Page 72 of Solanum

"I've considered that." He pinched his chin where the first remnants of a five o'clock shadow lingered. "I'll call you once I know more."

I nodded and took my leave to begin the transition into the sudden new role I found myself thrust into.

Most of the team already gathered in the conference room, talking wildly about their individual theories. Getting them to focus on anything else save for the resurgence of the Four Point situation wouldn't be an easy task. Nora sat at the table by herself, away from the chattering group, and stared down at her phone, texting wildly in between bouts of reading whatever messages arrived at her phone.

"Okay, people. Everyone calm the fuck down." I clapped my hands and lifted my voice.

They all looked at me, save for Nora.

"What we got here, Donovan?" asked Jackson.

"Directives from Wilkinson." I glanced out over their eager faces. "Jackson, Wilkinson wants you and your team to keep the focus on the serial rapist as you have been. Roderick and Brody will accompany Wilkinson out to Grays Harbor County. Doctor Oliver will join them. The rest of you are with me on standby, taking to our regular tasks until activated. Are we clear?"

Heads nodded and I clapped a few times to stir them up.

"Let's get going here. Gordo, you're on standby as well. I'm sure Wilkinson will need you in time. Roderick, Brody, hang back for a bit. The rest of you can go."

I waited for all of them to leave before coming to stand at the table beside Nora and Roderick. The former still hadn't looked at me or made any moves to acknowledge my presence. I set my coffee down on the table and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Just so you know, Wilkinson doesn't think it's a copycat, but I disagree. I expect both of you to play both sides."

"Understood," answered Roderick. "When are we heading out?"

"A few hours."

"I need to get my shit together," he said, smirking.

"What've I told you about that fucking go bag, Roderick?" I waved him off. "Just go. Wilkinson will call you when he's ready."

He nodded and clapped me on the shoulder before heading out, leaving me alone with Nora.

"What's Anita telling you?"

"She's upset." Nora drew in a slow breath. "Miller's back home and we're going to talk with her later today." She finally looked up at me, her murky eyes shimmering with hidden emotion. "Miller's been a colleague for a long time."

"I know. I'm sorry you're worried for her," I said, as always, keeping my tone even-keeled and gentle. "I'm glad she's okay though."

"Me too. Anita's very connected to Sali James and Miller by proxy." She glanced at her phone again. "This is going to be intense."

"Especially since you and Anita will have to up your game of 'pretend to not be friends' and shit for an extended period."

"Yeah." She smirked, tossing me a look over her shoulder. "I've had some practice."

"Sure have. Not too good at it though, if I recall."

"No." She pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at me briefly. "Neither were you."

"As it turns out, also no."

"Wilkinson wants me to focus on James like before. I haven't had much contact with her over the years, but I have with Miller. Especially when Wilkinson tried to recruit her," she continued, standing up from her seat now to pace a little. "We talked about the pros and cons."

"Why did she turn it down?"

"In retrospect, because of James. It was pretty soon after the closing of the original case and such. I had no idea they were together, or that she was even gay." Nora's stress levels increased, and she ran her fingers through her hair before tucking it behind her ears. "No idea."

"Some people are good at hiding it."

"Guess so." She glanced at me when I took a swig of my now lukewarm coffee. "Who's Charlie?"

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