Spilling Guts

Part 33 - Catching a Break

After two hours coordinating the transfer of files between the Hive and Detective Lee's inbox, Megan and Teegan parked for a very late lunch at Benedict Fountain Park. Three-thirty in the afternoon felt more like a "desperation meal" than a lunch. They both felt wilted and in need of sunlight to wake up. Teegan set up the tablet and their phones to field any calls or messages that came in during their break as Megan got out a pair of wet-wipes for their hands. Lunch consisted of supermarket California rolls, cola, and a miscalculation of how much wasabi was too much wasabi.

And Megan is supposed to be the one good at math. Teegan smiled and tapped the wide end of her chopsticks on the picnic bench, her gold charm bracelet clinking. "Doing okay there, Meg?"

Megan curled down to the table in shame and pain as the back of her head crinkled with an ache that made her eyes water. "M'okay."

"Really?" Teegan tried hard to keep her smile a smile and not a full belly laugh. She wanted a laugh so much after the day they were having. "Cause that was half the wasabi on your tray in one bite."

"Mhm." Megan hissed and straightened her back, wiping her face. "I meant to do that. Gets the blood pumping. I'm awake now."

"I'm sure you are."

The tablet chirped with a photo from the Hive: Grant lying on his office cot next to his endless slinky stairs, and a first draft of a sermon for the "dearly dreaming and departed". It would have been funny if Megan and Teegan hadn't encountered a dead body just a few days before.

Teegan tapped the screen and responded, her voice automatically translating to text. "If you have enough time to write eulogies for Grant finally crashing, you have enough time to track down Parker Lenore's preferred pharmacy."

Detective Lee's messages had become more terse over the last hour. Teegan could tell he wanted to do something productive towards Parker's case, but had his hands tied until he had probable cause for an arrest. Megan and Teegan had an expiration date when they could wash their hands of the case and feel less guilty about giving up. Lee did not.

After a moment the Hive chirped back with a text.

[Pharmacies found! With security vids!]

"Pharmacies?" asked Megan. "Plural?"

"Not unheard of." Teegan turned back to the tablet. "Send them on to Detective Lee. You should have our bypass on file for him by now."

It was the inevitable turning over of all the evidence they had gathered to people with "more time and authority" to deal with suspected murder and fraud. By tomorrow, unless a miracle dropped into Megan and Teegan's laps, they would have to drop Parker Lenore's case fully into Detective Lee's lap. He would need that caffeinated green tea he had mentioned last time they chatted.

Another ding.

[Done!]

"Effective little bees, aren't they," said Megan. She diluted her wasabi in a puddle of soy sauce with a chopstick until she could safely dip another piece of her California roll without her brain melting out of her eyes.

Ding.

[Thank you! We are best bees!]

"Bah," Megan tabbed the auto-text off on the tablet and took up her own phone. "Where do we go from here?"

"I don't know." Teegan hated the idea of giving up this thread in their search for Retten. especially after identifying the locations of most of the photos. She and Megan had become invested in the tragedy that was Parker Lenore's death. To turn over what they had and say "good-bye and good luck" felt half finished, and half-assed.

Megan had another piece of sushi, this time with no wasabi. "We can't grill Louis on everything he did in the three months before Freewill without tipping him off that we're still hunting Retten."

"You think we need to convince Cetz that Louis needs to be brought in?"

"I don't know if we can make any headway without his help. Louis can be hot-headed sometimes, but he knows better than to go off on his own after Retten."

"Cetz is being overprotective."

"He has his reasons to be."

"Mn." Teegan, sushi done, cracked open her can of cola. "We also need to grill Louis on why he took up the Grovic case and what he's found."

"Yeah, that came out of nowhere," said Megan, talking with a full mouth, which she wasn't allowed to do at home. Teegan could see why as Megan halted, coughed and then swallowed hard with a slightly red face. "Last time we heard about the Neckbrace was when Rachel brought it out of cold storage over a month ago. And we still don't know why."

"Grill Louis and Rachel both?"

"Might be fun."

The tablet chirped again; a photo of the Hive's offerings to Grant, including a crochet doll in Grant's likeness, accurate down to the dreads and the little slushie cup in one hand.

"When did they have time to make that?" asked Megan.

"I think they have a weekly craft night." Teegan's phone went off, the number unfamiliar.

"Tell me they didn't light actual candles and incense again," said Megan. "I thought they learned from last time."

"No, not the Hive." Teegan answered. "Agent Carry."

"Hi, this is Cam. You wanted me to call when we got in another shipment of Ka-Bang Energy Fizz?"

Teegan jabbed at Megan's green-clad shoulder. "The cafe," she mouthed before going back to the phone.

"Yes, I did," said Teegan, sounding pleased and hopeful. Finally a break in their case. "Thank you very much. We should be there soon to pick it up."

The tablet chirped another message from the Hive; a reading on the roach left at the Net-Inn cyber-cafe.

Huh, human help can still be faster than technology sometimes, thought Teegan. Especially when bribed.

Megan grabbed the tablet and tossed the empty cartons into a blue bin. She ate the final roll as they jogged to their car.

"Just a reminder, Ka-Bang usually goes quickly," said Cam. "It's a hot item."

Meaning Jared Rover wasn't likely to stay long. "Stall him and there's another fifty in it for you." I'll pass it on as a business expense.

Cam's voice brightened; eager to pay off his textbooks. "I'll be sure at least once case is put aside for you!"

Click!

Megan barely waited for Teegan to get her seatbelt on before hitting the pedal.

Teegan tapped at her phone again. "I'll call Detective Lee on the way."