Page 43 of Help Me Remember

“Oh right, he said something about giving Eric a tour of the place. Try to calm him down a little,” she said. “I guess he’s trying to make friends.”

I arched a brow. “After the way Eric acted toward him, he thought that was a good idea?”

“Imagine how I felt. My partner isn’t exactly the most social of people,” she said, then frowned. “Come to think of it, I should probably go find them and make sure they haven’t killed one another. Your friend doesn’t seem like the most patient of people.”

Unease continued to build in my chest. “He’s pretty patient just—”

“Not with cops, got it,” she said with a wink, the frown immediately disappearing from her brow. “Don’t worry about it. Make yourself comfortable. There’s some snacks in the cupboards and drinks if you want. I’ll go dig up our respective partners and make sure they’re getting along.”

“He’s not my,” I began, but had to stop when she walked away, closing the door behind her, “partner. I don’t…”

Have a partner, I finished in my head, but again there was a dull sense of something distinctly wrong with that statement. In fact, I was beginning to wonder if it was just an extension of that same voice that had been there since the day I woke up in the abandoned building. I couldn’t hear it quite as well as the other one, but this one always made me feel like a liar, even if I didn’t realize it.

I turned to look around the room again, finding nothing out of the ordinary. It practically screamed bachelor pad, and I wondered just what kind of funding the station was getting that they couldn’t afford to have additional places to rest. Either that or their captain didn’t care enough to swap this room and the existing restroom around to make things easier. The thoughtlessness and lack of efficiency irked me even as I told myself I didn’t exactly have a hat in this particular ring.

The same instinct I’d been learning to trust made me sweep the room for anything that could be a recording device. There were no cameras, at least not in the obvious places. There were no mirrors or windows that could have hidden anything. A cursory glance told me the room was perfectly fine for us to be in, but that didn’t alter the unease I’d felt from the moment we sat down to talk to the two officers.

That unease continued to grow, even as I walked around the room and looked over the sports and recreational magazines stacked on the table. I knew I couldn’t trust either officer, but something told me it was for two different reasons.

As far as I could tell, Officer Fitz had been genuine and open with us, but she was still an officer. If she was one of the good ones, she’d be honor bound to create trouble for us, or me specifically, if she thought I was a danger or found out I was a criminal. If she was simply an enforcer of the law, the results would be the same, but she could end up making Eric’s life hell too.

Something about Patterson had me ill at ease, and I found myself running over every little detail as I mindlessly flipped through a hunting magazine. I couldn’t necessarily blame him for being so intense and quiet. I was sure someone could have laid the same accusation at my feet. But there had been a sharpness that almost bordered on what seemed like…nervousness.

The thought stuck in my mind, and I returned to the door. Opening it slowly, I peered out into the hallway. I could still hear plenty of chatter from the main work floor, but I didn’t see anyone cross the doorway for several seconds. After peeking my head out to confirm, I stepped into the hallway and began to walk slowly away from the work floor.

The building was made up of several smaller hallways crisscrossing one another in what had to be the oddest setup for a police station. If I had to guess, I would have said it was originally an office building taken over by the police. A few officers spotted me, but an old adage popped into my mind when they saw me.

Act as if you belong, and no one will bother you.

I wasn’t sure if it was a memory or that little voice giving advice, but considering no one gave me more than a brief glance, I wasn’t going to argue. It took me several minutes, occasionally glancing through open doors and windows, but my self-given tour led me in an almost complete loop of the building, seeing neither Patterson nor Eric.

Only as I returned to the hallway with the impromptu restroom did I spot a familiar face. Fully aware any suspicious behavior on my part would call attention to me, I quickly stepped toward the coffeemaker near the back of the main work floor as I spotted Patterson. The man was leaving the room, a frown on his face as he tapped away at his phone.

Completely unaware he was being watched, Patterson pulled the phone up to his ear, glancing around briefly before talking. I was too far away to hear the conversation, and his back was to me, but I could see his body language. His shoulders were tense as he briefly gestured sharply with one hand, the picture of annoyance and frustration. After several seconds he tucked his phone away and marched down the hallway, away from where I stood.

As soon as he turned the furthest corner, I returned to the break room, pushing the door open and stepping in. I gritted my teeth when I discovered Eric wasn’t there, so I walked back out…and nearly ran into Officer Fitz in the process.

“Woah!” she said with a laugh, taking a step back before I accidentally knocked her over. “Where are you off to in a hurry?”

“Coffee runs through me pretty quick,”

“I’d say that’s why I don’t drink the stuff, but it’s actually shit on my nerves,” she said with a snort. “You, uh, seen my partner or yours yet?”

I frowned. “No, I thought you went to go look for them?”

“Yeah, hmm, I thought I saw Patterson earlier, but it wasn’t him.”

“Where?”

“Whole place is haunted, I swear. Because it looked like he was coming out of the basement, but there’s nothing down there. We don’t even use it for archives or evidence. That’s all by the captain’s office in the back,” she said, rolling her eyes. “He’s probably out back smoking where he shouldn’t be. His girlfriend will have his balls if she knows he’s picked it back up again.”

I forced a smile I didn’t truly feel. “Off to go yell at him then?”

“Probably should,” she said with a sigh. “Or at least grab some Febreze so he doesn’t smell like an ashtray in our squad car.”

“Well, I’m going to go grumble about all the coffee I’ve drunk today,” I said, slipping past her and heading straight for the bathroom. I wasn’t sure what to think when I realized she was still watching me as I disappeared inside.

Stepping around the partition, away from the door, I leaned against it and counted silently. It helped stave off the rising tension as I stood there, burning away time. It also helped me to think about what Fitz had said and what I’d witnessed. Perhaps it was nothing, but I wasn’t going to let go of my suspicion until I found out just what was going on.

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