Page 30 of Kneeling for Them

She shivers and grins shyly at me.

Sebastian holds out his hand and helps her into my car, and I slide in after them.

The station isn’t too crowded, and someone takes us to an office with the name Detective Carl Baldwin listed next to the open door.

A brown-haired man glances up as Ella, Sebastian, and I pause at the threshold.“Come on in,” he says with a professional yet friendly smile.“I’m Detective Baldwin.You must be Ella Marchand?”

“Yes,” she says, accepting his hand to shake.“These are my boyfriends, Kingston Tyler, and Sebastian Crown.”

The detective doesn’t even blink at the plural of “boyfriends,” which raises him in my esteem.

“Nice to meet you, Detective,” I say.“Did you tell Ella that you have questions for her?”

“Yes,” he says.“I’m wondering if there are any reasons that you can think of, why Mr.Crowley would be surveilling you?”

Ella shudders.“Nothing pleasant.Just sick stuff.”

Detective Baldwin sighs and runs a hand through his close-cropped brown hair.“He’s being surprisingly tight-lipped on his motives.Has he ever behaved inappropriately toward you in any way, in day-to-day interactions?”

“No, he mostly ignores me,” Ella says.“He’s a terrible manager.”

The detective asks her a few more questions.When he seems to be through, I say, “Can you tell us anything more about what Crowley is up to?Were the cameras recording?He told Sebastian that they weren’t, but obviously we can’t trust his word.”

“Unfortunately, the cameras were recording,” Detective Baldwin says.“There are several files.But he never sent them anywhere that we can tell.Our IT people have combed through his system several times.”

Ella sags against me in relief.

“What about flash drives or anything like that?”I ask.

“It’s possible,” the detective says.“However, one of our female detectives skimmed all of the footage, and other than a couple of instances where the subject is changing her clothes, there doesn’t seem to be anything incriminating or compromising in any way.”He pauses.“I hope you don’t mind my language just there, Ms.Marchand.I’m trying to make it less personal, but there’s probably not much I can do to make this any more comfortable for you.”

Ella nods.I rub her arm, hoping to convey reassurance and support.

Sebastian looks like he wants to punch somebody.

After a few more questions, we leave the station.The midday sun is bright and warm, even in early February.

“What’s next for you?”I ask Ella.

“I have work at Bartleby’s, the dinner shift.”

“So you have a few hours free right now?”I ask.

She nods.

“I have a surprise for you,” I say.I haven’t been able to track down her keyboard, but I found something else.“Are you up for a side trip?”

“Sure,” she says, but she looks exhausted.

I think this will cheer her up, though.“Bash?”I ask.“What about you?”

He’s frowning out the window, but he turns to answer me.“Yeah, I have a little bit of time.”

Something is definitely up with this guy.I don’t think he’s drinking or anything like that, but something is on his mind.I wish he would confide in me.Or, if not in me, then in Ella.

Pushing the button for my driver’s intercom, I say, “Hey, Garth?”

His voice comes through the speaker.“Yes?”