Arc Angel (16 page)

“Things have been so busy at work lately,” Kate chatted cheerfully. “The security for that new exhibit at the museum is keeping me hopping. Every time I think we’re done, someone has another question or needs something else. It’s been crazy. How’s your work been going?”

No reaction.

Okay, giving up on casual chit chat. Might as well dive right in.

“How are you, Miranda?”

Miranda spoke to the coffee cup in her hands. “Fine. I told you that this morning.”

Interesting! A slight edge had crept into Miranda’s voice. Maybe the stress from the recent events had managed to push Miranda’s anxiety further to the background.

“I’m glad to hear that. The incident at your apartment made me worry about you a little.”

Miranda shrugged, eyes still downcast.

“You weren’t there when the incident occurred?” Kate watched the young woman closely. She’d bet her last dollar that Miranda James had indeed been in her apartment last night, and Kate’s chat with Gavin Brooks had all but confirmed it. But would Miranda admit it? She’d been less than honest yesterday at the police station, so it wouldn’t surprise Kate if it happened again, though it would be a bit of a disappointment.

“I s-stayed at a friend’s house.”

“Which friend?”

“B-bryce Campion.”

Arc Angel’s creator? Interesting. Kate mentally filed that information away for now.

“And you were at Mr. Campion’s home when the security system at your building malfunctioned?”

The young woman’s chin dipped slightly. Kate assumed the gesture was meant to be a nod of confirmation, but it was so weak she wasn’t fooled for a second.

“Miranda, this is all off the record. It’s just between us. I won’t file a report or tell anyone I met with you.”

Silence.

Kate decided to take a risk. “Miranda, I know you were there. I talked to Gavin Brooks today.”

Miranda’s gaze leapt to Kate’s face then instantly returned to her cup. “Gavin Brooks is a liar,” she muttered.

“I think you’re right,” Kate agreed.

That brought Miranda’s gaze back to her, and this time she stayed focused on Kate’s face. Kate thought she saw a twinge of desperate hope in the big green eyes.

“Gavin said he’d gone to your apartment to interview you. That’s not true, is it?”

Miranda shook her head.

“That’s what I thought. And he said he and his cameraman started breaking down your door because you called for help.”

More head shaking, this time accompanied by a mean glint in her eyes.

“My guess is that Brooks got into the building to bother you. They started working on the door, and you somehow got out of there before the security system went off. Am I right?”

“Mostly.”

“Can you give me any details? You could file a harassment complaint against Brooks, if you want.”

“No. I just want him to leave me alone.”

“A restraining order then. I could help you get it.”

Miranda sat in her usual silence, but Kate could almost see her mental wheels spinning. So this time she waited, wondering what would come out when the spinning stopped.

“Why are you being so nice?” Miranda finally blurted.

Kate twitched back in her seat, a frown pulling her eyebrows together. She’d expected a comment on Brooks, or the break-in, or even the mugging. Not this.

“What do you mean?” she asked, watching the young woman closely.

Miranda met her eyes without hesitation.

“Yesterday at the station, offering to recommend a doctor, texting me this morning to check on me, saying you’ll help me with Gavin Brooks. Why?”

Kate answered automatically. “As an officer of the law, I care about all the citizens of Elder’s Grove. I’m simply doing my job.”

“It sure feels like more than that.”

Kate sat back in her chair and spun her own mental wheels. Miranda had a point. Kate didn’t usually get this involved with the suspects or witnesses in her cases. But something about this girl tugged at her. They shared a connection on some level Kate couldn’t even identify. The best comparison she could come up with was that it felt like they were sisters. An odd feeling for an only child to have.

“You’re right,” she admitted. “And I’m not sure why, either. But I feel like it’s my job to protect you, no matter what it takes.”

Miranda stared at her, retreating into silence. At least Kate was still getting eye contact. She decided to press on.

“I know it sounds crazy. But hasn’t anything ever happened to you that you didn’t have an explanation for?”

And there went the eye contact. Miranda’s attention returned to her beverage.

Kate leaned forward, reaching her hand across the table toward the younger woman.

