Reunion, Part 4
"Selina," I managed to say. "Let me try," Quinn said quickly, getting out his own phone. "She knows my number." I looked to Andy. "What do we do now?" "We need to track Hasslermund." "Phone GPS?" "We don't have..." I could see the 'coon mentally...
Engineering, Part 2
While still at the table in the Amore Bistro, I took out my common-use cell and made contact with Ignacio Santos. He seemed reluctant to meet with me again so soon, until I told him that I might have some clue about what had happened to Shelby Greiner....
Engineering, Part 1
I'm partial neither to bars nor alcohol, although the occasional _aperitif_can be welcome. Properly, the word refers to a dry or fizzy alcoholic beverage (a Sloe Gin Fizz is a good example), although the word has come to mean any alcoholic beverage...
Ennui Go
_For Sam Hurt and the One True Hank_ "Of course, there's nothing I can do about it, Dr. Leitner, because it's just what happens to me. The world is what it is, and it's not my fault that everything is that way. I've done all I can, and I...
Breaking Down
Darkstar's deft deflection helped to keep the rest of the dinner conversation away from me personally, yet the conversation didn't seem the least bit stilted. I had the impression that my hosts felt that they had made me uncomfortable and, as one, they...
Breaking Bread
Darkstar and I padded back to the staircase with no one else in sight. It occurred to me that more than one wicker hamper might be making a trip down the dumbwaiter tonight. I felt as if I should make some sort of conversation, but he didn't start one,...
Breaking Through
My eyes opened, not suddenly, not from any stimulus that I was aware of. I had no sense of time, and the quiet seemed absolute. Either the room was very well soundproofed, or the rain had stopped. I became more aware of my body, realizing that I had...
Of Mice and Menace
I'm not one of those hardcore city dwellers who doesn't like the country. My relief in returning to the city was exclusively that of feeling that I had escaped a physical threat. Rationally, I knew that the response was entirely out of proportion to...
Morning
The precinct had been making changes, although no one knew where the money was coming from. I didn't bother challenging it, since I'd finally been given an office of my own. It reminded me a lot of Chelsea Watson's claustrophobic office at LK&M,...
Recovery
Several minutes had passed as the three of us tried to regain our composure. Lightwing managed to eat, joking weakly that she was rarely so upset that she'd ever miss a meal. We had agreed quickly enough that we needed to keep my bomb from going off...
Homicide Detective
My next genuinely aware thought was that I was being held and rocked, not quite in Heartsinger's lap, still there on the log, the creek and forest still keeping us safe from the rest of the world. I hadn't truly lost consciousness; it was more like I...
Watercourse Way
As the three of us moved toward the front door, I took long, lingering looks at the bunkhouse, wondering, dreaming, thinking of what it might have been like, perhaps even wondering what it might be like now. The main house seemed palatial by...