Page 71

SNEAKY BEAKY

Pember

“Repeat after me,” Caitlin said, holding a finger in front of Pember’s face. “I will not.”

“I will not . ”

“Ask the suspect.”

“Ask the suspect . ”

“If they are responsible for the murder.”

Pember nodded. “Right. I get it.”

Mark sighed and lazily spun in a blue swivel chair. He rubbed his temples, staring up at the oversaturated LED lights of the briefing room. “I think he got it the first fifty times.”

Caitlin huffed, white blouse crinkling as she crossed her arms. “I’ll make him repeat it until he’s blue in the face. Cases have been lost on less than a leading question.”

They’d been holed up in the briefing room for over a day, just Pember, Lily and the three sergeants. It’d been closed to the rest of the department, but it didn’t stop the other detectives pressing their faces against the glass partition walls.

Blake was pacing, and he thumped his fist against the frosted panes every time one of them tried to spy.

“We’ve got a nibble!” Lily called, waving them over. They gathered around her computer, a series of blue and white dialogue boxes flashing up on the screen. “She wants to know if you liked the sashimi the other night.”

Pember hummed, tapping a finger against his chin. “Ah, that’s a trick question. She had sashimi, I had the maki rolls.”

Lily nodded and typed a response into the computer.

Cybercrime had connected his mobile phone to some kind of software, making it look like he was messaging when it was actually an undercover officer.

They’d managed to get Maya talking throughout the day, but the messages were slow and she was being cautious in her replies.

Pember nervously toyed with the buttons of his shirt, only to feel Blake’s fingers press against his lower back. He swallowed, because there really was no greater tension than watching three dots flash over and over.

Lily frowned when another message popped up, this time on the side of the screen. “Pem, have you checked your anti-virus recently? You keep getting ads for jewellery. And I don’t mean necklaces and earrings.”

Pember pressed his lips together and squinted. Jazz up your jizz this summer with our rainbow coloured barbells!

“O-oh my God,” he said, ears burning as he glanced up at Blake. “Y-yeah. Um, yeah, I must have a virus or something.”

Blake smirked, raising his eyebrows. Caitlin glanced between them and stepped back. “You make me sick,” she muttered, fanning herself with a piece of paper.

“I think she’s gone again,” Lily said, oblivious to the conversation going on behind her.

A big red circle appeared around Maya’s name.

“And now we wait.” They all stepped back with a sigh, and Lily’s shoulders sagged, she was clearly eager to please.

“I think we need to change tactics; the soft approach isn’t working. ”

Blake nodded, pulling out his notebook. “I agree. Give her something she can’t ignore.”

“We could tell her someone's been arrested?” Lily said, scratching the side of her neck. “Make her think she’s in the clear.”

Blake hummed, looking thoughtful. “We could. Say it was one of Maginty’s associates. Drug deal gone wrong. Another alpha.”

Pember shook his head. “No. No, that won’t work.

She knows we test for secondary sex markers as well as DNA.

Tell her it was an omega. Maybe another of Maginty’s victims. Say he was involved in another rape, and the omega killed him for revenge.

Say… say word has gotten around about alphas dying and that all the omegas in the station are secretly supportive.

It’s close enough to the truth that she might buy it. ”

Caitlin and Mark turned, eyeing him with cautious curiosity.

“Are omegas supportive?” Mark said, scrubbing at his five o’clock shadow.

Pember shrugged. “Who knows? Omegas are capable of anything, even thought.” He snapped his teeth with a small smirk, making Mark step back.

“Another bite!” Lily said, eyes darting over the screen. “She said… oh, she’s asked why the lab’s been shut down.”

“Shit,” Blake said, slapping his notepad on the table. “How the fuck does she know? Did Duncan tell her?”

Pember shrugged. “Probably. He’s been kept out of the loop so why wouldn’t he message her?”

“Duncan wants to keep his fucking mouth shut,” Mark said, gritting his teeth. “He’s on thin ice as it is.”

Pember raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Mark glanced at Caitlin, then at Blake. “Duncan’s login details were used to change some of the sample readings. We don’t know, but we suspect Maya was using his profile to keep her digital footprint out of the system.”

Pember covered his mouth. “But how? We have to go into about fifty different password screens just to get onto the system, she wouldn’t be able to—” But then he thought back to the little green notebook Duncan carried in his lab coat pocket, and he covered his face.

Idiot.

He realised, then, that if Maya truly was responsible, she was probably willing to put anyone in the firing line.

Pember let out a breath. “Right… right. Yeah, this could work. Tell her… tell her there was an issue with my samples. We send our work off for spot checking every now and again, and with how short staffed we are, it wouldn’t be a huge stretch.”

Lily nodded and sent the message. They watched as the red ring flashed repeatedly around Maya’s name, the three dots appearing and disappearing multiple times.

“Got her,” Blake said, rubbing Pember’s back. “She’s interested, but she doesn’t know how to move forward.”

“Just take the bull by the horns and invite her for dinner,” Pember said, wetting his lips.

He thought about all the tactics he’d used with his mum over the years.

“Say I’d love to catch up because I’m feeling really stressed.

Say… say that we can’t cope without her, and that I’m thinking of quitting and going back to my old job.

Stroke her ego, but dangle the prospect of losing me as a contact on the inside. ”

Mark scoffed and cracked his knuckles. “Fuck me, why are you making this so complicated?”

Pember frowned. “Because omegas have to think ten steps ahead. Always. Consider all possible reactions to our actions. You don’t have to do that. You just go through life brute forcing everything, but it’s how we survive.”

Pember let out a breath and looked up at Blake. He really wanted to be at home eating apple pie and stroking the dogs. His brain hurt, and he was sick of the inside of the briefing room. He knew Blake felt the same because he was like a big ball of anxious energy seething at his side.

