“A car with a temporary out-of-state tag.”
“I wondered how Cal had been able to afford that Mustang. I figured any extra cash was going into his coke fund.”
“Um, guys,” the driver said. “Friendly reminder that I’m still up here, you know? So if you could be cool, please?”
“Head?” Theo asked quietly.
“It’s ok.”
“I can handle this part on my own.”
“No, I want to be there.”
The duty officer at the front desk was named Murray—at least, that’s what his tag said—and he looked well past the age of retirement. Auggie pegged him at somewhere in his mid-seventies; he had a stray white nose hair that reached halfway to his lip. Theo seemed to know him; he walked right up to the officer and said hello.
Murray stared at him and said, “Yes, sir. May I help you?”
“We’re here to see Detective Somerset,” Theo said. “It’s about the shooting last night.”
“He’s very busy, but I’ll let him know. You gentlemen can have a seat.”
“Is everything going ok, Jim? How have you been holding up?”
Phone in one hand, Murray blinked a few times, seeming to consider his options, and settled for, “That’s Officer Murray, sir. Please have a seat.”
“It’s me, Theo.”
“Yes, sir. Please sit down now.”
When Auggie and Theo sat, Theo muttered, “Don’t.”
“I just think it’s cute that you kept trying.”
“I said don’t.”
The station smelled like burnt coffee, floor wax, and overheated bodies. Someone was running a hand dryer in the bathroom; voices competed, rose, and merged into a babble. Where the light came in through the double glass doors, it glowed against the white vinyl tiles. Auggie closed his eyes; a moment later, someone was saying his name softly, and he realized he had fallen asleep.
“Sorry.” He wiped his mouth, spotted the drool patch on Theo’s coat, and mumbled, “Oh God.”
“It’s fine,” Theo said quietly.
“Are you ok?” The voice was familiar: friendly without being forced; warm without being cloying. Detective Somerset bent down to examine Auggie. “You’re pretty pale.”
“I’m fine,” Auggie said.
“Are you—”
“He said he’s fine,” Theo said. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, ok. Can we talk here, or do you want to come back?”
“Better go back.”
So they followed Somerset to the bullpen, where desks had been pushed together in pairs. Somerset pulled two chairs up to one of the desks, sat, and took a long drink of coffee. “Sorry. It’s been a long night.”
By then, Auggie’s head had cleared enough for him to study the detective. Somerset was gorgeous; there was no denying it. The golden tan that had survived the winter. The tropically blue eyes. The lean, muscular swimmer’s build, nicely displayed by the trousers hugging his ass and the button-down with its sleeves cuffed. Tattoos. Those Auggie hadn’t remembered. Just a hint of ink where the sleeves were rolled up, but Auggie guessed there was a lot more. Wedding ring, too. Not that it mattered. Somerset was pretty, but he had nothing on Theo. Today, the detective had dark circles under his eyes, and he kept yawning.
“What can I help you guys with? Not to be rude, but I’ve got a pretty full plate.”
Theo told him about the connection between Nia, Deja, and Cal. He mentioned Genesis too, at Auggie’s insistence.
“I’m not sure what you want me to do,” Somerset said.
“We’re just trying to figure out how this fits together,” Theo said. “What about the White Rabbit? We think that’s probably a girl named Sadie. Does that ring any bells?”
“Theo, it’s good to see you again, and I appreciate you bringing this information to me. But this is a very high-profile investigation. A lot of people got hurt last night, and we’re dotting every i on this one. I’m going to loop Detective Lender in, and I’ll tell him what you—”
“No!”
Somerset froze.
“I mean,” Theo said, “I don’t want to be connected to this.”
A pair of uniformed officers strolled past the bullpen, one of them laughing, the other shaking her head. From the lobby, where Murray worked the desk, came a querulous voice demanding that a full police turnout be ordered to keep children from sledding near the river. Somerset’s eyes held Theo, and then they slid to Auggie.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Auggie said. “It’s just messy, and we don’t want to get involved in something like this again.”
“Theo?”
“Like he said: nothing.”
“It sounds like you’re already involved in it. We’ve got a shooting incident that you claim is somehow connected to a murder that happened five months ago, but you can’t explain why. You’ve got a story about performance-enhancing drugs and someone called the White Rabbit. When I mentioned Detective Lender, you both looked like I was holding a gun to your head. So I’m going to ask you again: what’s going on?”
“We just wanted you to know what we found,” Auggie said.
“What did you find? Help me unravel this, Auggie. Somebody killed Cal Reese. Maybe it’s Genesis Evans’s family, and they want revenge more than they want money. Fine. Why do they come back and shoot Nia five months later? Or it’s drugs, which is what Detectives Lender and Swinney thought from the beginning, and you’re here telling me about this White Rabbit character, but it just brings up the same question: why does she pop up now?”
“The drugs in Nia’s locker, the story she told us,” Theo said, ticking the items off on his fingers. “If you ask her, she won’t have an alibi for the night Cal disappeared. She could have killed him. Now someone else wants revenge. Or wants to keep her quiet because she knows something.”
Auggie could sense the change. It wasn’t anything obvious—Somerset didn’t make a face, didn’t turn away, didn’t laugh. Maybe a new distance in his gaze, that was all.
“Ok,” Somerset said. “Thank you.”
“I’m not insane,” Theo said. “Ask her. She won’t have an alibi.”
“It was five months ago, Theo.” Somerset’s voice was gentle. “Nobody has an alibi for five months ago. I understand that the last year and a half has been very difficult—”
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
“Ok,” Auggie said. He put his hand on Theo’s arm; the muscles were tight and hard. “I think we should go.”
Theo just stared at Somerset. They both might have been statues.
“My head is really hurting, Theo,” Auggie said.
After a moment, Theo gave a jerky nod. He got out of his seat, and Auggie followed. Somerset accompanied them to the door, which Theo elbowed open. A blast of cold slapped Auggie.