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“Yeah, all right. Easy there, Solo.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. Seriously, man. You raised two kids and you still can’t tell the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek?”
“They both take place in space with weirdly dressed dudes. That’s all I gotta know about it.”
Dex hung his head in shame. “I weep for you.”
“Be quiet and pay attention. Themis uses handprint recognition for log in. More secure than a password. Essentially, your desk is like a big tablet. When you’re both logged in, you can share information by sliding files from one surface to the other. You can keep your old cell phone number, but you’ll be given a new portable communication device that will allow you access to the desktop’s interface. The pass key on the portable device will be made up of a combination of your choosing using your fingerprints.” He pointed to the glowing blue symbols in the shape of a keypad on the right side of the desktop. “These control everything else in the room. Tap the rectangle with the checker box pattern.”
Dex was all but bouncing. The second he tapped the button, the top half of the frosted cubicle wall to his left lit up.
“That’s your board.”
“I get my own board?” Dex gasped in awe.
“Don’t come in your pants yet. Yes, you get your own board. It’s also touch screen, so it allows you to easily open multiple files, shuffle things around, add notes to it and then update the information on your system. When you’re not using it, it goes into stealth mode like the rest of your desk or you can press the “sleep” button. To wake it u
p, press your hand to the panel again.” He pointed to a set of large black filing cabinets in the corner of the office. “Any information that can’t be digitally scanned in is kept in those locked cabinets. Everything else is kept in the Archive Room. Now open the top right-hand drawer of your desk.”
Dex did, pulling out something that resembled one of those small wireless headset earpiece things Wall Street douchebags used to communicate with other Wall Street douchebags.
“It’s a wireless headset with links to the switchboard and your team. It’s also takes voice command. While you’re on duty, you wear it.” Tony pointed to his own secured around his ear. “The tiny ‘A’ will glow blue if you’re connected, red if you’re disconnected, and orange if you’re incapacitated, sending a signal to the rest of your team and headquarters. If you have a call coming through, pressing down on the ‘A’ will activate the microphone. The tiny button above the ‘A’ dims the light, so it doesn’t give away your position. The emergency signal can be activated verbally or by holding down this button up here.” He reached over and pointed to a tiny red button on the side.
“After the briefing, Letty will take you to the armory, show you to your locker and your personal gear. Your arms’ locker also requires your handprint to unlock. After that, we’ll break for lunch. Okay so far?”
“Yep.” Lunch. He could do with some lunch. Especially since that bastard Sloane gave his Cheesy Doodles away. What kind of guy does that? A bastard, that’s who. Did he not respect the male code of honor—thou shalt not steal another dude’s snacks?
“What now?” Tony groused.
Dex pouted miserably. “Sloane gave my Cheesy Doodles to Grizzly Adams.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about and I don’t want to know. Put your earpiece in and get your ass moving.” Tony ushered him out, and Dex followed with a pout, securing his earpiece into place. It was going to take a while to get used to. Then again, there was a good deal to get used to. When they reached briefing room “A,” Dex took a deep steady breath before going in.
A large table in the shape of a semicircle with about two dozen chairs occupied the center of the spacious room. Seven of those chairs were currently seating his teammates, most of who didn’t appear particularly happy to see him, except for Cael who smiled at him but that was a given. Across the semicircular table at the head of the room, was a low stage with a black podium, and high above it a massive flat screen TV. To each side of it were slightly smaller flat screen TVs. Beneath the outside TVs sat two medium-sized tables with chairs, the chairs on the right currently occupied by Dr. Colbourn and Dr. Bishop, who sat facing the team, each with a tablet in their hands.
“Sit down,” Tony told him, motioning at the empty seats between Sloane and Ash before he made his way to the podium.