“Miranda, please. I want to help you, but I can’t do that unless you tell me what’s going on. Do you think you could trust me? Just a little?”

Neither woman moved. Kate determined to wait her out.

Miranda didn’t move a muscle except for those needed to whisper. “I set off the security system and climbed out my window to get away from Brooks.”

Yes! Finally, some progress.

“You set off the security system. How?”

To Kate’s complete surprise, Miranda reached out and clasped Kate’s still-proffered hand. To everyone else in the coffeehouse, it probably looked like she’d given it a friendly squeeze. But it felt anything but friendly.

Kate yanked her hand away from the electric current that suddenly flowed into it. Years of experience and heightened instinct sent her other hand to the butt of the gun in her shoulder holster.

Apparently the shock had struck her brain as well as her hand because her mind went completely blank. She took a deep calming breath and forced herself to lower both hands to her lap, where she rubbed them together, trying to get rid of the buzzing sensation that lingered. By the time her hand started feeling better, her brain had started working again too, albeit more slowly than she’d like.

Kate had known Miranda was hiding something. But she hadn’t realized it was this… this power. That mugger the other night hadn’t been hit by lightning. He’d been hit by Miranda.

No, wait, he’d been hit by
Arc Angel
.

That reference suddenly became crystal clear.

As a city detective, Kate knew her duty: to bring Miranda back to the station and to interrogate her until the whole story came out. And then to book her for manslaughter.

But the connection she felt to the young woman rose up and pushed all thoughts of duty aside. She couldn’t take Miranda to the police station. Kate didn’t know why she thought that, and why she could easily push aside years of training, but her conviction didn’t waver. She had to protect Miranda.

She looked down at her still tingling hand and then back at Miranda.

“How?” One simple word, but it asked a huge question.

“I… I don’t know. It just happened. And now I can’t get rid of it.”

The cell phone in Kate’s pocket jangled. Damn it, the timing couldn’t be worse.

“I’m sorry, but I’m still on duty. I need to get this.”

Miranda nodded and sipped her coffee.

Kate flipped open her phone. “O’Hara.” She listened to the rest of the call in near silence, only murmuring a few “mm hmms.”

“Thanks for letting me know.” She closed the phone and slipped it back in her pocket. She leaned forward, resting her forearms on the edge of the table.

“That was one of the other detectives. He wanted to give me a heads up on a call that came in a few minutes ago. Apparently someone reported a security breach at Tech Corp.”

That got Miranda’s attention, and she looked up warily, setting her drink down on the table. Kate kept her eyes glued to Miranda’s face.

“Someone hacked into their network and copied a number of highly confidential financial documents. The detective working the case called me as a courtesy, since his prime suspect’s name popped up in one of my open case files. He wants to bring this person in for questioning. Miranda, have you ever worked for Tech Corp?”

Miranda jumped up, her eyes wide with fright, spilling her coffee across the table and onto the floor. Kate tried to sop up the liquid with her napkin before it ran onto her lap as well.

“I d-didn’t… I… c-can’t.”

Before Kate could even stand, Miranda sprinted out of the coffeehouse and jumped into her waiting cab.

“Miranda, stop!” Kate tossed down her soggy napkin and ran to the front door. “Wait!”

But the cab had already pulled away from the curb.

Dammit! Kate tossed an apology to the barista for the mess and strode out of the coffeehouse. She needed to get back to the station. Her gut screamed at her that Miranda hadn’t done this, though she certainly had the skills to. But if she hadn’t done it, someone had falsely accused her. Kate needed to figure out who. And more importantly, why.

Chapter 13

Since he couldn’t force Miranda to talk to him, Bryce decided to settle for second best. He pushed through the glass door separating the waiting room from Dan’s office and exam rooms.

“Dan, you back here?”

“Give me a minute to finish up,” a voice called from off to his right. “Wait for me in my office.”

Bryce had had about enough of waiting that day, but trudged into Dan’s office and flopped into a chair to wait. Again. He pulled his BlackBerry out again and continued the research he’d been doing in the waiting room. Unfortunately, not many sites had information on lightning and the supernatural.

