculously, Lola lowered her fist without striking and eased off of Jessica. She flipped her over and immediately lowered her fist. “Little Chihuahua? My God, are you okay?”

  “Lola,” Jessica said. “No, I’m not all right. Is Quinn okay?”

  Jessica looked small and vulnerable on the floor. Lola pulled her up and they both slowly stood.

  “Yes, I’m here. I’m fine,” Quinn said, moving closer.

  The pounding on the door intensified. Quinn thought it was Moose on the other side.

  “Settle down, Moose. Give me a minute. And don’t you dare break down this damn door,” Lola shouted to him.

  “Jessica, I was so worried about you. Lola told me what happened. I thought I might have lost you,” Quinn said when she hugged Jessica to her.

  Jessica started crying intensely. “You might have, except for Lola. Quinn, what she did for me…What they did to her…I thought they killed her. Look at her. I’m not sure they didn’t.”

  “She’s okay,” Quinn said. “Are you okay?”

  “She got the shit kicked out of her and was still fine enough to dump me on my ass and scare the crap out of me just now. Seriously, I think I might need new underwear. I thought we finally ran into something Mr. Moose couldn’t protect me from.”

  “Oh, you did,” Lola said. “Or he did.”

  She threw the chair out of the way and yanked the door open. Moose was pacing outside.

  “Get in here,” Lola said. Once Moose was inside and they were once again safely buttoned up, Lola let him have it. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you know what I almost did to her? Since when do you sneak up on a safe house?”

  “Whoa,” Moose said. He had his hands raised in capitulation. “It wasn’t ideal, no doubt. But we’re dark. Didn’t Max tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “H hasn’t ruled out that the CMCs used her phone to find her so quickly. She ditched it. Max got in touch with me and told me to do the same. She said not to call you or use any of your phones. I guess H is bringing us replacements. Look, letting Jessica get through the door before me was sloppy, I own that. But I had no way of warning you.”

  Lola pulled her phone out of her pocket. Quinn could see it was off.

  “Max must have done something to my phone,” Lola said. “Can she come through the wires and shut it off?”

  “It’s a little more complicated than that, but sure,” Moose said.

  “You could’ve used a secret knock or a carrier pigeon,” Lola said.

  “Asshole.”

  “What else did you get from Max? H better get back soon or Isabelle’s gonna kick her ass,” Lola said quietly. “She’s okay, right?”

  “Yeah. She’s good, last I heard. She should be here soon. Maybe you could give her the benefit of the doubt and let her in the door? Actually, why don’t you let me take door duty? You look like shit,” Moose said.

  Lola looked like she wanted to argue, she even opened her mouth as if to start, but then she closed it and nodded. Quinn was amazed. After I make sure Jessica’s okay, I’ll have to check on Lola. She must be in more pain than I thought.

  “Is there more I need to know about your day?” Lola asked.

  “Yeah,” Moose said. “But let’s wait until Holt gets back. You and I should be able to keep everyone safe until she does. Then we can make a plan to get us all home.”

  Lola headed to the back of the house where the bedrooms and bathrooms were. Quinn ushered Jessica toward the kitchen.

  “I know you’re not okay,” Quinn said. “But is there anything I can do? Are you all right? At least for right now?”

  “I could really use something to drink,” Jessica said. “And for you to tell me I’m safe here.”

  “You are,” Quinn said. “Lola won’t let anything happen to you.”

  It felt funny saying that after she’d gotten so angry hearing those words herself. But saying them to Jessica felt different. She believed them. She knew them to be true. Maybe it was her talk with Isabelle. Maybe it was seeing Lola in action. Whatever the reason, she was willing to concede Lola would do whatever it took to keep her safe.

  She got Jessica some water and turned to find Lola standing at the door to the kitchen, looking unsure of herself. Quinn waited for her to say something, or come in and join them, but she didn’t. Finally, she’d had enough.

  “How much longer are you going to stand there?” Quinn asked. “Seems like you’re off guard dog duty.”

