by Carol Roi
She nodded. "Yes, I know about the Watchers. And Joe Dawson is a good friend of mine. What lies has he been filling your head with?" She softened her question with a smile.
"I…He…I called him when I found out Lee met with you today. He said you were dangerous. That Lee was in trouble if she went after you."
She thought that over for a moment. "Yes, I suppose if you were being literal-minded, that's probably pretty close to the truth. And I think Joe embellishes my reputation to put people off. I think it would hurt him deeply if I were to lose my head. But I have no quarrel with Lee, or with you." She sighed. "In fact, I'm honor-bound to help you, seeing as you're a newborn." She looked at Blair. "So how should we handle this, Lobo?"
Blair was silent for a moment, then said, "You're here to help Lee, right? I mean, you said you were with her tonight." LaFollett nodded. "Then I think we should stick with that. I have to warn you, though, the two cops who arrested her know about Watchers, and Immortals, so watch what you say. And we'll need to let Lee know what's going on, so she doesn't give herself or you away. I can take care of that. Dee, you wanna go listen in, see what Megan and Jim are up to? I'll run him down to the locker room and get him cleaned up, then bring him back here and we'll take it from there."
"Sounds good to me. Go with Blair, Mr. LaFollett. I'll see what I can find out about Lee." Dee waited a few seconds until she heard the two men heading downstairs, then she exited the interrogation room and headed for Major Crimes to find the two arresting officers arguing.
"Damn it, Conner, give it a rest! You're not getting anywhere with her, and you can barely stand up!"
"I'm fine, Ellison! And I don't think you're going to get any further with her. I saw the look she was giving you at the crime scene. All she's going to have to do is bat her eyelashes at you and you'll be wrapped around her little finger!"
The detective scowled at her, then shrugged. "So? That might work to our advantage, if she thinks she can manipulate me."
"Augh!" Megan threw her hands up in frustration. "Fine! Go ahead! Have it your way!" Whirling to stalk away, her right leg gave out, and she would have fallen, had not Dee been there to catch her.
"Hey, Pajara, take it easy, okay?" She helped her companion to a chair then glanced up at Jim. "Go on, she'll be fine." Nodding, he left them alone in the bullpen.
"Ow, bugger! It hurts!" Megan complained as soon as he was gone, twisting in her seat, trying to take the weight off that side.
Dee knelt next to her, running her hand down her hip and over her thigh. Megan clawed at the arm of the chair and moaned. The older woman looked up at her. "You really should have gone to the hospital, Pajara. It's a fairly deep bruise, and there's a lot of fluid built up around it. Do you get a shooting pain in your hip and down your thigh?"
Megan nodded. "Bloody leg feels like it's going to give out if I move wrong on it. Damn it, she kicked me hard, but not that hard." She cried out as Dee dug her thumb into her lower back.
"You must have been at just the wrong angle when she connected. Your sciatic nerve is being pinched when you move. I can fix this, but it's going to hurt worse than it does now. You want to do this here, or someplace a little more private?"
"More private. The women's loo?" Nodding, Dee put her friend's arm over her shoulder, and lifted her to her feet. With Megan leaning heavily on her, they headed out of the bullpen.
Part 10
Damn it all!
Crap, could this night get any worse?
I stand up rapidly, the chair I was sitting in sliding across the floor to hit the wall behind me, and I start to pace. Of all the times to be caught unarmed. The tingling sensation runs up my spine to resonate in my head, the sign of an Immortal in the vicinity. Just how many of us are in this Goddess forsaken city?
Keeping one eye on the door, I start to check out the chairs and table, looking for a way to dismantle them, or simply use them in a pinch. If I'm to be confronted in a damn police station, I'll not make it easy on the other Immortal.
Oh, shit! Another one? Does Cascade, Washington breed Immortals like rabbits? I still my movements, trying to get a fix on this second Immortal; the buzz off this one is rather weak. A newborn? Maybe this city does draw Immortals. I drop to my knees, looking under the table.
I hear the voices, apparently near by, raised in anger and rise to my feet from where I was looking at the supports to the table. No help there, this furniture is just too well built. I sit back on my haunches and a voice, raised in anger, or is it concern, catches my attention.
"Damn it, Connor, give it a rest!"
Rising to my feet I realize the voice is familiar... Ah, yes, the nice looking detective from the scene outside of QuestScape. I don't catch everything that is said, but I try to. I step closer to the door and barely hear the heated reply.
"I'm fine, Ellison!"
It's my Aussie Inspector friend. She doesn't sound very happy. I don't blame her. Not only did I not give her what she wanted when she was talking with me, I also gave her one hell of a sore leg.
"Augh! Fine! Go ahead! Have it your way!" Well, that sounds like someone who lost an argument. I step back away from the door, just as Detective Ellison opens it and gives me the strangest look, like he knew what I was up to.
"Stretching your legs, Ms. Eolia?"
"You could say that, Detective."
"Please, have a seat. I'd like to conclude our talk before the sun rises."
Nice touch: polite concern tinged with just a bit of sarcasm. Either he's going to go for the concerned cop routine or the bad cop. Damn, with his looks, the bad cop could break a lesser person. It's his eyes. Ice blue, frozen, deadly. I slowly take a seat, once again facing the window behind him, and watch as he moves with fluid grace into the chair across from me.
