DeCapristo’s eyes narrowed, and she rolled her shoulders back. Andi admired her for not backing down. This was a woman used to surviving in a still male-dominated field. Her default reaction of getting her claws out and her back up whenever she was confronted with resistance wasn’t endearing but understandable. Andi knew he would be a lot more vitriolic in her place. Then again, she was hindering their investigation, so his own resentment toward her had its justification.
“First of all, as long as I don’t know how exactly you came to the conclusion that there is a case, I’m operating under the assumption that you simply shared my opinion from the beginning, and this is your underhanded way of taking charge of the investigation.” George’s electric fields lit up like a Fourth of July firework. There were few things that angered him more than the suggestion that he was acting anything but ethical and truthful. The accusation also said a lot about the agent and what her career must have been like until now. “Secondly, since you don’t share your procedures, I can’t know what you have done so far. Talking to Miss Byrnes was a logical step.”
“One we’ve advised you against,” George reminded her.
“Without any justified reasons or the showing of proof, I was supposed to take your word for it.”
“And you can’t do that?” His partner’s tone was softer now. DeCapristo had a point.
“No! I don’t know you at all! I was sent here to investigate a possible murder, met nothing but hostility from Chief Savalle and was then confronted with two detectives from another city who had the clearance to not only be included in my case but also to potentially shut it down without giving me any reasons as to why that is. Also, you’re not here for any PD but for an agency I didn’t know existed, and I’m supposed to trust you?” She spat the word out as if it were a curse.
“If you put it like that.” George sighed. “Listen, this is our first rodeo, so to speak. We’ve only recently been recruited to this agency and things are new to us. We were told we had the last word on everything going on here but to play nice and work together. Next thing we know, you are yelling at us for ‘stealing’ your case, Chief Savalle is threatening us for possibly implying his detectives haven’t done their work, and we have a series of murders most people would think impossible. Taking charge was the only way for us to get our work done.”
DeCapristo tilted her head. “Is this your twisted way of apologizing?”
“If your little tantrum was your way of apologizing?” George allowed his lips to form a small smile.
The agent stared at them for a long moment. Then she seemed to be reaching a conclusion because she lifted her chin defiantly. “Perhaps it’s time for a coffee.”
“Yes. A coffee sounds good.” George took a step to the side, waving at the door. “After you.”
DeCapristo grunted. “No. After you. I said it may be time for coffee. Not that I trust you.” There was a hint of amusement in her voice. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
George got the door for Andi and then pointedly stepped through before Agent DeCapristo, which earned him another flare of her electric fields, this time not completely hostile. They left the precinct and turned left toward the quaint little café where they had met Randy. None of them talked. When they bypassed a small alley, Andi felt like a sledgehammer had hit him square in the face?—
Intruder, kill, meanie, can’t let her live, hurt, she’s evil, so evil, kill, kill, defend the queen, there, don’t miss her?—
Andi didn’t have to look to know who the target was, who the wasps swarming from the huge nest in the attic of an old house half a block down were targeting. Agent DeCapristo’s form stood out to his senses. He knew her shape through the antennae of the moths, through the multifaceted eyes of the flies, through the vibrations of her movements sent through the legs of the spiders, through the electricity the pill bugs could read. The swarm of wasps was on its way, homing in on the agent.
Andi reacted as quickly as he could. George was to his left, and DeCapristo at his right, at the mouth of the alley. Knowing it wouldn’t help if he couldn’t get through to the swarm of enraged wasps, Andi pushed both George and DeCapristo into the semi-darkness caused by the buildings standing so close together that they blocked out most of the light. He followed them, ignoring the agent’s angry shout and his partner’s worried “Andi?” Andi had to stop moving. The images were too intense, and if he didn’t want to fall over the additional legs he didn’t have, he needed to stay in place. Taking position in front of them, Andi took a deep breath, in and out, waves on the beach, lapping at the sand, crushing around the rocks, in and out, he had to go deep, abandoning all safety measures and precautions because the wasps were already coming into the alley?—
Kill, kill, the nest, evil, it was all he could sense for a moment, nothing but this single-minded urge, he had to dive deeper, had to get under the waves as quickly as possible, had to leave them behind to get to the torrent, letting himself get sucked in, deeper and deeper, the queen, the queen was safe, the nest was safe, it really wasn’t that far from here, in the attic of an old house in dire need of renovation, now almost empty because the wasps were here, trying to defend the nest from an enemy—evil—that was nowhere near, he needed to send them back, where was the connection, so many, so angry—evil, evil, evil, kill—no, don’t kill, the nest is safe—evil, kill, defend the queen—no, the queen is safe, return, too far away from the nest, who is protecting the nest, no, he had to stop thinking like a blob, they didn’t understand, they didn’t know what evil was, didn’t know about reasons or sensibilities, all they knew was instinct, to protect and to feed and to build, the nest was growing, a good summer for wasps, yes, it was, so many of them, they needed to return, the brood was hungry, where were the hunters, catching flies and other insects, bringing in ham from sandwiches on outdoor tables, slurping sweet soda and marmalade, back to the nest, the queen is laying her eggs—evil, kill—no, bring back prey, the brood needs it, hungry, growing, so many, in their chambers, ever growing, back, back—evil—back, he could feel them retreat, breaking up, the hunters zooming around to find prey, the watchers and workers returning, their queen waiting, he was the queen, laying his eggs, calling them back, back, back, they obeyed, because why shouldn’t they, he was their mother, their queen, his pheromones ruled them, his genes—what were genes?—made them up, he was the queen, they obeyed, it was all that mattered, he had to stay in the nest, laying his eggs, laying his eggs, that was his job, his purpose, building a colony, making it strong, it was a good summer, so many, he?—
“Andi!”
He went under, so many images barreling into him, too much for one mind, why would he use only one when he had thousands at his disposal, he could just use them, surf on their minds forever no need to burden himself with any of it, just letting it flow, like the waves, in and out, back and forth, forever the same rhythm, perfect, he was free, in and out, against the rock?—
“Andi!”
Who was that, a blob, not in the nest, not on the waves, outside, far away, what did he care, he was the queen, what was Andi, why, he needed to lay the next egg, there was an empty cell, in and out, back and forth?—
“Andi, come back!”
Andi, Andi, he was Andi he was the queen who was Andi who was the queen, a blob screaming, sonic, the pheromones all off, but he knew him, knew the scent, the voice, the soft timbre, deep and anchoring, yes, he was Andi, he belonged in the world of blobs, the nest was hers, not his, he only borrowed, that was all he did, borrowing, he needed to get back, there, the waves above, crashing onto the sand, a thump thump thump—the blob’s heart—NO, George’s heart, his anchor, his lover, there, he left the torrent, the waves reached the shore, again and again and again, warm hands on his face, calling him back, the nest was hers, hers, hers?—
“Andi! Come back. Please, come back, my dear.”
George, George was there, and Andi pulled himself back into this one mind because that was how blobs worked—one mind for one blob, so limited, so boring—and he was back, he lifted his hands, managing after the second try when his non-existent wings didn’t cooperate. He grabbed his partner’s wrists, holding on until his gaze focused back on the world as his senses, inferior and useless as they were, perceived it. George was looking at him with worry in his gorgeous eyes.
“Are you with me again?”
Andi tried to click his mandibles to answer, cleared his throat, then managed to rasp, “Yeah. I’m back. I’m back.”
“Oh, thank the gods and whoever else is listening.”
“What was that?”
CHAPTER 23
