“And I’ll be a little sad to go,” Goudie assured her and extended a hand. “If ever you decide to jump ship, I include you in this, Cameron, come speak to me. Our company would welcome you. You’ve been very helpful during this investigation and we’re always looking for talented, intelligent people.”
Beyond flattered at this offer, she accepted his hand and ordered her cheeks firmly to cool down. “Thank you, sir. I’ll bear it in mind.”
Cameron shook hands with both men, all smiles as usual. “Mr. Goudie, been fun. We’re technically on duty, so I need to check in with Cap, but tell me if you need more help.”
“I might, to lug all of this into Evidence,” Goudie admitted. “But it’ll take another two hours at least to log all of this right.”
“Yell when you need me, then.” Offering a hand to Mike, Cameron said, “Hope we meet again under less dramatic circumstances.”
Mike actually chuckled, a low rumble. “I can agree with that. Nice meeting both of you.”
With semi-goodbyes said, they left the conference room and retreated back to the office. Once again it was empty, which cinched it for Noriko: no one actually liked sitting at their desks.
Well if Goudie and Mike were already cleaning up, then she could do the same. Noriko went to the main crime board and flicked the timeline into a saved folder on the intranet. Let’s see, was there anything else she could put away now? Most of what was laying out, the physical copies, should probably be returned to Evidence.
A chin plopped down on top of her head, two long arms wrapping around her shoulders, a solid and warm chest pressing into her back. Noriko knew without looking exactly who it was and just sighed. “Cameron, what are you doing?”
“You’re the perfect chin rest.”
That had not at all answered her question. Noriko opened her mouth, intending to tell him off, when she realized that something wasn’t quite right. She went still, her senses turning toward him fully. What was it? It was subtle, not at all obvious, but she did manage to put a finger on it. His energy flow wasn’t stable. There were little fissures here and there, almost stutters, in the energy flow around him. Cameron, on a day to day basis, had a very consistent flow. It was one of the reasons why it was so easy to work with him. This was highly unusual.
Concerned, she turned within his arms and put a hand to his forehead.
He blinked down at her. “I’m not sick?”
“No, you’re not running a fever,” she agreed with a slight frown. “But you’re not feeling right either.”
It was his turn to go still, expression a strange mix so that she couldn’t quite read him. “You can tell?” he asked softly.
“Well, it’s easy to tell,” she returned, not quite sure why she was getting this reaction. Cameron looked almost…surprised wasn’t quite the right word, but she couldn’t think of a better way to say it. He had not expected for her to pick up on his status. “Your energy flow is amazingly consistent. Of course if it’s flickering like this, I’d take notice.”
His forehead compressed into a line and for a second it looked like he was close to tears. Cameron brought her in hard and hugged her almost tightly enough to squeeze the breath right out of her. Against her hair he whispered, “You really are the best, Spidey.”
Sensing that he really was feeling weak at the moment, and that this wasn’t his usual teasing, she hugged him back and let him take what comfort he needed. “The best, you say,” she tried teasing, “But you have nothing to compare me to, y’know?”
“Wrong.” He curled around her a little more. “I had a partner before.”
Noriko stiffened. “You did?” This was the first she’d heard about it.
“Yeah.” His energy went on a loopty-loop before settling.
She had the distinct feeling that she had just hit a nerve. “You can tell me about it, if you want? Or if you want to go beat up something in the gym instead, I’ll go with you.”
A long moment of silence held between them. Maybe he didn’t want to do either? Although Noriko wasn’t sure what else to offer, as she still didn’t know him well enough to guess how he best liked to be comforted.
His voice was so quiet that she missed the first few words. “—in high school, I had a partner. Stephanie. She wasn’t my rank, but she was close enough, and we had approval to pair up. We dated.”
That in itself wasn’t unusual. When you had to work that closely with the opposite sex for days, months, years at a time, then usually a very strong relationship formed. Statistically speaking, almost sixty percent of the partnerships out there were together, either dating or married. The fact that he had come out of high school, out of training, without a partner was what surprised her, as most of those relationships tended to last. Sensing a bad end to this story, she soothed a circle on his back with a flat palm. “And then?”
“She was pitch-hitting for another Dwolcræft who had a project due, in our senior year. I didn’t mind, it was just how Stephanie was, but it…took a bad turn. For me, at least. They hooked up. I knew something was wrong, she was spending more time with him than me, but it dragged on for months before I had the nerve to say something. I knew what her answer would be.” He blew out a breath and took a half step back, looking down at her. “We split up. It took them over a year to pair me up with you. That’s it.”
Noriko didn’t believe for one second that was all there was to the story. After all, he had been just fine working with her this entire time. So what had set him off today? “For such a talkative guy, you’re terrible at telling me the facts. What brought this up today?”
“I got a call from my mom. Stephanie’s engaged. She wants me to come to the wedding.”
Wait, what? “Your mom does or Stephanie does?”
“Both, I guess.”
The words burst uncontrollably from her mouth. “Are they freaking nuts?”
That taut expression he wore eased into a grin. “You really are the best, Spidey. The way my mom was talking, she was making me feel like a jerk for not wanting to go.”
