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Diha glared at Kelsey. “You’re the worst.”
She merely grinned and blew the other woman a kiss. “You like me this way.”
“What is it you want to know?” Jessica asked.
“Nothing,” Diha said quickly. “I don’t want or need to know anything. I just wanted to drop by and say hi.”
Kelsey sighed and rolled her eyes in a dramatic fashion. “Please, Diha and everyone else are just super curious about the woman who has Harper tied up in knots. They’re just all afraid to say or do anything. I told them you said you weren’t interested in having anything to do with him anymore, by the way.”
Diha turned to Robin. “That is not at all… I mean…”
Robin swallowed and set the tablet aside. She’d figured out pretty quickly that the people she was interacting with were a tight-knit group, and Harper was at their core. It didn’t make Robin feel any less foolish for giving the man her heart.
“Kelsey?” Jessica crooked her finger at the petite woman. “I like you, but you’re fucking this up. Look, I’m with you, I think this Harper guy might not be all that bad, but he was a dick. I mean, the case made him a dick. Whatever. Just, stop helping. You aren’t me.”
“Wow.” Kelsey laughed. “You’re a real firecracker when you aren’t drugged up, aren’t you?”
Diha turned her back on them and faced Robin. “Are you thirsty? Would you happen to know where the vending machines are?”
It was a ploy. One no one in the room bought, but Robin wasn’t terribly picky right now. She didn’t want to be the butt of Jessica or Kelsey’s jokes right now. Diha seemed like the easiest one of the three to deal with, so Robin decided to go with it.
“It’s a little confusing,” she said. “I’ll show you.”
“Thank you,” Diha said with a smile.
They left the room and headed past the guards stationed outside in the hall.
“I’m not very good at that sort of thing,” Diha said softly when they were alone. “And I’m sorry about Kelsey.”
“Why’d you come then?”
“Officially I’m here to give this back to you.” Diha held out a velvet jewelry bag. “It’s the necklace Harper gave you.”
“The one with the microphone and GPS tracker in it?”
“The GPS tracker that told us how to find you, yes.”
Robin took the bag and shoved it in her pocket.
“I removed the devices personally,” Diha said.
“Okay, so what else?” Robin was being too brusque, but it was that or break down and ask the question she wanted to know. How was Harper?
They walked around a corner and stopped in front of the vending machines.
“I guess… I really did want to meet you.” Diha turned to face Robin. “Harper’s like… He’s the brother I never wanted. When I first met him, he made me so uncomfortable, but that was because I was used to people not paying attention to me. He didn’t make fun of me. I wasn’t the butt of his jokes. He made me part of the team in a way I hadn’t been before. So, seeing him this upset makes me…”
Diha shrugged and turned to study the selection of drinks.
“Kelsey said he tried to protect me. What does that mean?” Robin asked.
“He made decisions about planting listening devices in your parent’s home. Or more importantly, where he wouldn’t put them. He made the supervising officer delete audio not pertaining to the case. And he argued that you should be brought in, to work alongside him. I’m probably not supposed to tell you any of this, but… Harper cares about you.”
Robin turned and leaned against the wall.
What was she supposed to do with this information?
“I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to sort this all out. If you ever want to talk to someone who’s been in your shoes, I know of a woman. She’s dating Harper’s best friend.” Diha tilted her head to the side. “They’re practically married.”
