Data Capture

by Jesse J. Thoma

  “Did you just say homicide?” Jessica looked shocked.

  “And a few things after that. Did you get the rest of it too?”

  “Yes. Police, blanket, lock people out until the police get here,” Jessica said.

  As soon as Jessica ran off down the hall, Quinn let Lola pull her down to the floor still wrapped in her embrace. She settled between Lola’s legs, nearly in the fetal position, with Lola’s arms wrapped around her. She rested her head on Lola’s chest and listened to the steady beat of her heart.

  Lola broke the silence first. “You okay? No, of course you’re not. That’s not what I mean. Wanna talk about it?”

  “How are you so calm?”

  “Not my first dead body,” Lola said.

  “Mine either,” Quinn said. “But I’ve seen them at funerals. I’ve never seen a man with his throat slit in the middle of my research lab. And I know him. He’s the old janitor, Kevin, I think his name is. Why is he there?”

  “I don’t know,” Lola said. “Did you know him well?”

  “No, not at all. I couldn’t help look at his face,” Quinn said. “With his throat. You know. God, I saw that bloody…I don’t know. No one’s neck should ever look like that. I got out and yelled for you, I guess.”

  “I’m glad you thought of me. I always want to be there to keep you safe.”

  “Seriously, how are you so calm?” Quinn was feeling like something was wrong with her for freaking out as much as she was. She was queasy and her heart rate felt unhealthy. Lola didn’t seem all that affected by the scene in the lab. “I wish I could be as unaffected as you are right now.”

  “I’m not calm or unaffected,” Lola said. “I’m experienced. You don’t want the kind of experiences that makes what we just looked at anything less than horrifying.”

  Quinn wondered at the riddle. “Will you tell me?”

  “Someday, perhaps,” Lola said. “But not now. Just know I didn’t perpetrate that kind of violence and did everything in my power to stop it from ever happening.”

  “I know,” Quinn said. And somehow she did. She trusted Lola would never do anything like what she had just seen.

  When the police arrived, Quinn was still firmly ensconced in Lola’s embrace. She didn’t much feel like getting up and giving a statement, but Lola promised not to leave her side. She didn’t, except for a brief moment when she asked to talk to one of the detectives privately. Quinn wondered about it, but didn’t ask Lola.

  After the police released them, Lola suggested they get breakfast as usual, but Quinn wasn’t hungry.

  “Let me take you home then,” Lola said.

  Quinn thought about her apartment. It didn’t feel like home. She hardly spent any time there. Lola must have read her mind.

  “Home doesn’t have to be your place. Come on. We’ll go to my place. But we’re bringing food with us.”

  Lola drove Quinn’s car and practically carried her upstairs to her apartment.

  “It’s not much,” Lola said.

  “It’s not what I would have pictured for you,” Quinn said. She took in the furniture and decorations.

  “It came furnished.”

  “That explains it,” Quinn said. “The mystery continues then.”

  “What mystery?”

  “What your place looks like.” Quinn appreciated the momentary distraction of collecting data about Lola’s apartment.

  “This is my place,” Lola said.

  “No, it’s not. This is someone else’s place that you’re renting.”

  “Well, I’m here. Doesn’t that make it mine?”

  “It makes it all I need right now,” Quinn said. It was true. Since they left the CLA campus, she felt much better. She knew being with Lola was a large part of the reason for that. “I don’t think I thanked you for being there with me. I was, am, so scared.”

  “It was a scary situation. And as I said, I always want to be there to keep you safe, to ease your fears, to make you feel better.”

  “Can I ask you a question?” Quinn asked. “Well, a couple, actually. The first one is, can we get in bed? I’m suddenly exhausted.” Quinn almost laughed at the look of panic on Lola’s face. Dead bodies were apparently no problem, but the thought of slipping under the covers with her was sending this brave, strong woman into emotional turmoil. “Just to sleep. You’ve been up all night, and I’m spent. I can sleep on the couch if you would rather, but I don’t really want to leave your arms.”

