Page 57 of Sundowners
“I’m sorry,” he said, holding up his hands in surrender. “I have to get this out of my system here so I don’t fuck with you at the department.”
I rolled my eyes and finished my food with a scowl.
“I’m serious. You’re so damned grown up and competent, Junior.”
“You better call me Roman at the department.”
He kicked me under the table, I kicked him back, and within seconds I had him in a headlock and about to take him down to the ground when he tapped out.
“Fuck, I surrender. Geez. That’s some serious aggro you’ve got going on.”
I pushed him away and pulled up my pants, which he’d managed to yank down in his attempt to trip me and get free.
“In all seriousness,” he said, catching his breath. “Let’s fucking catch these guys so you can get back to your nurse, all right? I like you two together. He’s a good guy.”
I stood with my hands on my hips. “What about you? Special duty? Is this just about Vanessa, or are you finally thinking about taking the sergeant’s exam?”
“I guess. What, are you going to ride me, too?”
“No, I swear,” I said. “You just don’t usually volunteer for this kind of assignment. The only extra thing I’ve ever seen you do is SWAT. I know Vanessa razzes you, but I don’t know why you haven’t done more. I just know it’s a thing.”
“Itisa thing, and frankly, you’re not the only one in this family with a mouth on them. I don’t like the politics.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Really? That’s why?”
He shrugged. “You tell me if you like having people up your ass.”
“Actually,” I said, grinning. “I don’t give a shit when it’s not my family.” Okay, I was sort of lying. After how I’d treated Creed the night before… “What do you think academia is like?”
He grumbled something about being left alone and stomped up the stairs, and I couldn’t contain my laughter.
We drove togetherto the department an hour later; me in my suit and Rey in his “regular joe” clothes in case they were sent out on the streets again. It was the first time I used my own ID to get in, not as a guest, and I tried to be all cool about it, but it got stuck in my wallet and I held up the line trying to pull it out. Rey laughed at me, and I had to control the urge to put him in a headlock again.
The conference room was full of people when we arrived, and Vanessa immediately grabbed us.
“There’s been a development. The woman we talked to at the biotech firm? She was brought into the ER late last night. Single car accident on Highway 17. She’s terrified, asked the nurses to not let anyone know she was there except for me. I’m heading over there to talk to her, and Roman, I want you to come with me.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Rey stayed to meet with the other detective, Sterling, and the officers who’d gone out in plainclothes to make a plan, and I followed Vanessa back out to the lot.
“This woman was on top of her game, really slick when we met, but obviously our visit shook something up. I talked to the CHP and they said she was frantic, said she was being chased.”
“Is she seriously injured?”
She shook her head. She hit the key fob and let us into her Explorer.“No, and she never lost consciousness. They kept her overnight to observe her because she got knocked on the head. She’s at the hospital in Scott’s Valley. Do you need coffee or anything?”
“No, I’m good.”
She nodded and pulled out of the lot in a hurry. She filled me in on her conversation with the woman as we drove.
“She’s working on some cutting-edge project involving replicating blood.”
“Like, synthetic blood?”
“Yeah, something about the gene sequence for certain types and how to replicate it. Supposed to be the answer to the blood shortage. Her company is worth billions.”
“It’s not like Theranos, right?”
