“I don’tlether do anything,” Marcus said.“I just try to keep her alive.”
Torres watched him for a moment, eyes narrowing.“It hurts you doing that.”
He didn’t answer.
“I’ve seen enough partners to know that look.You’d follow her off a cliff.”
He gave a short laugh.“She’s already halfway down it.”
Torres’s voice softened.“You’re engaged, right?”
He stared at the floor.“Yeah.Date’s set for May.”
“To the famous Cheryl.”
“Right again.”
“And yet—”
“C’mon, don’t,” he said, gently.Then, after a moment, quieter: “It’s complicated.”
Torres nodded once, accepting it.“Alright.So what now?Do you think she’s trying to prevent another killing or track Cox down, or what?”
Marcus exhaled.“I don’t know.We need to find her.”
“I’ll start with what she left us,” Torres said, flipping the notebook shut.“The ‘St.B's line—could be a Saint, right?Church, school, hospital, cemetery, whatever.I can get a search started on every Saint beginning with B.St.Barnabas, St.Benedict, St.Basil—”
“St.Brigid, St.Barbara…” Marcus finished.“Good idea.Cross-check with any active or decommissioned buildings in the metro area.”
Torres was already typing on her phone.“I’ll have the precinct pull location data, but it’s gonna take time.”
He moved to the window, scanning the street below.It was quiet, only the rattle of the Q18 bus and a kid dragging a trolley down the pavement.“She’s got her Bureau GPS turned off.I’ve tried her cell—voicemail.”
Torres looked up.“She could be in trouble.”
“She could,” Marcus said.“Or she could be exactly where she wants to be.”
The phone on the counter buzzed then — Torres’s, not his.She answered, voice clipped.“Torres.”
A pause.
“Yeah,” she said, glancing at Marcus.“He’s here.Go ahead.”
Another pause, longer this time.
“Understood.”She hung up.“That was Santiago.Wants to know what to do with Tommy Rodrigues.”
Marcus blinked.“They still have him?”
“Protective custody, we agreed,” Torres replied, with just a hint of impatience.“But he’s asking if that still stands.”
Marcus thought for a moment, then nodded.“Keep him where he is.If Cox is still active, Rodrigues is safer inside than out.”
Torres slid her phone into her pocket.“Got it.”
For a moment, neither spoke.The air between them seemed charged, restless.
Torres broke the silence.“You think she’s going after him?”
