“Yes, but it’s different.”
She frowned at that, wondering how could it be different. “If you say so,” she muttered. And then yawned.
“Are you just up?”
“I’m tired, worn out, and need a rest.”
“And I’m sure you’ll get it,” he noted.
“Not until I finish this damn case,” she muttered.
“And how close is it? Was interviewing the kid of any value?”
“Well, I hope so, but we still have things to sort out.”
“Good enough,” he replied. “I’m heading out in a few minutes.”
“Off to buy the world?”
He laughed. “Nope, only a couple more buildings.” Then he disconnected their call.
She smiled as she sipped away at her coffee. She needed to check the traffic cams to see if that muscle car showed up anywhere and to figure out why it had located her and was following them. She was hoping that maybe they could pin it on the garage where Rick worked, if somebody had followed him home or something. There was a slight chance that whoever was in that muscle car wasn’t after Rick but was after her or even Simon. She had to admit something about Simon probably pissed people off fairly often, but then money and power had a way of doing that. Simon was very understated, but the wealth and the in-charge attitude were definitely there.
The fact that she saw a more vulnerable side of him made him more human to her, but she knew he hated it. Of course he did. From his perspective, it made him seem weaker. To her, the opposite was true, and it just made him seem stronger. Because anybody who could survive all the shit that he went through on a regular basis was nothing short of a superhero.
Finally she grabbed her holster, shoved the gun into it, grabbed her jacket, and headed out.
She hadn’t had quite enough coffee for her day but would grab some as soon as she got in to the station. She’d driven the kid home last night. His mom had opened the door with tears in her eyes, so happy to see him. Kate had promised to get him home, and he had been a help. It’s just that it wasn’t enough for her to do anything with yet.
They still needed to ask a ton more questions, and the problem with asking questions was not everybody wanted to give you the right answers. As a matter of fact, if they could get away with giving you something that would appease you and get you out of their hair, it was good enough for them. As she walked into her office, the sergeant called out to her. She detoured and headed his way.
He took one look and said, “Sounds like you need coffee first.”
“Sounds like or looks like?” she muttered.
He grinned. “Maybe both.”
She nodded. “Yeah, probably both.”
“Go get coffee and then come on back in.”
She nodded, walked into the station area, grabbed a coffee, and headed back toward Colby’s office. She plunked onto a chair and asked, “What’s up?”
“Does something have to be up?”
She shrugged. “Well, I haven’t done anything wrong that I know of, so I’m not sure why I’m here.”
“I just wanted an update,” he replied, “and to make sure we don’t have anybody doing any maverick moves.”
“No time for maverick moves,” she muttered. “Too busy chasing bad guys.”
He smiled. “I’ve noticed and appreciate it.”
She rotated her neck slowly. “Thanks, but just so many of them are out there.”
He gave her a sharp look. “Is it getting you down?”
“Nah, it’s just frustrating. We put two away, and four more come out of the woodwork.”