“The girl cheats on you, doesn’t have the guts to admit it, forces you into an awkward position, and then invites you to her wedding? A year later? You’re not a jerk, she is!” Noriko stabbed a finger toward his wrist. “You can call your mother back and I’ll tell her so.”
“Naw. No point. I told her I wasn’t going. It’s just, sometimes y’know, my mom makes me question my sanity. It helps when I have someone else to talk to and see if this is just my mom being mom or if I’m in the wrong.”
“You’re not in the wrong,” Noriko assured him firmly. “And I’m serious, if she calls you again about this, you hand it to me. I’ll talk to her.”
“Okay.” He pulled her back in and rested his chin on her head, but this time his energy flickers died down. In fact, on a strictly power level, he emitted an almost audible hum of contentment. “I gotta say, I’m glad now I didn’t stay with her.”
“Yeah? Why’s that? Because she doesn’t have a shred of loyalty in her?”
“That too, but on a work level, she’s not your equal. I’m not talking just in terms of power. You read me better than she ever did, and you’re far more careful with me than anyone I’ve partnered up with. I know, when we start working, that I can completely trust myself to you.”
Noriko had to blink her eyes rapidly to keep from crying. This unexpected praise hit her straight in the heartstrings. She’d always harbored a doubt that Cameron hadn’t tried to find a new partner because she was close to his level and fun to tease, not because he felt any satisfaction in working with her. To hear him say the opposite gave her a thrill of pure happiness.
“Huh.” He tilted her head back and put his forehead almost touching hers. “I think I better say stuff like that more often.”
A vivid blush stained her cheeks as she belatedly realized that if she could read his energy well enough to see that there was something bothering him, then of course he could return the favor. There wo
uld be no way of disguising that spark of pure happiness that had danced around her.
“Spidey…no. Noriko.” He tilted his head slightly in a boyish manner, smile shy. “Be my partner always?”
She had to clear her throat twice before she could manage, “Try and get rid of me.”
“No way.” Grin stretching from ear to ear, he lifted her up in a bear hug.
“Oof! Let me down, you idiot.”
“No way,” he repeated, this time laughing as he said it.
Noriko tried very hard to not smile and sound stern. “We’re at work, put me down.”
“Giving compliments is appropriate at work,” he stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Noriko tried really hard to stay firm on this. “Hugs are compliments?”
“I’m better at physical demonstrations.”
She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing. “That part I believe.”
Of course that was the moment that their captain chose to walk in. She couldn’t see him, but she heard the resigned sigh. “Powers, what did I say about sexual harassment?”
“It’s a compliment,” Cameron explained seriously, not budging an inch.
“Uh-huh,” their captain intoned, not buying this. “Physical demonstrations are not appropriate at work.”
Cameron thought about this quite seriously for about three seconds. “Time for a cool change, brother.”
This time, Noriko lost the battle and actually did giggle against his chest.
Her partner blinked down at her. “That was amazingly cute. Do that again.”
“Okay,” Banderas came and forcefully pulled him off. “That is definitely inappropriate. Quit it, Powers.”
Noriko waved her captain down. “It’s fine, sir. It’s just how he rolls.”
Banderas gave her a long, evaluating look. “He’s sucked you into his pace, hasn’t he?”
“Guilty, sir.”
Shaking his head, Banderas decided to ignore them. Probably for the sake of his own sanity. “If you two are done being huggy? I’ve just been informed that we have your midterm test date. You’ll be sitting down on the 17th, 10 a.m.”
That was just shy of three weeks away. Noriko felt a wave of panic wash over her. Had she studied enough to be prepared for that test?
Cameron’s head canted to the side. “So when’s the trial date? I mean, if they’ve already made the arrest, won’t trial happen sooner rather than later?”
“Rumor has it about two weeks from now, but we don’t have a firm date for that yet. I’ll likely have to give testimony, but I doubt the rest of you will. Me, Mike Yockey, and Frank Goudie, we will be the main witnesses for this.”
A trial would be another learning experience. Noriko was relieved to hear that she wouldn’t be needed for it, though, as she knew absolutely nothing about trial procedure and would prefer to watch one and get the experience before actively taking part.
“So what are we doing today?” Cameron asked. “Preparing evidence for trial?”
“Got it in one. We’re not released by Goudie just yet. Let’s pack it up neat and tidy so these scum can’t repeat their mistakes.”
24th Merlin
“It’s such rotten luck,” Cameron grumbled. “Why do we have to sit for the midterms today?”
“I’m just as irritated about this as you are.” Noriko sank back into the seat of the car. Some part of her mind insisted that she try to do some last minute studying on the way to the exam, but she was too agitated to do so. In fact, she was so jittery that it would be better to try and soothe her nerves so she could actually focus on the exam. “Not that I expected them to clear the trial dates with us in advance, but shouldn’t we be able to choose our own exam date? Since the proctor has to travel to us anyway.”
“You’d think, right?” Her partner slouched even further into his seat, a pout not quite forming on face. “But noooo that’s not at all how it works. The proctor chooses our test days, the courts choose the trial days, and despite the fact we did a good chunk of the work finding the culprits, we don’t get to see them brought to justice.”
