G-Men: The Series (65 page)

“Yeah, it’s kind of obvious,” she said, shaking her head.

“Not to me,” I replied.

“Oh, come on! Even with your naiveté, you have to see the writing on the wall. Dude’s done everything but piss around the perimeter of our apartment to mark his territory.”

I couldn’t suppress a smile at the visual I got from her comment. Still, she didn’t see the look in Taz’s eyes when he asked me what we were doing last night.

“You didn’t hear him going off that first night he arrived when you were out with Kyzer.”

“He was pissed because I left the apartment; that was what all that was about.”

“Not true,” she replied.

“He was fine when I told him you went out and asked that I stay and wait for the agent that was coming. It was a little later, after that second agent left with the box of roses that he inquired about the specifics of where you had gone. So, I told him. That was when the dude came unhinged.”

“Well, I guess time will tell. He’s kind of complicated. By the way, have you heard from Darin?”

“Just every day about four or five times. We’re getting together this weekend because I decided to drive home.”

“That’s fantastic,” I replied. “And how’s Jill?”

“She’s recovered pretty much. By the way, she stayed with Gabe last night. She told me to tell you Taz could crash in her room for the next couple of nights. I guess that won’t be necessary, though.”

I shook my head at Darcy. “Got to get to class. I’ll see you later at home, okay?”

“I’ll be there,” she called after me. “I’m hoping to get some sleep tonight.”

^{chapter 26}

~ TAZ ~

I stretched out on the sofa in the apartment with my laptop, downloading the forensic analysis report that had come in yesterday evening. I’d been too distracted with ‘other things’ to review it last night. I generally made it a point to avoid those types of distractions when it came to my work.

Who the hell was I kidding? Lindsey was not what I was used to in a woman, by any means. It was more than the physical part of it, though that part was superior to anything I’d experienced before. It was also the emotional part that had crept up on me with her. It was making me crazy. I was out of my element in this.

Having her curled around me in bed was something foreign to me. I kept my life simple for a reason.

The chicks that had come and gone before her were in my bed for one reason and one reason only: to fuck once or twice during their visit and then pack it up and go home. I didn’t host sleepovers. That was not my style, or least it hadn’t been up until now.

Even when Lindsey was in my bed at home, I hadn’t wanted her to leave it. I’d been curious to see what it would be like to have her wake up right beside me. It hadn’t happened there, but it had happened here and I liked it. I liked it a lot. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing with her, but I sure as hell knew that Slate wouldn’t dig it.

If my best friend would have an issue with it, I didn’t want to think how Sammie would feel about it. That was probably the only reason Slate would have an issue. He knew that Sammie wanted a different type of guy for Lindsey. As much as Sammie loved Slate, and it was totally obvious that she adored him, I knew she was uncomfortable with his work, and rightfully so.

Slate was the best of the best in his line of work at the bureau. He adored Sammie right back, and at times, I’d seen him lose his edge for a minute because of concern for her or the mere distraction of her.

That had sealed the deal for me. If I hadn’t been absolutely certain before, I was positive now seeing those two and the commitment they had, to know I was doing the right thing by not getting emotionally involved with a chick.

Then Lindsey came along and it appeared as if she was tearing all of my resolve and best laid plans to shreds. It wasn’t even that she’d set out to do it. There wasn’t a deceptive or calculating bone in that beautiful body. She’d always been upfront and brutally honest about herself with me.

I had to shake those thoughts of her from my mind. I was semi-hard just thinking about her. I needed to focus on this technical shit in front of me, and put my ‘Poindexter’ hat on to interpret the analysis and try to draw a conclusion.

I scanned through the several-page report, which listed the subject matter being analyzed, what types of instrumentation was being used for testing, how it was calibrated, the testing media, yada, yada, yada. I hated all of the preliminary crap that was required to be included for forensic purposes.

Okay, here we go.

In layman’s terms, the roses were dissected and various parts of the stems and petals were prepped for slides to be microscopically examined. The examination revealed that the roses were actually the Red Freedom variety, readily available from any florist. They had simply been dipped in a commercially-available navy blue die to create the blackness.

I figured that was something that could very easily have been accomplished by the rat bastard or the Poindexter that was hot after my girl.

Fuck that shit, Taz. Get your head out of your ass and keeping reading for Chrissake! I continued to peruse down through the report and something amid all of the technical jargon caught my attention.

A residual powdered substance was taken from several of the rose stems, and sent for a high performance liquid chromatography analysis. The results of the testing revealed that the powdered substance was identified as cathine, a derivative of cathinone, a Schedule 1 amphetamine.

Cathine is a less powerful stimulant as a result of de-potentiation and the bio physiological conversion of the ketonic atoms through oxidation.

Fuck! Didn’t Lindsey say that Poindexter was doing some science project on this very same topic?

I launched myself off the sofa immediately, shrugging my jacket on and grabbing my keys to head out. I was going to pull her ass out of whatever class she was in and bring her home.

My cell phone chimed. It was Slate. Shit!

“Slate,” I answered, “I was just on my way out.”

“Did you review the forensic lab report, Taz?”

“As a matter of fact, I just finished.”

“Does any of that shit make sense to you?”