  Isabelle asked Jessica something that required they both leave the room.

  “I wasn’t sure what you’d want from me,” Lola said. “Things haven’t exactly progressed how I’d hoped with us. I don’t know where we stand.”

  “Come sit with me. Do you even realize you’re about to fall over?”

  Quinn led her to the couch and instructed, in no uncertain terms, that she was to lie down and not argue. Quinn sat on one end and gently lifted Lola’s head onto her lap.

  “Isabelle was right. You do need looking after.”

  “I’m fine,” Lola said.

  It didn’t sound convincing.

  “Shh. Don’t argue with me. I don’t think a bulldozer could get through Moose. I’m safe. Isabelle’s safe. You found Jessica, and she’s safe.”

  It looked like it was difficult, but Lola complied. Quinn ran her fingers through Lola’s hair, and for the first time since she found Kevin Garvey’s body in her lab, she felt something close to peaceful.

  “I think I’m supposed to be looking after you,” Lola said, her eyes closed.

  “Says who? I believe what you promised repeatedly was you would keep me safe. I’m safe. Mission accomplished.”

  “I hope so,” Lola said. “Are you feeling better? I’m sorry you’ve been so scared.”

  “I think it’s going to take a while to get back to normal,” Quinn said. “Talking to Isabelle’s been nice. She’s like me, data focused. I don’t get accounting, but I do understand her. She’s been explaining how she lives with Holt. I’m still so scared. I’m a scientist. I work with data and way too much peer review. The last forty-eight hours I’ve seen the most horrific murder victim, listened to you get kidnapped, then returned beaten, I’ve run for my life, thought my best friend might have been killed, and I’m in danger too. Cherry on top, you’re probably leaving to be sexy and heroic across the country while I look over my shoulder and panic here alone.”

  “Haven’t you been listening?” Lola asked, stilling Quinn’s shaking hand and lacing their fingers together. “I’m not leaving you here to look over your shoulder, panicked and alone.”

  “Eventually you have to go back,” Quinn said.

  “Sure,” Lola said. “But not when you feel like this. And never when you’re in danger.”

  Holt’s arrival saved Quinn from going back down the rabbit hole of worry and fear.

  “Do you want to sit in on the briefing?” Lola asked. “Isabelle hates them, but she always does it if Holt is going to do something really dangerous. She says the not knowing is worse. I see her point, and I think it probably makes her braver than all of us.”

  “You guys really don’t have training wheels for the new kid, do you? I’m with Isabelle. Not knowing would be worse.”

  Holt and Isabelle were in the kitchen. Isabelle had her hands, palms flat, again
st Holt’s chest. Holt cupped Isabelle’s cheek tenderly. They were kissing. It wasn’t a frantic, passionate kiss, although there was plenty of that just below the surface.

  Seeing them together made Quinn lonely. She’d finally found a brilliant, thoughtful, kind, beautiful woman, and it seemed like the universe was throwing every obstacle in their path before they even found out if a future was possible.

  “So is tall, tattooed, and handsome as off limits as she looks?” Jessica asked.

  “Private property, Little Chihuahua,” Lola said. “She belongs to the Queen. And even if she didn’t, I don’t think you could handle her.”

  “Excuse me,” Jessica said.

  “Hey, no offense. Holt just needs special care and feeding. Everyone’s got to punch in their weight class.”

  “You’re one to talk,” Jessica said.

  Quinn didn’t understand the dynamic between Jessica and Lola. At times they seemed antagonistic and at other times playful. She looked at Lola to see how she would react to Jessica’s teasing. Lola looked unconcerned.

  “Hey, not so loud. The pretty professor will hear you.”

  “Are you two done? I’m right here you know,” Quinn said. She moved a little closer to Lola. She liked the feel of her.

  “Good question,” Holt said as she and Isabelle entered the room. “Can I start the briefing? I’ve been in contact with Max. She and Dubs are up to speed on my end. We’ll get them looped back in once we’re technologically up and running again.”

