Page 80 of Zero Divergence
“Don’t fuck it up,” Royce warned.
Diego rolled his eyes. “I’m not.”
Sawyer knocked his knee against Royce’s.
“Okay, then,” Royce said, letting it drop.
Topher quickly changed the subject, and Sawyer enjoyed chatting about college football with him. He’d always preferred collegiate sports over professional but usually found himself in the minority there.
Midway through lunch, Royce’s phone chimed. “Yes! Finally. We need to-go boxes so we can finish this back at the precinct.”
“Did we get the list from Mick?” Sawyer asked.
“Yes, and it’s a long one,” Royce replied as he tapped out a message on his phone. “I’m pulling Blue and Ky in so we can divide the list and conduct interviews. I’ll forward it to Holly too.” Royce didn’t mention why he was sending it to her since neither Diego nor Topher was aware of Operation Venus Flytrap.
Back at the precinct, Royce sent the rookies into the field with Ashcroft and Willoughby for training. Then he printed off a copy of Bonita’s deliveries and multiple copies of her photo for identification purposes. Starting with the most recent dates, they worked their way backward several months, each of them circling deliveries to all the key locations where Bonita could’ve crossed paths with an individual who was in the position to know when the evidence was moving.
Royce sent Ky to Richmond Laboratories and asked Blue to interview the cops and crime technicians at the precinct because his jovial personality would raise fewer flags. Royce and Sawyer headed to the DA’s office.
“Maybe you should do most of the talking,” Royce told him when they arrived.
Sawyer raised a brow. “Suddenly feeling shy?”
“Nah, all you legal geeks speak the same bullshit. You’re less likely to offend Babineaux.”
Sawyer doubted they’d get a chance to speak to the DA, but he was wrong. Gillian Babineaux just happened to have a break between court appearances and meetings.
“You have ten minutes,” Babineaux said when her assistant let them into her office. “Starting now.”
“Are you holding a grudge?” Royce teased.
Gillian crossed her arms over her chest, pinning him with the fierce expression she usually reserved for interrogations and cross-examinations. “Tick tock.”
Sawyer showed her Bonita’s picture. “Do you recognize this woman?”
Babineaux studied the photo for a while before returning it to him. “Nope. Why?”
“You’ve never seen her in the building?” Sawyer asked.
Babineaux snorted. “I’ve never met this woman. Has she accused me of something?”
“No,” Sawyer said quickly.
The DA narrowed her eyes. “Don’t bullshit me and waste my time being coy. Who is the woman, and what are you trying to find out?” Babineaux asked. Leaning forward, she pointed at Royce first, then Sawyer. “It had better have something to do with nailing Franco Humphries’s balls to the wall.”
“I’m afraid it will take us longer than”—Royce looked at his watch—“seven minutes to bring you up to speed.”
Babineaux silently studied them for a few seconds. “You’re already high on my shit list, Locke. This had better be good.” Then she picked up her phone and rang her assistant. “Hold my calls, Sylvia.”
Babineaux’s expression remained neutral and unimpressed while listening to them repeat everything that had happened, and how they thought it tied back to their missing evidence. “So, you’re close to arresting a suspect in Gross’s homicide?”
“We hope so, ma’am,” Royce said.
“We also need to make sure we don’t have a mole in either of our departments or at the lab,” Sawyer said. Babineaux wasn’t the kind of person you tried to manage.
“I haven’t seen this woman, but I did receive the flowers on the printout. My mother sent them for my birthday. She adds a flower for each year. The bouquets are getting ridiculously big, but they brighten my day, and I look forward to them. I wasn’t here when they were delivered, but Sylvia was. If she was at lunch, then one of the other assistants or attorneys might have accepted them. All I know is they were on my desk when I returned from lunch.” She leaned forward. “And, yes, I lock down my files and confidential documents when I leave. Ask around but be cautious what you say just in case the leak is here.”
“No problem,” Royce said as they headed out of her office.