Ten minutes later, Dan came into the room and sat down at his desk. Bryce turned off his phone and stuck it back in his pocket.

“What can I do for you, Bryce?”

“I want to know more about how Miranda’s tests went.”

“Now Bryce, you know I can’t share the results with you, not without her express permission.”

For a split second, Bryce considered lying that Miranda had given her okay, but quickly gave it up as a lost cause. Dan had seen the two of them interact. He wouldn’t buy it for a minute. Bryce slumped deeper into his chair, brows pulled low.

His grumpiness had no apparent effect on Dan, whose smile remained solidly in place.

The doctor continued in his usual upbeat tone. “I can’t talk about Miranda, but I can about you. How’s your latest medication working? Is the Brevibloc any better than the Betapace? Any side effects?”

The last thing Bryce wanted to talk about right now was his own health issues. He was so damn tired of them. But maybe he could get Dan to slip and talk about something he did want to talk about. So he forced his jaw to relax and answered.

“The pills are fine. No side effects. At least no major ones. This new one seems to kick in a little faster, so that’s something.”

“Good! That’s very good. Now, when are you coming in for more tests? I’d like to take a look from a slightly different angle this time, to see if there’s a better way in.”

The answer to that question had been “never” for so long that Bryce automatically started to protest. But he stopped when he remembered that things might finally be different, now that he’d met Miranda… It might be a good idea to run some tests, to know exactly what they were dealing with. Just in case.

“Maybe we should take another look. If you think it would help.”

Dan’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry, I must have misheard. Did you actually say you were willing to run more tests?”

Bryce crossed his arms and slumped even lower in his seat.

“Don’t give me too much shit or I’ll change my mind,” he growled.

“No chance in the world that I’d let you. Do you have time now? I may as well send your results over to the lab with Miranda’s.”

Perfect. And a decent segue. Bryce straightened up in his seat and rested his arms on the armrests. He smoothed away his frown and tried to look casual.

“I know you can’t tell me about any of the specifics, but can you at least tell me how she behaved during the tests? Did she seem worried or nervous?”

Dan leaned back in his chair and eyed Bryce suspiciously.

“What exactly is going on between the two of you? This is the first time in years you’ve mentioned anyone in your life other than Matthews. And yet you two show up bickering and sniping at each other. What’s up, man?”

“I thought you were my electrophysiologist, not my psychiatrist. Since when do I come to you for therapy?”

“Since you stopped going to your actual therapist.”

Okay, the man had a point. Bryce had sworn off the therapist after only a few visits, so Dan had been his only medical touchpoint for years. And the two men had built a bond, despite Bryce’s best efforts.

Bryce sighed and slumped back down in his seat. He wasn’t ready to share his secret hope aloud, not even with Dan, though he figured his doctor had already guessed at least some of what was at stake here.

So he focused on his current problem.

“Everything I do chases her off.”

“What do you mean?”

“The first time I met her, I freaked her out somehow, and she ran out of my house. Literally ran.”

Dan didn’t bother to try to hide an even wider grin than usual. Bryce glared at him.

“And then she showed up again last night, and we talked this morning, and I thought things were looking up. I thought we were connecting, or at least that she was starting to trust me. But then this afternoon… well, I pissed her off.”

“I saw that. What exactly did you do?”

Bryce sighed.

“We had a little trouble on the way over, so I asked if she could, you know, become Arc Angel. I’ll be honest with you: we didn’t need it, but I couldn’t wait to see her in action. My superhero, live and in person!”

“And your asking her to do that upset her?”

“No! That’s the thing. She seemed a little nervous about it, but agreed without any protests. No, it was after she… changed… that I messed things up.”

“What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything! The problem was my reaction to the whole thing. I freaked out. Completely and totally. I bet my face turned white as a sheet.”

He looked over at Dan.

“Oh go on, laugh. You haven’t seen it yet. It’s this weird mix of creepy and cool. On a logical level, I can see why my reaction to her becoming Arc Angel was… less than ideal. But come on! It isn’t every day that a guy gets to see the mousy girl next to him turn into a freaking superhero!
His
superhero!”