“I know.I care for you too.”
He sipped more of his tea, then said, “You know what this calls for?”
“Crumpets?”
“Cheeky,” he scolded, waggling his finger at her again.“The answer is cookies.There are wonderfulbiscottisin the lounge.I’ll bring us some.”
He left the room, walking—she didn’t want to think waddling—like a well-fed duck after a pleasant meal.
While he was gone, Kate thought about what Gabe had said.
Gabe wasn’t completely wrong, though.Shewasavoiding something.
Her phone buzzed.A text from the subject of the something she was avoiding.Hey, Kate.Need you to come to the office ASAP.
She blinked.Nothing else.No explanation.No additional information.No question about how she was doing after the review board cleared her to return to duty but left an inch-thick sheaf of formal reprimands in her file.Justcome to the office.
She texted back.Everything okay?
A second later.Yep.See you soon.
Okay…
The door opened, and Gabe walked back in.“I swear, Kate, there are days when I despair utterly of humanity’s chance at a bright or even a decent future.”
“Someone ate your biscottis.”
“Must you pronounce it like that?So American?And yes, someone ate all of thebiscottis.”He dropped into his chair and sighed heavily.“Well, I can’t provide you the tea-drinking experience you deserve, but I can tell you that I’ve decided to stop lecturing you and remind you that while you almost constantly worry about your mental state, you have consistently overcome every challenge associated with it.You’ve made a habit out of spitting in the Devil’s eye, and if you sense an allusion there, you should know it’s very intentional.I am certain that you’ll navigate both this case and the twists and turns of your personal life with the tenacity and aplomb you’ve always shown.”
Kate smiled.“If I had half the ability you had to form words, I would never have left academia.”
His smile faded, and grief washed over his features.Kate winced.The real reason she left academia was that Gabe encouraged her to after her father’s death.She was in the first year of her graduate studies in linguistics when her father was murdered.Her aspirations switched from academia to solving crime.Gabe sensed that and encouraged her to join the FBI.
That career had been the most fulfilling change of Kate’s life, but it had killed her chance at a normal life and exposed her to the interest and obsession of psychopaths like Robert Denton, the killer who had nearly murdered her ten years ago, and Elijah Cox, whose fixation on her was in a way even more disturbing since he sometimes suggested that the commandment killings were because of her.
Gabe still held himself at least partly responsible for those ill effects.Kate didn’t, but she knew as well as anyone that guilt cared little for the opinions of its object.
She tried to recover.“I didn’t mean it like that.I’m grateful to you for advising me—”
“Nonsense,” Gabe said, flipping his hand.“Heaven knows we have no need to tread over that old ground.Just tell me what part of the conference you’re most excited for, and why exactly it’s my lecture on the influence of Ancient Near East pictographs on later alphabetic traditions?”
He grinned, the familiar twinkle back in his eye.Kate sighed.“I’m so sorry.Marcus just texted me.”
His grin vanished again.“Oh no.A murder?”
“He didn’t say.He said everything was okay, but he needs me to go in to the office.”
“Ah.Well, if it was a murder, he would say.”He sighed.“Very well.I’ll send you footage of the lecture.I’m sure you’ll find it riveting.”
“I can’t wait.”She got to her feet and flashed a sly smirk.“Tell Sally I said hi.”
“I will do no such thing,” he replied cheerfully.
Once more, Kate wasn’t sure if he was joking.
As she headed back to the office, Kate’s worries shifted from the more personal concern over her feelings for Marcus to a more immediate professional concern.She had only recently been granted permission to continue working after a review board debated firing her for cutting off contact with Marcus and their boss and going off the reservation during her pursuit of Quinn Marsh, the most recent Commandment Killer.
Winters, once an ally of Kate, had made it no secret that she believed Kate had gone too far that time and needed at least a suspension to learn her lesson.Was she being summoned because Winters had gotten her way?
