Chapter Six
Hidden Patterns and Happy Hour
Nick
“So, someone came from the only door, took an expensive machine, and no one noticed them?” Serena confirms. She sounds snide, and for the first time, I’m with her.
This is too early to be standing under the bright fluorescent lights of a university lab being stared at by seven pairs of eyes behind glasses of varying thicknesses.
The lean old man, who introduced himself as the head researcher on the project, throws a glare at Serena.
“The Resonance Array Prototype, not a machine. And I’m sorry, the university doesn’t provide enough budget to hire bodyguards for every prototype we create.
I guess you’ll just have to do your job now. ”
Right. Time to de-escalate because if I’m not enjoying the theft case this early in the morning, I’d hate processing a murder scene. “Sir, my colleague, who just needs a cup or two of coffee, is just trying to understand how we can limit the suspect list.” I elbow Serena to warn her.
“Again, that’s your job. We’ve given you all the information we have,” he says, somehow still looking down at me when I tower over him by half a foot.
“Of course. We just have a couple more questions that’ll help us do our jobs better.” I continue before he can throw in another snark. “When did you realize the prototype was missing?”
“Around two hours ago. My assistant, Rajesh—” he points at a young, meek-looking kid standing behind the researchers.
“—came in early to conduct some final tests while I was taking a class across campus. He found it missing. We immediately reported it to the dean, and he called you. Then you took your sweet time to show up, and now anyone could be using our work to make money.”
I groan internally, but the smile on my face doesn’t waver.
Just strap me into a suit and put me behind a hotel reception.
But I do have a sudden urge to introduce this guy to Elliot, so he could mentally destroy him piece by piece.
Snark is not hot on everyone. I power through, ignoring Serena’s glare as she attempts to incinerate the man.
“So, this work is expensive? You said it deters pests and wildlife from attacking crops?”
He takes a long, impatient breath like I’m being impossible. “I said it produces high-frequency sounds that incapacitate wildlife and pests in a small radius without harming humans. That’s the most non-invasive way of dealing with this problem yet. Of course it’s expensive.”
“Right. Were you worried someone might try to steal it to use it or sell it?”
He contemplates, his gaze distant. “It must be that old bat, Dr. Montgomery." He nods and looks at me. “I told him about how far we’ve come with this research at a bar last week. He was so jealous. Must have stolen the thing to take credit.”
I note down the name. “I’ll interrogate him. Who else knew about your research?”
“Very few people. It was confidential because we were still understanding how the Resonance Array Prototype would affect humans, especially if they have very sharp hearing, like one of my former students who had to be taken off the project because he fainted when we tested the prototype the first time.”
That piques my interest. People with very sharp hearing? Is he saying what I think he’s saying? “Can I have the name of this former student?”
“Lucas Hall,” he rattles off, and I note it down with other information about the security system and the names of other people who had access to the lab.
We leave to check the entry log for yesterday at the building's main door, which housed the department’s labs.
“That guy is an ass,” Serena announces the moment we're out of earshot of that ass and his band of nerds.
“That’s kind of mandatory for geniuses. Haven’t you seen Young Sheldon?”
“If they were really geniuses, they’d have put a tracker on their expensive prototype. Assholes.”
“Hey, look at the bright side. We’re almost done here, and in ten minutes, we get to have coffee.” I steer her by her shoulders to the security guard at the door, who sends us the record of everyone who used their cards to enter the building yesterday.
Then we stroll to the closest coffee shop filled with students in hoodies and jeans. “They all look so much younger than we ever did at their age,” I reflect as we make our way back to our car, each of us holding a coffee cup and a sandwich.
Serena glares at me. “Speak for yourself. I can still pass for a college student.” She takes a big bite of her sandwich in spite.
“Mmm-hmm.” I let her live in her cute little delusional world. The place has to be great for mental peace. “Let’s go to the precinct and see if any of our suspects checked into the building yesterday. Maybe this’ll turn out to be an easy open-and-shut case.”
***
It wasn’t an easy open-and-shut case. After poring over the names of a few hundred people who checked into the building yesterday and cross-referencing their projects to make sure they had a reason to be there, I wanted to learn how to fix security cameras myself so I can fix the one in the lab.
I groan. “I don’t want to live in a world where security cameras don’t work right when someone commits a crime.”