  “Of course that’s okay,” Lola said. “I’ll get you something to change into. I’ve got to send one text message and then I’ll be right there. I promised my sister I’d check in this morning about a Facetime date with my nephew, but given the excitement, I think I’d rather reschedule.”

  Quinn felt bad about keeping Lola from her nephew. She was going to protest and insist Lola Facetime anyway.

  Lola seemed to read her mind. “Murder isn’t really the greatest mood setter for chatting with a toddler. I’ll catch him another day.”

  As soon as Quinn changed into the clothes Lola provided, she slipped under the covers and waited for Lola. She joined her momentarily. Quinn snuggled against Lola’s side and rested her head on Lola’s chest.

  “Can I ask my real question now?” Quinn asked.

  “Of course,” Lola said. She sounded half asleep.

  “Are you really a custodian? You talked to the cops like you’ve been around cops, or like you are one. Remember, I come from a whole family of cops. You pick up a few things.” Quinn felt Lola stiffen under her.

  “I’m not a cop,” Lola said.

  “Not a janitor either? Criminal? Please not a criminal.” Quinn felt her heart breaking, but there didn’t seem to be any good reason for Lola to have lied to her. Who are you, Lola Badger? What were you trying to tell me on the beach?

  “No,” Lola said. She pulled Quinn all the way on top of her so they were eye to eye. She looked like she was weighing her options. “Not a criminal. Never a criminal. I’m a bond enforcement agent.”

  “A bounty hunter?”

  “Why does everyone say it like that?” Lola asked. “Yes, a bounty hunter. Although, we do a lot of security and high-risk investigative operations as well.”

  “So why are you here? Chasing someone who missed court? Wait, is anything you told me true? Do you have a sister? Is your name Lola?” Quinn tried to roll off, but she was held in place.

  “Can I explain before you run away from me?”

  Quinn didn’t answer, but she stopped trying to get away. Truth was, she didn’t really want to go anywhere. It felt pretty damned good right where she was, even if Lola, or whatever her name was, hadn’t been completely honest.

  “Yes, my name is Lola, but it’s Walker, not Badger. Holt’s not my sister, although she’s the closest thing I have and I do consider her family. I’m not here chasing a skip. I’m tracking down someone who’s threatening Holt and her family. Or I was. But the case is over now. Or I thought it was. That’s why I was undercover. I didn’t know who was involved. For a hot second I thought you might be.”

  “Me?” Quinn was incredulous. “Involved in threatening someone? But you know me. How could you think that?”

  “Well, now I know you. I didn’t when I first got here. And there was some evidence that pointed your way. It’s sorted out now.”

  “Evidence? What evidence?” Quinn wasn’t feeling so scared and sorry for herself anymore. “And hold up a second. If your case is over, does that mean you’re going to be leaving? How can you tell me you want to always protect me and keep me safe when you’re going to be leaving?”

  This time Quinn did roll off of Lola and tried to get out of bed. She made it as far as the edge of the bed before Lola’s arm wrapped around her waist. Lola didn’t pull her back, just held her there loosely.

  “Where are you going?” Lola asked. She kissed Quinn’s shoulder lightly.

  “Away from you.”

  Quinn pushed Lola away and got out of be
d. She was still on edge from finding a dead body in her lab, and now the person that had broken through the fear and made her feel safe was leaving. It was too much. She knew it wasn’t fair to be mad at Lola, she was trying her damndest to get out of LA too, but the stress and overwhelming terror of the morning wasn’t coming out all that rationally.

  “Please don’t go,” Lola said. She was so close behind Quinn that she made her jump. “I don’t know what the future holds, for either of us. I wanted to talk to you about all of this, but we just didn’t have the chance. I was hoping to over breakfast today. Do you think it was easy for me to hear you talk about jobs you were applying to all over the country? To be honest, I’m a little surprised my residence is the part you’re most upset about. Most people would be mad about the lying.”

