leak to the media. LLE itself was part of the razor’s edge. Having backup one couldn’t trust was worse than having no backup at all.
“Look, you trust your partner?” the Chief asked.
Livvy nodded.
“Then I guess you’re going to have to trust me. I’m going to guess he told you to give his notes to me.”
“He wanted me to leave them here with you until he can pick them up.”
“There’s nothing more you can do today. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to McGregor when he comes in and find out how it went with Mickey Bedford. You can question the gunman from the High Speed and Maas again, and find out if Forensics has discovered anything about the unlucky bastard that belongs to that finger. Looks like McGregor was right about the dog, too.”
“Go get your witness and the dog and then get back to WitSec and get some rest,” the Chief said. “And lock your door.”
Chp. 12 Prisoners (Friday)
Waking up once more in a strange place, in bed in a WitSec room even smaller and much less comfortable than Chris’ efficiency, she’d experienced a sense of isolation. Someone had really wanted them dead yesterday, and she had not heard from Chris last night. Apparently she’d fallen asleep, still fully dressed, with a half-completed note to herself on the case memopad clutched in one hand. She hadn’t checked, as she promised herself she would before falling asleep, to make sure her partner had come in to WitSec. It was a lapse, she told herself, that Chris himself never would have made. There’d been no response when she tried Chris’ comu.
She gave Louie his breakfast and prescribed medications, then checked his eye, which had improved significantly. Worry mounting, she tried Chris’ comu again, then had a quick laver and dressed in some of the clothes she’d purchased, along with a sandwich and dog food for Louie, at the Central Petite Mall the evening before.
It was early, but Brian Clifford was waiting for her in the hall with a charming smile and an offer to accompany her to breakfast.
“I can’t this morning, I really can’t,” Livvy said, offering her most noncommittal smile. She thought quickly. “But if you can wait for me while I make one quick stop I’ll show you where you can go.”
She checked in at the WitSec Office while Brian waited in the hall and confirmed that Chris had neither come in last night nor called in.
It took her five minutes to lead Brian to the Atrium. If she directed him to the tearoom in the courtyard, getting lost in the place might keep him occupied for a good part of the day. On the way, she explained firmly but kindly that ethics did not allow her to communicate with a potential witness outside of work.
“Then Josephson’s research on fooling the biol age tests is illegal?” he asked. “Is this what you mean?”
“Yes, researching how to fool biol age testing is illegal. More than that, I really can’t say at this time,” Livvy said noncommittally. She found herself trying very hard for non-flirtatious friendliness, something that she normally managed quite naturally.
“Well then, I guess I hope this is all over very quickly,” he said.
“We’ll check-in with you periodically and join you when we can,” Livvy said, opting for being even more indefinite. “You can come and go as you please, of course, but we would really appreciate it, and I cannot stress this enough, if you would stay inside Central for the time being, and don’t contact anyone on the outside. And I hate to ask, but please don’t approach us in the LLE office,” she added, thinking quickly. “It’s complicated. Can you do all that?”
“Detective Hutchins. Olivia. What’s going on, anyway? This is about more than Josephson’s research and disappearance, isn’t it?” he asked. He was so young and so serious, and he deserved an answer, even if it followed the pattern she had already set in their relationship. She stopped and faced him.
“Yes, but I can’t tell you now. I promise you, when it’s all over, I will tell you as much as I can without violating my ethics.”
She had growing respect for the fine line LLE officers walked, trying to maintain their low profile while protecting the unsuspecting public.
Ten more meters and they had reached the Atrium, and she pointed the way to the tea room. “Wow! Wow. Wait,” he said as she started to leave. “How can I contact you in case I remember something more?” He smiled again and gestured at the expanse before him.
“Don’t worry. Feel free to wander. Call us at LLE, and Louie and I can always find you,” she said, and turned away.
She tried Chris’ comu again on her way to LLE. Still no response. Surely by now, if he could, he would have at least checked in to see how Louie had done at the veterinarian.
She called the Chief to ask if Chris had called. He was more confident, although there was a slight hesitation before his response. “No, I haven’t spoken to him.” There was a longer pause and Livvly waited him out.
“McGregor’s been working solo and without much supervision for decades. He may have decided to spend the night at home after all, hoping that someone would come back. Or, if he’s in the middle of something, he might ignore his comu. He doesn’t always get back to me right away, either. Trace his movements and let me know what you find.”
So she did. She called Mickey Bedford, who, even though she sounded a little distracted, was willing to talk to her once she identified herself as Chris McGregor’s partner. Mickey couldn’t help her.
“He left here at about 6pm. He didn’t mention where he was going next. I’m sorry I can’t help you.”
The archive for the car Chris had been using yesterday showed that it had been driven to Mickey Bedford’s yesterday afternoon, then autodriven back to the motorpool and parked itself shortly after 7pm. She went down to search it anyway, but it was clean.
She took a car over to Chris’ apartment and found it eerily empty, with no trace of its owner’s presence. The table was still empty and the blood still formed abstract spray patterns on the walls and floor. She couldn’t believe he’d spent the night.
When she first got back to the squad room she spent a few minutes checking Chris’ desk to see if there was any sign he had been there at work overnight, but she found nothing at all on the Bedford case, only some memopads with notes on other open cases.
“Hutchins, what’s up with your partner?” Williams called over, leaning back. “I mean the good-looking one. What’s his name? Louie.” Agnew kept his head down.
“Louie was injured in the line,” Livvy said, paying scant attention. “Brains and looks and now heroism. There’s no way you can compete, is there Williams?”
Louie, looking heroic indeed with his cuts and scrapes and collection of sutured lacerations, lifted his head and looked over at Williams at the mention of his name, then put his head back down on his paws. His eyes stayed open and moved between Livvy, still sitting in Chris’ chair, and Williams. As his gaze shifted, his eyebrows twitched, giving him a wise, worried expression.
She poked her head into the Chief’s office and knocked on the door. When he looked up, she gave him a brief summary of what she knew about Chris’ movements.
“Okay. Follow through on your prisoners and evidence and check back in with me before you leave for the day,” he said, looking pensive.
She left another message, highest priority now, on Chris’ comu, then began to proceed down the list of questions she’d been compiling last night when she fell asleep. She had to be able to glean at least a few answers