  “Just waiting on you, boss,” Lola said.

  Holt shot her a look but didn’t comment. Quinn noticed Isabelle was staying about as close to Holt as she could without crawling into her skin. Quinn didn’t blame her.

  “I had a nice chat with the LAPD police chief, Sam,” Holt said. “She’s up to speed on Lola’s new friends. They’re a relatively new player on the scene here but have grown in size and influence quickly. They’re violent, as we’ve seen, and not afraid of public displays to get what they want or to send a message. Kevin Garvey, our initial target, is dead. They kidnapped Lola to send me a message, but then let her go. No offense, but that feels out of character. It makes me think either they’re serious but they’re also still amateurs, or someone else is pulling the strings, and they knew killing Lola wouldn’t get them anywhere with me, which is true. I would have torn this state apart to find them, which is the opposite of what they say they want. They took a big risk assuming I wouldn’t just for laying their hands on her at all. For now, we need more information before tearing LA asunder.”

  Quinn saw Holt look to Lola before continuing. There was tenderness and love in her look, and maybe a bit of an apology.

  “No arguments here,” Lola said. “Retaliating seems like the wrong play. I think it would escalate things with the CMCs and more people would get hurt. Malcolm is scared of you being involved in his business for some reason. At this point, I don’t think getting publically involved on that kind of scale is the right move.”

  Lola and Holt looked at each other for a long moment, neither speaking or blinking from what Quinn could tell. Holt broke the spell with a quick nod and returned to the briefing. Quinn wished she knew what they had just communicated.

  “Lola thought Malcolm might have let slip about a boss a few times when he was talking to her, so we can’t rule out a silent player we haven’t identified yet. I think it’s likely. Regardless of who’s involved, they’re willing to hurt people to get what they want,” Holt said.

  “I saw that firsthand,” Quinn said.

  “I know it’s hard, but try not to think about what you saw in your lab,” Lola said.

  “Thanks for the reminder of that horror show,” Quinn said. “But I was talking about you.” She traced one of the bruises on Lola’s face.

  “Clearly, we’ve had a couple of recent examples,” Holt said.

  Holt took Isabelle’s hand before continuing. “Max and Dubs briefed the chief on the email threats and what they’ve been working on back home. We got the officers involved in the online money laundering case to give a quick briefing too. They don’t have a lot right now. I think we know about as much as they do. Lola, you’ve been working with them pretty closely, which is what put you on their radar. It didn’t take much for them to figure out where you fit in.”

  “What happens if you guys pack up and go home?” Quinn asked. “Does all this trouble end? Do the CMCs stop coming after you?”

  “Honestly,” Holt said. “I’m not sure. The police investigation is going to continue. If we stay involved or they think we’re still involved, there may be consequences. Malcolm threatened as much. More so, I would imagine, if we stay here than if we returned to Rhode Island. Sam has asked for my help. I made it clear I won’t continue in any capacity if it increases the risk to my family or crew, but I don’t like the idea of bad guys walking free. It seems like the chances of that happening go up significantly if we scurry off home.”

  “Jessica and I have some relevant information,” Moose said. “Both Jessica’s and Quinn’s places have been tossed. We didn’t venture to CLA, but it wouldn’t surprise me if her office and lab were given the same treatment.”

  “Don’t forget the artwork,” Jessica said.

  “Eight-by-ten photo of each of them,” Moose said, pointing to Jessica and Quinn in turn. “Right on the front door of each apartment. Each had a bull’s-eye on the forehead and a knife driven through the throat holding it to the wall. ‘She’s next’ was written on each picture. Jessica has a front door security camera. The footage is time stamped about an hour after I left the hospital.”

  “Oh, hell no,” Lola said. “They can’t stay here. They’ll have to come with us when we go.”

  Moose nodded his agreement. “That’s what I thought.”

  Quinn could feel Lola’s body tense. She felt like she had the night they met and Jessica had interrupted them and grabbed Quinn. Even exhausted and at diminished capacity, Lola felt powerful in her anger. Why did I doubt she would do everything to protect me? Maybe I’m worried it won’t be enough.

