Spilling Guts

Part 32 - Patents and Parents

Over a late lunch of spicy ramen and pot stickers, Rachel updated Cetz on her progress for Monday's test between slurps of noodles and bites of pork belly. If "update" was code for "continue to point out why Dr. Harrison sucks."

"Pressure plates, recording dynamics, calibrating... I've put more work into prepping this test than he ever would," bit out Rachel. She ate her ramen with a passion, as if each noodle held a point of contention she could sever with her teeth. "I could be working on possible chemical compositions for whatever serum Retten used on Louis if Harrison could pull his weight."

Cetz would think it petty if he didn't have similar thoughts about Watch One.

He dunked a pot sticker in the broth, making it more translucent. "But the test should be able to run on Monday?"

"Yes," said Rachel around a mouthful of noodles. She slurped, chewed, and set down her chopsticks. Most of what was left in her bowl was broth. "And better than when Harrison submitted it. Louis even designed special gloves to help with pressure distribution when punching."

"Louis helped?" Cetz didn't expect Louis to actively participate in a test that would ultimately send him down Will's gullet. Or perhaps Louis was that eager to punch something. "That might bode well. Has he seemed different around Will?"

"I haven't seen the two of them together, so I wouldn't know." Rachel put her last pot sticker in her ramen broth. "Isn't Balcuwitz giving you updates?"

"He said Louis and Will have to work at their own pace. Though I'd rather get an update on his profile for Retten." Cetz ate his pot sticker in one bite, hissing around the still hot insides of cabbage and spices. "I have to set Megan and Teegan on another search tomorrow."

"Their work with the photos has finally petered out?"

"Yes. They've been caught up in some family drama with a dead woman. They need to refocus on Retten, and they know it."

"You're more keen on nabbing him than Louis is."

It was a thorn in Cetz's pride, having one of his best agents nabbed on a mission. Of course he'd take it personally. He was human after all. But he knew Louis' preoccupation with other things was due to his separation from the case. "Only because Louis doesn't know we're still hunting."

"Louis has been doing some hunts of his own," said Rachel. "He's been digging through some old files on the Grovic case; checking up on the victims and how they fared after everything."

"He's that pissed at the patent paperwork?" He wouldn't blame Louis for wanting to get out of the drudgery of patents, but to go back to such a rough case was unusual.

Rachel looked uncomfortable for a moment. "He's focused on it because of Will."

Cetz took a few moments to parse what Rachel said, and then a few more to reason why Rachel said it. "The only contact Will had with the Devil's Neckbrace was when you had to use it to get Louis out while Zachs was here."

Rachel nodded. "Louis has a theory that the Neckbrace causes disruptions with sleep patterns. And you saw Will when he was in here last; he looked beat."

Cetz agreed with the assessment that Will did not look well, but it didn't add up. "It's been over a month since the Devil's Neckbrace; the delay in symptoms can't be that long."

Rachel shrugged. "They might be. The Neckbrace still has a lot we don't know. It's a theory."

"Do you think it something worth looking into?" said Cetz. "Or is it a distraction for Louis?"