  Quinn shrugged. “Family full of cops, remember? Undercover work is part of the job. My family might have turned their backs on me, but I understand the job. That part I get. But today, when I felt so scared, and vulnerable, and horrified, you made me feel safe. And you said you always wanted to make me feel that way. And now you tell me you won’t actually do that, because you can’t. I don’t need you to be my savior or my protector, but it felt really nice today to have you there when I needed you. But I refuse to do a long distance thing. I’m not settling for that.”

  Lola moved so she was standing directly in front of her. She tilted Quinn’s head up and kissed her forehead, then her nose, and finally, placed a whisper of a kiss on her lips.

  “I said what I said earlier and meant every word. I told Holt I needed some personal time before I came back. I was going to talk to you about that today too. I was hoping we might figure out what this is between us and if it’s possible to make it work. When we had breakfast the other morning and you mentioned Providence, that gave me hope. That’s where I live.”

  “So, what, we’re supposed to wait and see if I get a job in Providence and then I’ll call you?” Quinn thought that sounded like a horrible plan.

  “Well, things might be all shot to shit now,” Lola said. “Kevin Garvey was part of the reason I was here. Either the threat to Holt is over with him dead and Holt will want me back, or we’ve got a much larger issue.”

  The idea of Lola tangling with murderers changed Quinn’s mind about a few things. It gave her a new fear to add to her list, but it also showed her they cared about each other, and that, right now, was all that really mattered. They could work the rest out later.

  She pulled Lola down and kissed her, fiercely at first and then more tenderly. “Get back in bed.”

  “Fine, but I’m not sleeping with you just because you think I’m leaving or in danger.”

  “Is everyone on the East Coast this much of a prude?” Quinn asked.

  “Land that job in Providence and come meet a few of us,” Lola said.

  “I’m only interested in one,” Quinn said.

  “Better be.” Lola pulled Quinn to her and backed them up to the bed. When her knees hit the mattress, they both tumbled back and landed in a tangle of limbs. Quinn emerged on top and pinned Lola.

  “I’ll agree to your terms, but you’re going to kiss me for the next couple of hours. And there’s a lot of territory between kissing and sleeping together for us to work with.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Lola was awakened by the sound of her front door being kicked in. She was out of bed so fast she barely had time to register the wonder of waking up with Quinn in her arms.

  “What was that?” Quinn asked.

  She sounded terrified. Lola wished she could take the past twenty-four hours away and spare Quinn all the horror.

  This wasn’t how Lola had planned on spending her time with Quinn. “Not good,” Lola said. She didn’t have time to explain anything. Whoever was paying her a visit was heading their way. She pulled Quinn out of bed and pushed her into the closet. “Stay in here and don’t make any noise. And no matter what you hear, don’t come out. Understand?”

  Lola gave her the most stern, “please, this is important” look she could muster. She kissed her quickly when Quinn nodded, and then shut the door silently.

  She’d just finished with shorts and a T-shirt and made it across the bedroom threshold to the hallway when two men grabbed her and dragged her to the living room. She didn’t fight them until they were as far away from the bedroom as she could get them. Once they were in the living room, she flung them off of her and put some distance between herself and the intruders, but kept herself between Quinn and the men.

  “I hope you boys brought coffee,” Lola said.

  “Our boss would like to talk to you,” one of men said.

  “Quite the entrance. Show him in.”

  “He’s not here. You’re going to him.”

  “I don’t think so,” Lola said.

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” one of the men said.

  She lunged for her phone, which was on the coffee table and was able to push the panic button before she felt two pinpricks in her back. She watched the confetti from the Taser flutter to the floor as the painful current contracted her muscles and she hit the floor with a grunt. Her body wasn’t her own as she had no muscle control, but the fury these two elicited hadn’t been paralyzed.

  They must have realized they had limited time to subdue her long-term because they sprang into action, zip-tying her hands and loosely binding her feet. Apparently, she was still expected to walk out of here. Fat chance.