Crap. Where should he sit? If he sat next to Ash, Sloane might think he was trying to avoid him, but if he sat next to Sloane, Ash might think he was flipping him off. Or he could be a complete douche and sit across from his team. Yeah, that would go down well. Okay, he was overanalyzing this. He walked to Sloane, but before he could sit down, Sloane stood and moved over so he was next to Ash, leaving the seat in front, right at the front, the only one available to him. Dex sat down and swiveled his chair to face the front. Great. It was high school all over again. Front of the class with the asshole captain of the football team sitting behind him waiting for the teacher to face the board so he could torment Dex and then pretend it was all in good fun so he could copy his homework.
“All right, team. As you all may know, the THIRDS were handed jurisdiction on the HumaniTherians case months ago after the HPF concluded the evidence was pointing toward a Therian perpetrator. It was originally assigned to Unit Beta, until further evidence suggested it was the same perp. Now it’s our case. So far, there have been two victims.” Tony tapped the surface of the podium in front of him, and an image of a fair-haired man in his mid- to late thirties popped up on the large screen. “Mr. Dan Bennett,” he tapped the podium again and this time, an image of a dark-haired woman—also in her mid- to late thirties, popped up on the screen beside the first victim, “and Ms. Paula Chambers. Both victims received severe lacerations to the throat, hitting the main artery and causing the victims to quickly bleed to death. Hudson and Nina have been working hard to find a tear they can analyze, but the cuts are inconsistent. We do know these were violent acts. I’ll let Cael and Rosa fill you in on what they’ve got. Agents.”
Cael and Rosa made their way to the podium. Tony stepped to one side, his hands placed against his lower back as he watched his agents. Cael cleared his throat and tapped away at the podium.
“Like the Sergeant said, definitely a lot of anger involved in these murders. Intel has run both victims through Themis looking for connections between the two, but so far nothing has come up. Although both were HumaniTherians, they worked for separate organizations and neither crossed paths professionally or personally. There are no records of any communication between the two. No e-mails, phone calls, nothing. Mr. Bennett was found dead in his apartment late in the evening after the HPF became notified by Mr. Bennett’s employer when he didn’t show up to work after three days. Mr. Bennett never so much as took a sick day before then. The apartment building’s tenants were questioned and no one saw anyone come in or out of the apartment. The building has no surveillance inside or out, no security either. It’s badly maintained, if at all, so plenty of places for the perpetrator to hide.” Cael stepped aside and Rosa took the podium.
“The second victim, Ms. Chambers, had argued with her Therian girlfriend, a Ms. Ruiz, the evening before. Neighbors say it was common. We interviewed Ms. Ruiz and according to her, she slept in her own apartment after they argued. She took some sedatives to calm her nerves and help her sleep. Toxicology confirms this, as do her neighbors who saw her black Ford Fiesta parked in front of her house all evening. We can also confirm Ms. Ruiz’s Therian form is a Canidae. These tears were made by large claws, not teeth. We believe our suspect is a large Felid.”
Dex heard Sloane’s quiet curse behind him, but he didn’t turn around. Considering Destructive Delta was made up of large Felids, he could understand their frustration. Also, Felid Therians had a pretty bum rap. Statistically, Felid Therians made up a smaller portion of the criminal population, but since the homicides committed by criminal Felids were usually so violent, it overshadowed the more numerous crimes committed by Therians of other classifications, which of course made them a media target.
“Any questions?” Rosa asked.
Dex held up a hand, ignoring the groan he heard come from his partner.
“Yes?”
“The HPF receives hundreds of reports every day from HumaniTherians who’ve received violent threats. Only a tiny fraction of those are actually investigated and by then they’ve usually escalated. Can Intel get their hands on those reports and run them through Themis for potential suspects? I’m guessing the right algorithms should whittle down the list, especially once you start cross-referencing Felids with priors or histories of violence.”
Rosa blinked at him, the room silent before she snapped out of it and spoke. “That’s a very good question.” Dex gave her a wink and although she shook her head, she smiled before turning to Tony. “Sergeant?”