I needed to tell him everything I knew. He wasn’t going to like the fact that I’d allowed Lindsey to go off with a potential suspect in this whole incident with the roses.

There was still no connection to Jack. So officially, if the line couldn’t be drawn connecting him, the FBI had no business in this case.

“Yeah, I guess the bottom line is that someone is stepping on some amphetamine, creating some type of designer drug that, for reasons unknown, got sprinkled on the stems of those roses.”

“Yeah, I gathered that. Though it appears the amount and strength of the powder was nowhere near a lethal level.

“Even if someone had ingested every single rose stem, which is plain idiocy, it wouldn’t have caused much harm. It’s a message of some sort to someone. I’m not even sure that message was for Lindsey.”

I hadn’t considered that.

“For whom, then?”

“I don’t know—maybe Sammie, through Lindsey. Hell, it could be for Jack.”

“So, you’re thinking Jack’s back in the states, his whereabouts unknown to everyone?”

“It’s possible. If he is, someone wants to find him, other than us, for reasons still unclear. They might have suspected that Lindsey was harboring him, or at the very least, knows how to get in touch with him.”

“There is one other thing, Slate.”

I filled him in on the portion of the report that was nearly verbatim to what Kyzer Stanfield had told Lindsey was to be the content of his upcoming science project.

“Shit Taz, that’s too close for comfort. I think Lindsey needs to take a break from school until we figure out what this kid is about. He can’t know why, though. It has to sound plausible, so he isn’t spooked.”

“Yeah, I know. Dude already knows I don’t like him.”

“Why’s that?” Slate asked.

Shit.

“Probably the same reason as you. He triggers something in our instincts. He fucking transferred to U of V at the beginning of the term last fall, the same time Lindsey enrolled. You should see his fucking college transcripts—all science classes, including one botanical something or other.”

“How did you see his transcripts?”

Uh oh.

“It’s better you don’t know.”

“Right.”

I was anxious to change that particular subject, so I brought up a valid concern.

“You know Lindsey’s going to pitch a fit about her taking a leave from school when the semester just started. How is that supposed to play out?”

“You know protocol. You can’t tell her a thing about what we know or what’s in that report. You tell her she’s needed at home for a while. Her mother is having some health issues.”

“Fuck, I’m not going to lie to her and get her all upset so that she makes a beeline home under false pretenses like that.”

“It’s not a lie,” he replied. “I can’t get into it right now and besides that, Lindsey needs to hear about the specifics from her mother and me. We’ll be making the trip home Friday. We should arrive sometime Friday evening. Can you follow Lindsey back, so I don’t have to worry about that?”

I could hear the concern and anguish in Slate’s voice. I wanted to find out what the hell was wrong with Sammie and how serious it might be. He wasn’t in the mood for questions and I respected the fact that he felt Lindsey should hear it before anyone else.

“Sure, brother. Don’t worry about a thing on this front. I’ll make sure she gets home safe and sound, okay?”

“Thanks, Taz.”

I left the apartment and drove to the campus. I decided that I didn’t want to suddenly jerk Lindsey out of class in the middle of the day. I stayed out of sight and watched that she got to and from her classes without incident the rest of the day. I was parked in my truck at the usual place when she finished for the day.

I watched as she walked towards the truck, her eyes brightening when she saw me.

“Hey Taz,” she greeted, climbing up in the truck beside me.

“Hey baby girl,” I replied, feeling like a total piece of shit having to give her news that I knew would upset her and take that smile away. “Did everything go okay today?”

“Pretty much,” she said, a slight frown appearing. “Kyzer saw us kiss this morning. He was a little upset about it, but we talked and I’m pretty sure now that we’re still friends.”

“Oh, really?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow as I gazed at her sweet face.

“Well, I mean, don’t worry. It wasn’t like I told him that you and I were a couple or anything. I mean, I didn’t give him that impression at all. I don’t want you thinking that I’m jumping to any conclusions about us or our involvement, if there even is one. I just…”

“Lindsey,” I said, “Stop stumbling all over yourself, okay? It’s fine. You and I will eventually figure it out together. I need to know if Kyzer said anything out of the ordinary to you.”

“No,” she said. “I mean nothing different than usual. He said he knew you didn’t like him yesterday, but he thought it was because you were interested in me. Today when he saw us, he accused me of lying to him about the situation.”

“Uh huh, what did you say to that?”

“I told him that I hadn’t lied to him, and that I wasn’t sure where you and I were going with this. We agreed to remain friends.”

“Okay,” I replied, giving her a smile. “I don’t mean to come off like I’m interrogating you, but I have to ask questions.”

“It’s okay,” she replied with a laugh. “Between you and Slate, I think I’m kind of getting used to it.”

We settled into momentary silence.

“I have a ton of homework to get to when we get back to the apartment.”

“When we get back to the apartment, we need to talk, okay?”

I smiled at her, hoping to offer some signal of comfort. She looked over at me and, for a moment, I saw a look of alarm pass over her. She quickly replaced it with a weak smile.

“Sure, no problem.”

She turned and faced the window on her side, looking out at the passing scenery that she saw every day for the rest of the ride home. I wasn’t going to enjoy breaking the news to her one little bit.

^{chapter 27}