  When her muscles were no longer contracting painfully, the two men tried to drag her to her feet. She did nothing to help them. She didn’t see any reason to offer assistance in her own kidnapping. Besides, she was pretty sure she’d managed to activate the panic button. Sooner or later, the cavalry would arrive. It might be a while, but this is where they would come.

  “Walk.”

  “Tell me why and I’ll think about it,” Lola said. He punched her in the stomach. She doubled over but made no sound. Bastard.

  “Walk.”

  “You didn’t say please.”

  He punched her again.

  “Walk.”

  “No. And your form sucks. You punch like a four-year-old.”

  He pulled his fist back to punch her a third time, but his buddy stopped him. “Just pick her up and drag her. There will be plenty of time for that if she’s this bitchy later. Boss Man wants to talk to her, and she can’t talk if she’s unconscious or puking up blood.”

  “How do you suggest I do that? She’s bigger than both of us,” the first guy said.

  He was so whiney Lola was almost enjoying herself. Almost.

  They grabbed her and pulled her from the apartment. She resisted as much as she could, but there were two of them and she was still feeling the effects of being Tased. With her hands bound, she was largely at their mercy. They threw her in the backseat of a waiting SUV and sped off. She marveled at the ease of her kidnapping. No one was out walking their dog or wandering the sidewalk to witness the abduction. Quinn was the only one who knew it had even taken place.

  She thought of Quinn. Between dead Kevin and kidnapped Lola, she’d be lucky to ever see her again. That thought made her nauseous. She might be facing an unsure and obviously very dangerous situation, but somehow the thought of losing Quinn was the most terrifying outcome to flitter through her mind.

  She’s probably better off without you. Look at the danger you’ve brought her. After all the shitty relationships you’ve been in and now you’re the toxic one.

  Lola knew she’d promised Quinn she’d stay and they could see what there was between them, but that was before the kidnapping. If bad things happened in threes, just what end did this unholy trinity have in store for her? Quinn shouldn’t be anywhere near her when her number three showed itself, assuming she survived number two.

  Maybe I should let them kill me. It’s gonna hurt when I leave.

  Lola was jarred out of her musings by a whack across the head. “Hey, we’re taking you to see the boss
of the CMC-15s. You would do well to show some respect when we get there, you understand?”

  Now Lola knew who her hosts were. The knowledge wasn’t comforting, although she didn’t have any idea why one of the larger and more violent street gangs in LA would want anything to do with her.

  When the urban landscape started to look familiar, Lola’s unease grew. She kept her outward demeanor calm, but she had a bad feeling about just why the CMCs were interested in chatting. She’d been uncomfortable with the fact that Kevin Garvey’s body had been dumped in Quinn’s lab. The connection to Lola seemed too coincidental, but she’d hoped she was wrong.

  The SUV pulled up in the front of the warehouse Kevin Garvey had been holing up in and stopped. So much for coincidence. Fuck. Her escorts pulled her out and dumped her in the dirt. The whiner kicked her in the ribs. “Get up and walk.”

  It didn’t seem like a great time to provoke him so she complied. She’d also noticed both of her new buddies were strapped. She preferred a boot to the gut to a handgun pointed at her head. Besides, now she needed information from them. That information was waiting inside. Hopefully, I’ll live long enough to relay it.

  Lola took a minute to adjust to the dim lighting of the warehouse. She could see a group of people on the far side, just as there’d been the last time she was there. When her eyes adjusted, she barely stifled a loud, enthusiastic curse. Brayden was there, tied to a chair and looking a little worse for wear. Four other men stood around him, while a fifth, clearly the leader, bent down to talk to him. Brayden flinched away.

  “Hello, Lola,” the man in charge said. “Welcome. Come. Join us.”

  Lola was shoved into a chair next to Brayden, the zip tie was removed, and a new restraint was put in place, tying her to the chair. She caused as much resistance and trouble as she could during the process. She hoped that the distraction would allow her to keep her hands loose enough to work free later. It worked to a degree but gained her another shot to the ribs as a trade-off. At least they hadn’t bothered to retie her feet or secure them to the chair.