"Ms. Eolia, let me be perfectly blunt with you."
"Please." I lean my elbows on the table, bracing my chin in my hand, hoping I can control enough of my autonomic responses so he can't detect my nervousness. Not because I'm worried about his questions, but because I'm trapped in a room with no way out and an innocent. I still can't taste who the other immortal is in the area, and if it's the rogue...
"You're facing a pretty serious charge this morning..."
"I didn't take anything from QuestScape." Oops, shouldn't have interrupted him. Nothing like seeing those eyes turn to hard, cold fire and ice.
"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about your assault on Inspector Connor, your attempted escape from custody. And I'm well within my rights, as an investigating officer, to hold you in custody as a potential witness to a very serious crime."
"Excuse me?" He couldn't. He wouldn't. Would he? Damn, that little known law hasn't been used in years.
"I believe you heard me." He leans back in his chair, his arms folding across his chest. "But that is the least of your concerns right now."
"Look, I'm sorry I injured your partner, but I was concerned about a friend--" I snap my mouth closed over the words slipping from my lips and turn my gaze from his.
"A friend?" He reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out the small radio which had been taken from me earlier. "The person who was on the other end of this?" He tosses the radio onto the table, where it slides to a halt halfway between us.
My hands itch with the need to pick up the radio, to try to contact LaFollet, and I barely restrain myself from doing so. I've already slipped up, making that vague reference to my bodyguard and Watcher. I just pray the detective didn't notice. The silence drags time to a crawl between us.
"You may as well tell me, Ms. Eolia. I'll find out soon enough."
Maybe it wouldn't hurt to trust this mortal. Taking a deep breath, I decide to chance it. "Yes. My bodyguard. He was acting as my backup. Just before I ran into the Inspector I had heard him talking to someone, then I clearly heard two gunshots ring out."
"Go on."
"The connection went dead. I lost contact." Returning my focus to the detective's blue orbs, I see a glimmer of belie
f.
"Just before I came upon you about to kick the hell out of my partner again, there was more gunfire. Do you know anything about that?"
I shake my head. "No."
"Hmm." Before he can say anything further, there's a single knock on the door and my attention is drawn to the young man who pokes his head in the room.
"Jim? Oh, sorry."
"What is it, Chief?"
Chief? Lobo? Sandburg. Damn, just how many titles does this young mortal hold? I watch as the dark haired student walks into the interview room. I'm surprised to find his face, his beautiful, unblemished face, bears no marks from the damage I did earlier. I did hit him, didn't I?
"There's someone out here I think you should talk to. Claims he can vouch for the lady here." The look he flashes me tells me he's trying to get the detective out of the room. Why?
"Fine." Ellison stands up and brushes past Sandburg.
I watch the Watcher carefully as he sidles over towards me, his hand outstretched in greeting. "Hi, Blair Sandburg. Has anyone thought to ask if you want something to drink, Ms. Eolia?"
I shake his hand, and with the dexterity of a professional drop man the paper in his clutch transfers smoothly to mine. "No, they haven't. If it's okay, I'd love to have a cup of coffee?"
Raking the hand he just shook mine with through his long, curly hair, the man nods. "I'll check into it for you. How do you like it?"
"Black will be fine, thank you." He leaves the room and under the table, I open the note and read the ancient Greek script. That tells me one of the Immortals in the building is Diandra.
Lia,
Be wary. Ellison & Connor know of Immortals and Watchers. Your shadow is fine, but he's newly born and confused. I'll do what I can to help.
D.
Oh dear Gods & Goddesses! Jan-Michel? An Immortal? How could I have not felt that? I tightly crumple the note from Diandra and under the guise of stifling a yawn, I raise my hand to my mouth and insert the note, chewing and swallowing it quickly. Sandburg took a risk, getting the note to me.
Not long after I've destroyed the evidence of the Watcher's collusion with me, he returns and hands over a disposable cup filled with a rich dark brew. "Here you go. Captain Banks said it was okay."
I sip the hot liquid, nearly scalding my tongue, and nod my gratitude. "Thanks."
His shrug is eloquent. "No problem. I'd better go and see if Megan is ready to go home now." And with a flash of earth tones, the young man disappears from the room. The small space seems strangely colder now he's no longer here. After looking at him closely, touching him when our hands met briefly while he handed me the cup, I'm starting to wonder if I've lost my touch. I used to be able to sense preemies, I was good at it, but now? I don't know how else to describe what I'm picking up from him. Though that doesn't explain the disappearance of his injuries.
I partake of the bitter brew; it's strong enough to reach up out of the cup to slap me. I allow my thoughts to wander back over the years. Jan-Michel LaFollet came to WindHawk Securities highly recommended, after the US Navy and a long stint at Camp David, where he helped protect the President of the United States and other dignitaries who visited the 'camp.' The last three years, he'd been assigned to the small detail of guarding my back and Azir's, even though we both knew he was a Watcher. But never once, in all that time, did I suspect the Watcher was a pre-Immortal. Why?