The unfairness of the situation rankled her, too. “Although it’s still uncertain which technician helped them. Frank Goudie and Mike Yockey were both convinced it would take a tech to sabotage the fail safes.” It was Goudie who was investigating that part of things, so Noriko wasn’t sure on why he was convinced of it, just that he was.
Cameron spread a palm in an open shrug. “Maybe, maybe not. I mean, you know how the GF runs. Even though we’re majoring in a specific field, they encourage us to learn anything and everything. Maybe this pair had been around the Lab long enough to pick up a few things. Maybe someone gave them exact instructions on what to do and how to do it.”
There were too many maybes, to her mind. Noriko wasn’t entirely convinced that it was a rival company that had hired the pair to sabotage the test in the first place. That seemed like a pat answer that didn’t have enough foundation. They hadn’t found any communications to either Wesson or Landers and they had been very, very thorough in looking. Well, John and Khanh had, and she trusted their skills. They had found evidence of a pay-off through their expenditures. Well, Katie had mostly found those. So they did have it confirmed that Wesson and Landers were guilty, although they hadn’t been able to figure out who their employer was.
And it STILL didn’t explain why they had multiple ley lines flare up and go out of control. She didn’t feel for one moment that it was a coincidence the Lab’s ley lines had chosen to go ballistic at the same time as the others. “I feel like we missed something.”
“If we did, it’s not obvious.” Cameron rolled his head around on his shoulders, looking suddenly tired and about five years older. “In the movies, when you solve the crime and find the perp, the whole case wraps up in a neat bundle with all the loose ends solved. Why didn’t that happen to us?”
“Because the difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense,” she intoned grandly.
Cameron slit open an eye to stare at her. “Quite wise of you.”
“Tom Clancy said it first,” she admitted.
“Who?”
Was he joking? She stared at him, flabbergasted, for the longest time. No, he really wasn’t kidding. “I am absolutely positive you know the man. Author? Wrote Deep Six, Hunt for Red October—”
“Oh, him! Sure. Although I didn’t realize that was based off a book, but I watched the movie.”
“Cameron. Don’t you read?”
“Of course. I listen to books all of the time.”
That had not been what she asked. At all. Although Noriko supposed that audiobooks did count. “Let me guess. Conspiracy theory books?”
He gave her a shameless grin. “Those are the best kind. They’re hilarious.”
Yup, she’d had a feeling that would be his answer.
The car braked gently to a stop at a red light. Noriko glanced out the window, checking to see where they were and how close they were to their testing center. It was being carried out in, of all places, the local library. They had left ten minutes earlier than necessary to give themselves time to find the right room and get settled in before the test, so she wasn’t worried about being late.
What she had intended to be a quick glance became a more curious stare. A man stood at the corner, cap low over his eyes, body hunched in, and he was bouncing on his toes in an almost nervous tic. “Cameron. That guy.”
Cameron leaned across her to get a good look. “Oh man. He’s got ‘suspicious’ written all over him. Where’s one of our brother cops when we need one?”
“I think we better get out and talk to him,” Noriko decided. It was a gut feeling but one too strong to ignore.
“What if he’s just a nervous kind of guy?” Cameron asked, playing devil’s advocate. Even as he spoke the words, he unbuckled his seat belt and hit the ‘park’ button on the car’s navigation system.
“W
e’ve got ten minutes, we’ll be fine.”
“What if he’s nervous for a criminal reason?”
“I think the proctor will forgive us.” Noriko had a feeling they’d need that forgiveness. She slung her legs out of the car and feigned a smile. “Hi. I’m new in town and not sure if the car is heading the right direction. It’s acting a little confused. Are you a resident here?”
The man jerked around, head coming up as he realized that she was addressing him. From five feet away, she could see his face clearly. After a startled moment, she realized that she knew him. His face and name, at least. Robert Hodges, technician, assigned to test cells 2A, 1A, and T3. Now what was he doing here? If she remembered right, he lived in Lancaster, which was a good hour’s drive in the other direction from Tehachapi.
He sucked in a startled breath, recognition dawning as he looked at them. Most people, after that split second, would relax and offer a greeting return. Not Hodges. He stumbled back two steps, hands opening and clenching as if searching for something and coming up empty. “Y-you!” he spluttered out, head jerking back and forth as he panned the area. “You’re part of something you shouldn’t be! Those cities are part of natural selection—they belong in the ocean!”
Um, what?
While she was still trying to wrap her head around this, the man turned sharply on his heel and bolted across the street.
Cameron swore roundly and took off in immediate pursuit. Noriko belatedly sprinted after them. Fortunately, the technician wasn’t especially fast, just desperate. She was able to keep up with the chase, although just barely. Also fortunately, all of her physical training meant she had the stamina to talk while she ran, although it made her pant a little in effort. “Why is he running?”
“Guilty people run, that’s all I know,” Cameron called back to her. “You calling it in?”
Call to Quarters (A Gaeldorcraeft Forces Novel Book 1) Page 22