  “As I told Mr. Moose, I don’t want to stick around here waiting to get my head blown off. The threat of that once was enough,” Jessica said. “And you guys scare the crap out of me, but you’re better than the alternative, so I don’t see as I have much choice.”

  “We’re also the reason you’re in danger,” Isabelle said.

  “Yeah, you are. So help me put my fucking life back together. And I’m sending you the bill for my therapy,” Jessica said.

  “That’s it?” Quinn asked. “You’re just going to pack up and go?”

  “You didn’t see my place,” Jessica said. “You’ve been listening to the same crap I have. If they keep poking around, the CMCs keep coming. Did it sound like they’re going to stop poking? I take ‘she’s next’ with a knife through my throat seriously. You think I’m happy about this? My whole life got turned on its ass cause she takes out the trash in our building.” Jessica pointed angrily at Lola. “But I’m holding my nose and jumping in bed with the devil I know. Or the one you’re sleeping with, because I really like being alive.”

  “We’re not sleeping together,” Lola and Quinn said, stumbling over each other as they did.

  “Do you think I actually fucking care right now?” Jessica asked.

  She stomped out of the room. Quinn started to follow her. She felt horrible. She’d been wrapped up in the awfulness of her experiences and hadn’t considered the trauma Jessica had experienced. And she’d weathered it alone.

  “Let me go,” Moose said. “We’ve found a bit of a rhythm.”

  Quinn watched him go, thinking of the irony of Jessica wanting to get away from LA and now having a chance to do it under terrible circumstances. But they would stay together, whatever the next move was, which was something. Maybe she could still finish some of her projects.

  Oh my God, my lab. My research.

  “If they were at the college and got into
my office or my lab…my research,” Quinn said.

  “Is your data secure?” Holt asked.

  Quinn was relieved Holt seemed to grasp what she was concerned about without her having to spell it out.

  “Yes,” Quinn said. “It’s on the research servers. I have remote access to my files so my grants can still go in on time, assuming I can finish them and I still have the support of CLA after this mess. Everything should be safe from the CMC’s destruction. If I disappear I don’t know that I trust my colleagues. But my office. And the lab computers. I have some specialized equipment and a lot of research material stored there. If they haven’t already destroyed it, I need to keep it safe.”

  “Then we’ll go and get it,” Lola said.

  From the look on Lola’s face Quinn believed she would fight through a mass of CMCs to get to her lab.

  “We will absolutely not,” Holt said. “But it will be recovered. I don’t know if the computers are still intact, but I’ll make sure whatever is salvageable from your office is returned to you, Dr. Golden.”

  “What’s our plan, sweetheart?” Isabelle asked.

  “The safety of my family and crew is tantamount. That never changes. If the CMCs visited Jessica’s and Quinn’s apartments while I was at the police station, they’re threatening an additional escalation. Maybe they knew I was meeting with Sam; maybe that was their plan all along. Either way, we’re de-escalating. Quinn, you can think about it, but I’d like you to come back to Rhode Island with us. I don’t believe you’re safe here. If you choose to stay, Lola and I will too, but I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think that will ratchet down the tension.”

  Quinn felt like her head was spinning. She couldn’t just leave LA. She was in the middle of a semester. Her job, her research, her life, was here. She looked around the room. Everyone was looking at her. She leaned into Lola and looked up at her. Quinn could tell Lola was trying to keep her expression neutral, but she looked worried. That made Quinn nervous.

  She knew Lola would stay if Quinn did. But how was that fair? Sure, it wasn’t fair that she had to pack up her life and move across the country to avoid threats against her life, either, but it didn’t give her the right to be selfish. She didn’t have the right to put Lola’s and Holt’s lives in danger when she could avoid it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. “Fine,” Quinn said. “Doesn’t seem like there’s much choice. I have no idea how I’m going to explain this at work.”