Page 14 of Undertow

“Whatever Cara gives him,” Piper said.

“I bought cat food at Pearl’s last night,” Cara said, from the whiteboard, in a tone that indicated this conversation was not on the agenda.

“From a can?” Wade frowned harder. Gabe hadn’t thought that was possible. “Cat food from a can is mostly water and filler. If he's going to be a working animal⁠—”

“He's not a working animal.”

“He's clearly not a stray anymore.”

Tom turned from his monitors with the expression of a man who had identified an adjacent problem and felt professionally obligated to address it. “Health department regulations on animals in commercial premises are fairly nuanced. If he stays out of the food prep area, the relevant Oregon Health Authority guidelines indicate that the situation is entirely manageable. I can document this.”

“Later,” Cara said.

“Noted.” He turned back. Opened a new tab.

Agent jumped up next to Piper, and settled in. Piper rearranged herself around him without breaking stride.

“He should get salmon,” Wade said, to nobody.

“He's already getting salmon,” Cara said. “That's the problem.”

The basement found its rhythm again. Tom's fingers moved. Reagan's pen moved. The pizza disappeared by increments.

Then Tom stopped.

Both hands off the keys. He stared at his screen.

“Hm,” he said.

Gabe knew that hm. Every analyst he'd worked with at the Bureau had a version of it. It meant this changes things.

Tom turned one monitor toward the table. “Elena Whitfield filed a restraining order against Derek Voss. Eleven months ago.”

Nobody moved.

Gabe leaned forward and read it. Didn't rush — restraining orders were the legal system speaking in its clearest voice. Person A said Person B is a threat.

The hair on the back of his neck rose. “She filed against him eleven months ago, and he didn’t mention it tonight?” He let that land.

“Maybe he thought we wouldn't find it,” Piper said. She didn't sound like she believed that.

“He knew we'd find it,” Tom said. “Unless he’s a complete idiot.” He raised an eyebrow at Cara.

She was already shaking her head. “No completely truthful. Obliviously. But no. Definitely not an idiot.”

“Which means what he needs from us is worth the risk of us finding this,” Wade said, from the wall.

Cara remained at the whiteboard, arms crossed, staring at the document on Tom's screen. Her expression said she'd already half-expected this complication.

“You can't find Elena for him,” Gabe said. “If you locate her and share that with Derek, we're potentially facilitating a violation of a court order. That's a clear line.”

“Not to mention our ethics.” Cara said it quietly.

Piper stroked the cat. “It sounds like Elena could use some help. We don’t have to tell Mr. Shady anything.”

“Nope.” Cara pushed away from the wall. “Plus we’re not a real agency anyway. Even if we agreed to help him, there’s no money exchanged, no client privilege to protect.”

Wade grunted. “Exactly. We do things our own way.”