Page 54 of Byte

“Oh, I believe you. I just meant I can understand how you didn’t know. There’s no distinct smell. I’m assuming there was no distinct taste as well?”

“That’s right. Nothing seemed off about the brownies. I can also say I didn’t notice any impairment after eating them. They may have made me sleepy, but between my work and school schedule, I’m sleepy by nine or ten o’clock regardless.”

“All right, I think I have everything I need. If not, I’ll give you a call,” he said and got to his feet. “I’ll get these down to the lab for testing, and we’ll go from there.”

“I’ll be submitting a request for a restraining order. I’m hoping the timing will work out so that Lauren can be notified of the order during her arrest,” Tina added.

“Let me know when it’s approved. I’ll see if I can coordinate with you,” he said.

“Thank you, Detective Hayes,” Tina said.

“Yes, thank you for coming to meet with us,” I added.

“Thank you for doing the leg work for me,” he said and raised the container of brownies. “It’s not very often that I get a case handed to me with the evidence already collected.”

With that, he left the office, and we said our goodbyes to Tina. I thanked her profusely for her help. I likely would have continued thanking her if Byte hadn’t ushered me out of her office.

“I can’t believe how well everything went today. I know it’s not over yet, but I feel so much better after getting my transfer approved and talking to Tina,” I said once we were on our way to Croftridge.

“I’m sure you do,” he said. “It’s a relief to know they approved your transfer. I’ll feel better knowing you’re with Patch all day.”

“I think I’ll enjoy working with him,” I said.

“I’m sure you will. Everyone I’ve met who’s worked with him seems to love him.”

“Let’s hope he feels the same way about me.”

“I’m going to pretend like you didn’t say that.”

“What?” I asked innocently.

“You know as well as I do that everybody loves you. You’re cute and sweet and kind. You’re the kind of person that even people who want to hate you can’t.”

“So, I’m annoyingly sweet?”

“Nice try. I’m not falling into your trap.”

“You will,” I teased.

18

BYTE

After dropping Gabby off at Patch’s office for her first day of clinicals with him, I went to the clubhouse and spent the first part of the day trying to find a connection between Lauren and Chad, or whoever the hell he was. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything helpful, and I was beyond frustrated.

I was staring at my laptop and fighting the urge to throw it across the room when my phone rang with Irene’s name on the screen. She rarely called, so I answered immediately.

“Hey, Irene. You okay?”

“I’m just fine, but I had an odd encounter I thought you should know about,” she said. “The girl Gabby was studying with last week came in for lunch today. When I took her order, she asked about you and Gabby. I told her I hadn’t talked to you since the night she met y’all here. She said she was worried because she hadn’t been able to get in touch with Gabby. I told her I would give you a call after I tended to a few tables.”

“Tell her you couldn’t get in touch with me either and leave it at that,” I said urgently. “I’ll fill you in on the details later, but she’s not well, and the police are looking for her.”

“Ah, well, that might explain what happened next.”

“What? What happened?”

“Some guy came in and they started arguing. They were getting pretty loud. I was about to ask them to quiet down or leave when he grabbed her arm and walked her out of the diner.”

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