Coffee finished, I start to tear apart the Styrofoam cup, piling the small pieces on the table before me. The buzzing in my head increases and the door to the interview room swings open. I'm on my feet before the person on the other side can take a step into the room.
Spying the broad shoulders, the crew-cut blond hair and the concerned hazel eyes, I relax my guard and rush over to him, enfolding him in a hard embrace.
"Jan-Michel! You're okay! I was so worried!" Seeing him wincing in pain, I grab his chin and force him to make eye contact with me. The lines around his eyes disappear once our gazes meet. "You are okay, right?" I lightly finger the Band-Aid gracing his temple.
He returns my hug, tucking my head under the chin I had held so firmly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Or I will be."
"What happened?" I lead him over to the table, sitting him in the chair while I lean against the table, my hand resting on his shoulder.
"I'll tell you later, Lee. Right now, we have to worry about getting you out of here. I talked with Ellison. He and the captain are willing to drop the charges against you if you're willing to cooperate with their investigation." His hand reaches up and grasps my thigh, "I can't believe you assaulted a cop. What were you thinking?"
"I heard the shots, lost contact with you and was scared something had happened to you." I grimace and my mouth twitches into a sad smile. "I really wasn't thinking, just reacting."
He chuckles. "Well, next time, THINK will you?"
"I'll try." Aware our little reunion was probably being monitored, I pull his head close to mine as if in another concerned hug, and whisper in his ear. "We need to get that zip drive back and find that damn thief."
He shakes his head, but doesn't break contact with me. "I can't leave you here alone."
"You can, and you will." I lean back, still clasping the back of my friend's head in one hand. "I think Ellison is serious about placing me in custody as a potential witness. I need you to be my eyes and ears outside of here." The dark look crossing my Watcher's face is almost murderous. "Please, Jan?"
I see he's having to fight against his instincts as a bodyguard, and his new status as an Immortal. I keep my expression pleading, hoping I can coerce him into leaving me here.
"What if that other person comes here, looking for you? Who's going to watch your six?"
Navy men, got to love the terminology. "I'm in a precinct house. I think I'll be safe enough, don't you?"
"Maybe." The tone is reluctant, but I can almost see the walls of resistance crumbling. "What about that little item you left behind?" His voice is so quiet I barely hear him.
"Do what you can, but it's not important." The door swings open and Ellison walks back into the room.
"Mr. LaFollet? There's a stenographer here to help me take your statement." Jan-Michel stands and slowly exits the room but Ellison doesn't follow him. Instead, he looks at me with a puzzled expression on his face. "Ms. Eolia? Looks like you'll be here a while longer, do you need anything? More coffee, perhaps?" He pointedly looks at the small pile of Styrofoam on the tabletop.
"That would be nice. And maybe a trip to the bathroom?"
"Of course." He closes the door and once again I'm left alone with my thoughts. A few minutes later, the female officer who had searched me earlier returns and escorts me to the ladies room, where she watches me like a cat eyes a mouse before taking me back to that damnable interview room. Someone has left a large cup of coffee and a sandwich. I didn't realize how hungry I was, or how loud my stomach had been growling, but I'm thankful for someone's thoughtfulness as I devour the ham and cheese and take in the caffeinated beverage.
Walking back to the interview room, I had caught a glimpse of a wall clock. It's nearly three-thirty in the morning, and from the slow pace this ordeal seems to have picked up, I wonder if I'll get out of here before the sun rises.
Ellison took a seat at his desk and looked the man in the chair across from him over carefully. The close cropped blond hair and rigid posture both cried "military," which he supposed was an appropriate background for someone in the counterespionage field. "So, Mr. LaFollet, can you tell me what happened tonight?"
The ex-navy man glanced down at his hands, then around the almost empty bullpen. He swallowed somewhat nervously, and his fingers rubbed his temple. "There's not much to tell, Detective. I was Lee's backup. I waited in the car, in contact with her by radio, while she went through the security check. Everything was going fine, until she got to the lab. Then I heard someone else's voice over the mic, and what sounded like a shotgun blast. It was over five minutes before Lee responded. She told me
someone else had attacked her, and she was trying to get out. A few seconds after that, someone yanked open the door of the car I was sitting in."
"Did you get a look at this person?"
LaFollet shook his head. "No, it all happened so fast. I heard two shots, and then everything went black. When I came to, I was in the passenger seat of the car, about two miles from QuestScape. I picked up the information about Lee being brought here on the scanner and drove directly here."
Jim raised one eyebrow curiously. "It's amazing you weren't seriously hurt or killed. Sure you're okay? I notice you seem to have a headache."
Again LaFollet seemed slightly nervous, his gaze wandering around the room, lighting for a moment on Blair, who was sitting with Diandra next to Megan's desk, talking with the inspector as she typed up her report. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Whoever it was didn't do any permanent damage, and your Mr. Sandburg was nice enough to help me get cleaned up downstairs. I was so worried about Lee that I didn't even know I'd been injured." He ran his fingers over the small bandage at his hairline. "I'm sorry I don't have anything more for you to go on, Detective. I want to get my hands on the person who tried to kill Lee as much as you do."
