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Then again, I’d never been accused of misconduct before
"The coin disappeared fro to our Covenant contact, it’s likely that the spell was activated fro The spell knocked out the power and ca too, so it couldn’t be tracked Someone sets off the spell, an accorab the coin" Mason’s voice lacked emotion, but his words hit et the words out Betrayal flooded me After all this time, Vasquez could really suspectI would remove evidence like that made my eyes suddenly burn I sed hard
"No," Vasquez said firmly "We don’t But this does make the lot of us look like prize idiots--best case scenario I’ to have to ask you to take a few days off until the inquiry is complete"
I took a deep breath "You don’t think I did anything wrong, but you’re going to make me take leave anyway? You kno that’ll look, don’t you? Everyone will think--"
"They won’t," Mason cut in, deep tones reassuring despite the situation "It’s not just you"
Vasquez shot Mason a glare for butting in to what he no doubt viewed as his conversation "Exactly Jarvis is going to be on administrative leave, too As is the officer as on duty at the evidence locker It’s just for a couple of days"
I clenched"That spell , but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been attached to an object, and was set off when one of us inadvertently touched it It could have even been set to a tiriical timers aren’t exactly accurate"
"Be that as it may, we have to look into it" And Vasquez’s words were final, his tone brooked no argument
My career was on the line Vasquez didn’t say it, but I knew that it was true And their inquiry was likely to turn up my family history, which would put me smack dab on the top of their suspect list Heck, even if ed, withto trust me as much Not with how perfectly those ties could have helped me remove that evidence
Not that I was the only one at risk here Guilt twinged in ht of Donaldson and Jarvis They didn’t deserve this anythe veneer of politeness and formality my family had drilled into me around myself And for once, I was happy to have the defense "I’ll be at hoe and sidearht, but that would only un froe next to it Ignoring the two sets of eyes that followed reeted ot home, but I was quickly inspected by my cat--who I suspected was more interested in the odd hour of my return than in me
I stayed in my quiet townhouse as the darkness settled in over the trees in htly news The vah the details were kept hazy A body, found on the casino ship owned by the vaister Foul play suspected The victim’s species wasn’t specified
When the ten o’clock news ended, the restless feeling that had crawled over me since I had left the station inundated et out of my townhouse Despite Vasquez’s reassurance that I wasn’t in any trouble, if whoever took the coin wasn’t found, the police departoat
My career was on the line--or at the very least rabbed my personal firearm--a 9mm I’d owned since before I joined the force I didn’t think I’d need it, but I felt naked without a gun nearby since I had carried one for several years
When I got in love colove box I felt better with the gun there even though I didn’t intend to take it out or load it It had been a long tiun into helponly I could help him with He didn’t have any s stood now, and had every reason not to Sure, he’d kissed me once But he’d never followed up on it, had called it a mistake That one moment of closeness would hardly convince hi up that incident would more than likely end with es he could come up with to keep me out of his hair for a couple of days
No The personal angle wasn’t going to helpthat would convince him beyond a doubt that he had to let side hi myself into a situation that would almost certainly put me more out in the field than I was used to, or comfortable with, but I couldn’t stand idly by whilehalt
I parked on the street in front of Mason Sanderson’s sprawling house Steeling ht fro the drive reflected off the concrete, creating odd shadows as I trudged to the flagstone ay leading to the front door
Mind racing, I made my way up the steps and lifted the knocker and let it drop back onto the door twice