Serena looks up from her desk across from mine. “But it’s your job to find the criminal, not anyone’s responsibility to prevent crime,” she rattles in an annoying low-pitched voice.
“Okay, yeah, that guy was an ass.”
Serena points at me. “Thank you. And you can thank me for something too. Guess who is the roommate of the guy who entered the building yesterday even though he had no open projects?”
“The criminal?” I ask hesitantly.
“Let’s hope so. It’s the student who was taken off the project,” she says triumphantly.
The probable-werewolf? “We should definitely talk to him.” A technology that harms werewolves is discovered, and someone close to a werewolf just so happens to be around the day it was stolen.
Sadly, we don’t live in a world where that can be a random coincidence.
“Let’s also check if the guy used his own ID or if our friend borrowed it to avoid suspicion. ”
Serena nods. “I’ll check the camera near the door.”
Twenty minutes later, we had a suspect who was MIA. Lucas Hall moved out of his dorm last week and hasn’t been seen since. This just turned more complicated than we’d anticipated. But that’s a problem for tomorrow.
I stand up and give my stiff muscles a long stretch. Spending hours folded into a tiny chair was its own special kind of torture for a werewolf. I need to go for a nice long run soon.
The bullpen is bustling and lively around us, like it always is. With the night shift already clocking in, the chaos will dry up soon enough.
I glance down at my phone on my desk. “Shit, I was supposed to meet Elliot and my friends for dinner ten minutes ago.” Elliot must be freaking out.
Why didn’t anyone text me? I pick up my phone to find three missed calls and two texts from Elliot.
Shit, he’s angry if he double-texted. I hurriedly start packing my shit.
Serena looks up from her laptop. “Is it far from here?”
“Not really. They picked the place because it’s pretty close to Sloan and me. Bree had to drive a bit, though.”
“Uh… I haven’t had dinner yet either,” she says for some reason.
I blink at her. “Okay?”
“I was planning to eat alone in my home,” she continues.
I frown. I don’t know what’s happening right now, but I’ll bite. It can turn out to be fun. “Serena, do you want to come to dinner with us?”
“Yes.” She jumps up and shuts off the laptop.
I shrug, closing the last file and adding it to the future Nick’s problem pile. “I’m blaming you for the delay, just so you know. That’s the condition.”
Serena shrugs like she isn’t afraid of Elliot. That innocent, sweet little thing has so much to learn.
We drive in our separate cars and make it to the restaurant in ten minutes, just over twenty minutes late. Not bad considering how long Serena took in the bathroom after she invited herself. She came out looking very un-Serena, so at least it wasn’t for nothing.
I practically sprint inside, knowing Serena is right behind me. I spot them quickly. They’re at the corner booth. The bar isn’t big enough to hide two tall werewolves and a cute tiny human with a distinct dark cloud over him.
I weave through the rows of booths on one side and small tables with a few chairs on the other.
A low rock song hums beneath the chatter, and the air smells like fried food and something citrusy from the cocktails.
At eight p.m., the bar isn’t as packed as I expected.
Or maybe I’m just old, and most people don’t go to bars before eleven p.m.
Sloan spots me first, followed by Bree. Elliot turns to glare at me, and my face breaks into a smile. His face is like a trigger. It couldn’t be healthy to love someone so much that a glimpse of them, even one filled with anger, is the best part of my day.
Before I know it, I'm crossing the distance between us. “Hey,” I sigh when I reach the booth. No wonder he calls me a dork.
He’s the only man I’ve ever known who can maintain a mean glare while he’s looking up. And it looks just as hot as his normal glare. Not his smile, though. That’s a rare treat I have to work hard for, and it's the hottest and cutest thing about him.
I slide down the booth to make it easy for him to incinerate me with his gaze. The glare gets more vicious.
“We drove all the way here, and you are late?” Sloan complains loudly from across the table.
I turn my attention to her. “Your office is closer to here than mine,” I remind her.
“Still. Poor Elliot has been sitting here all spooked for half an hour. So tardy, Nick.” She shakes her head in disappointment.
Elliot turns his glare towards her. “Didn’t you just confess you’re scared of me?”
“I didn’t say I was scared. Besides, we’re angry at Nick. Direct all that scariness towards him.”
“She did say scared,” Bree nods.
That mollifies him, so he turns back to me. “Now answer her.” He points at Sloan.
“I—”