Page 49 of Stone
“Aaand enough of that,” Simon interrupted. Both he and Monk shot her an apologetic look. She shrugged, although truthbe told, she was a little curious about what Viper had been going to say.
“I have records,” Monk said, holding up both a thumb drive and a paper file.
“Of?” she asked, reaching for the folder he offered her.
“A few things,” Monk replied. “You remember the list we drew up a few days ago? The one tracking the crime stats in areas where Gregor had development projects?”
“And whether those projects were helped along by Lowery’s land use support,” she said.
“That one,” he confirmed, taking a seat. “Some of those projects received federal funding so had government files on them. I also dug up records of what state-level development bills Lowery supported, a detailed analysis of the crimes we identified, and a summary of all internal affairs investigations into the SFPD.”
Juliana stared at the behemoth of a man. Not only were those the most words he’d spoken in one go, but they packed a punch. “Ah, okay. Wow. That’s quite a day’s work,” she said, casting a glance at Simon, silently asking if this was the normal course of business for them.
“We know a lot of people through the work we do,” he said.
“So let’s get a better picture of these fuckers,” Monk said, tossing the thumb drive onto the table. It slid across the smooth surface and bounced off Philly’s computer, coming to rest a few inches away. “Sorry about the language,” Monk added with a nod to her.
“I’m a librarian, not a nun. I’m not offended by words. At least, not those,” she said. “Now, who’s going to do what?”
After some bickering between Viper and Monk, they decided that she and Simon would review Lowery’s political activities, Viper the government records on the developments, and Phillyand Monk would take both the analysis of the crimes and the internal investigations.
They were deep in the thick of it when a knock came at the door, followed by Dottie poking her head in. “Dinner’s on,” she said. “Salmon, corn, potato salad, and fresh bread.”
Viper and Philly shoved back from their seats. “Sorry, we have to get there before Superman and Lovell. I swear those dudes are part bear,” Philly said as the two dashed out.
“Bear?” Juliana asked.
“They like fish,” Dottie explained. “So does Hawkeye, but he’s deployed right now. You going to join us?”
She glanced at Simon, who appeared in the middle of a silent conversation with Monk. A beat later, Monk rose. “We’ll finish this up tomorrow. Ten o’clock?”
Simon nodded, and Dottie stepped to the side to let him pass. “What about you two?”
“Can we take some to go?” Simon asked. “It’s been a day, and I wouldn’t mind getting home.”
Dottie’s gaze darted to her, her expression softening. “Of course. Give me five minutes and I’ll wrap some up for you,” she said before letting the door close.
“It’s amazing that you have someone that cooks for you all,” Juliana said, shuffling the papers they’d been looking at.
“She loves it,” Simon said. “We pay her, of course, but she was the one who came up with the idea all those years ago. We were setting up here, getting businesses going, getting familiar with the network we work with that connected us to her in the first place. All of us came from backgrounds as dysfunctional as mine, although in different ways, and then all of us joined the military at eighteen. We can clean like the devil, but none of us had ever learned how to cook. And she felt safe here. Probably for the first time in decades.”
“Then it was a win-win all around,” she said, tucking the papers into the file. “Should we leave all this here?” she asked, gesturing to all the research.
Simon nodded. “Only people I trust will come in here.”
Juliana preceded Simon into the hall then immediately drew back, almost stepping on his toes. His hand came to rest on her hip and he leaned forward. “Everyone except Hawkeye is here. It can get loud.”
Her stomach fluttered at the thought of walking into a room filled with Falcons. All of Simon’s closest friends—his brothers. Except Hawkeye, of course. “I thought you all discharged. Why’s he deployed?” she asked, buying time.
“He’s a medic. He stayed in the reserves in a training capacity. One weekend a month, he trains reserve medics, and twice a year, he’s deployed for six weeks. This year is unusual, though. He was gone all of May and the first part of June, and he just left again about two weeks ago. Normally, his second deployment starts in September. Are you nervous about meeting everyone?”
She winced. “A little.”
“You’ve already met Mantis, Monk, Philly, and Viper.”
“That leaves nine others, excluding you and Hawkeye. And all at the same time.”
He remained silent, letting her come to her own decision.