Without another word, Blake tugged at his hand and led him into the corridor. A number of detectives scuttled away, doing their absolute best to make it look like they weren’t eavesdropping.

Rounding the corner, they stepped into Blake’s office and he shut the door behind them. “Fuck me, this is painful,” Blake said, perching on the desk and pulling Pember between his knees. “How’re you doing?”

Pember sighed and kissed his chin. It was a little prickly from having skipped his shave that morning. “I’m alright, just tired. They make all this sneaky beaky stuff look really interesting on the TV, but in reality it’s actually pretty tedious.”

Blake nodded, running his hands up and down Pember’s arms. “I know. It’s mostly just ‘hurry up and wait’ with shit like this.”

Pember hummed. “I didn’t sleep well, which doesn’t help.”

Blake kissed his temple. “I know. You were saying Immy’s name a lot throughout the night; were you having a nightmare?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that, I… It’s one of the reasons I put the mattress on the floor. Stops me from falling out of bed on the really bad nights. But you were grinding your teeth, you know? Is that something you usually do? Because if it is, you should probably get a gumshield.”

Blake swallowed and looked out the window. “I… No. I’ve never done that before.”

“Stress?”

Blake squinted and adjusted his glasses. “No, I don’t think it’s that either.” He sucked his teeth and poked the tip of a fang with his tongue. “Maybe I’ll just get a gumshield.”

Pember hummed. “And an extra pillow, because sharing one with your massive head is pretty uncomfortable.”

“Is that so?” he replied, grinning and poking Pember in the ribs. “Well, for someone with such little legs, you sure take up most of the bed.”

Pember laughed and slapped his shoulder. “I do not,” he said, sliding out of Blake’s grip and sinking into his office chair. His gaze drifted to a picture of George wearing a hot dog outfit with Christmas 2021 stamped across it in snowy lettering.

“How cute,” he said, tapping the glass.

Blake sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Dad dresses him up every year. This year he was a sprout, the year before an elf. I think this year he’s got a bloody T. rex outfit lined up.”

Pember chuckled. “Festive. Your dad sounds funny.”

Blake shrugged. “He’s alright. Used to drive my father up the wall when I was a kid. He’d have me in baby bloomers and checked dungarees. Traumatised me into becoming a little shit, I reckon.”

Pember smiled, putting the picture back on the table. “Are you seeing them soon? You said you made plans, but saying and doing are two different things.”

Blake let out a breath, his tired eyes slowly drifting up Pember’s neck and face. “I… Yes. And I wondered if you… I mean, you don’t have to, but… would you like to meet them?”

Heat rocketed up Pember’s face, and without even thinking he covered his mouth. Blake waved a hand. “Forget I asked, it was a silly question. You’ve probably had enough?—”

Pember launched himself around the table and grabbed Blake’s arm.

“We’ll make another cheesecake, yeah? And maybe you can cook that tagine thing again.

Oh, and I’ll make some blackberry cordial; I saw some coming through on the bush behind your shed, a-and…

” His words fell away when he looked up into Blake’s amused expression.

“Right… yeah, too much. That was too much.” He tapped himself between the eyes and looked up at Blake through his lashes. “Sorr?—”

“That sounds perfect,” Blake said, a soft smile pulling at his lips.

They were about to kiss when the door creaked open and Caitlin walked in with a hand shielding her eyes.

“Honestly, all this lovey-dovey crap is making me think you’ve been body swapped, Blake.

” She grimaced as she strode towards them.

“I only need your ear, Pember, then you can think about going somewhere else to nosh each other’s faces off. ”

Pember chuckled and unpeeled himself from Blake’s chest, letting her lead him towards the window.

She bent down and inspected his ear before pressing something hard behind his tragus. Nodding, she stepped back and ruffled his hair. “Keep your hair loose and no one will even suspect you’ve got an earpiece in.”

Blake tensed and let out a breath. “I still don’t like this, Cait.”

Caitlin sighed and patted his arm. “I know, big boy. I know.” She turned to Pember, slowly nodding. “You’re pretty cool, I’ll give you that.”

Pember flushed. “Or pretty stupid. Remains to be seen.”

Caitlin shrugged. “Either way, they’ve just arranged a meet for eight o’clock tonight. Oil and Spice, the tapas place in town. Apparently the whole gang is going.”

Blake growled, “This is not fucking acceptable, Cait. Maya alone is bad enough, but four of them?”

Pember gripped Blake’s sleeve and looked up at him. “It’s okay. It’s all okay. We’ll be somewhere public and it’ll be a good way to find out what each of them knows. They’re more likely to trip each other up that way.”

A broad smile stretched across Caitlin’s cheeks. “You’re in the wrong profession, my dude. Consider joining the detective fast-track programme when?—”

“Fuck no,” Blake said, aiming a scowl at Caitlin. “The hours are shit and the supervisors are fucking cunts.”

“Speak for yourself, prick,” Caitlin replied, smirking as she stuck out her tongue.

She handed Pember a small black box and snapped it open.

There appeared to be a tiny button inside.

“This is your covert mic. You’ll place it under the neckline of your shirt.

Don’t wear anything with sequins or loose bits because it causes interference.

We’ll have a tech guy come to your house this evening to get everything set up.

You’ll catch a taxi at seven thirty and wait for our instructions. ”

Pember shuffled from foot to foot. “A-and where will you be?”

Caitlin shook her head. “Can’t tell you that, chicken. If I did, you’d inadvertently give our position away.”

“I’ll be just around the corner,” Blake said, standing and squeezing his shoulder. “If she so much as looks at you the wrong way, I’ll be there.”

Pember gave a small smile and turned towards the door. “Let’s do this.”