NOT EDITED

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Thursday: January 16, 2020

4:20 AM; CLINSTONE, BO AUSTEN’S HOUSE, BEDROOM

Bo opened his eyes as Acamas attempted to shove her nose up his. Gently, he swatted her away. “Why the hell do you do that, huh, baby?” he asked. Acamas let out a purr, kneading her paws against the fabric of his shirt. “You’ve got issues, Acky, serious issues.” He lifted her off his chest and got out of bed. There was no way he’d be getting any more sleep anyway. The second go-round at the nightmare of the horses from the Thanatos case stomping him to death while Kathy laughed had been good enough for him.

He flipped on the bedside lamp and headed for the bathroom. He turned on the light and kicked the door shut. As he turned on the water in the sink, he heard one of Acamas’s toys slide across the tiled bathroom floor. Acamas, who enjoyed hard plastic toys meant for human toddlers rather than cats, also enjoyed launching them under doors at Bo’s feet. Chuckling, he kicked the toy back under the door.

Bo leaned down and washed his face with cold water. The toy hit his heel. After shutting off the water, Bo kicked the toy back in Acamas’s direction. She shoved a paw under the door, curling it around the toy and pulling it back toward herself. Bo pulled the hand towel from its hook and lightly patted his face dry. He heard his phone ding in his bedroom.

He opened the door, stepping over Acamas as he walked into his room. He swiped his phone from the nightstand and smiled to himself. The program on his laptop had found a match. He walked out of his bedroom, Acamas following at his heels. In the kitchen, he leaned over the table and opened the lid of his laptop. He quickly typed in his password. As soon as the screen unlocked, he scanned the information on his laptop.

“Holy shit,” he breathed. He fucking had it.

7:00 AM; CLINSTONE POLICE DEPARTMENT, LAB

Bo didn’t lift his gaze from his laptop as the door to the lab opened. “Detective Lehmann,” he greeted.

“You know it’s me without even looking?” Carter asked.

“You put more weight on one foot than you do the other. The sound’s incredibly distinguishable when compared to Jake, and he’s about the only other person who would come down to visit,” Bo said. Finally, he looked up at Carter. “What can I do for you, Detective?”

Carter cleared his throat as he crossed the room. “I, uh, brought you coffee.” He set the cup down in front of Bo. “It’s the same thing Jake orders for you. It’s a, umm, peace treaty, I guess you could call it. I’d like to start over. I’ve been a royal dick, and I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that. It’s just…” Carter sighed. “When I met Jake, he was helping Alice get this guy out of prison, and nearly every case we worked during that time dealt with this other man, our previous Lieutenant, Connor Anderson. I spent my whole time believing that Jake didn’t know what he was talking about, that Connor was innocent, that he wasn’t a bad man. I was wrong, and I didn’t want to make that mistake again with you, but if you were guilty of something, you definitely would’ve killed me or Gwen already for what we did. So I’m sorry.”

Bo nodded once and held out a hand. “I’m Bo Austen, forensic analyst. You are?”

Carter smiled faintly as he grabbed Bo’s hand. “Detective Carter Lehmann, Jake’s partner.”

“Well, it’s great to meet you, Detective,” Bo said softly, dropping his hand back to the table. “Thank you for the coffee.”

“You’re welcome, and… thank you for ‘starting over’,” Carter said.

Bo nodded once. “My pleasure, Detective.” He offered a faint smile. “I’m not the bad guy, here. I try to be as level-headed as I possibly can. No true grudges, no out of place anger. I may not be like you, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t understand you.” He shrugged. “I would’ve been suspicious of me too. I’m a little odd, in case you haven’t noticed, and it’s something I’m well-aware of. It takes a while to look past that and realize that I’m intelligent for reasons other than being a mastermind killer,”

“Lehmann, what’re you doing in here?” Jacob asked as he walked into the lab.

“It’s okay. He’s apologizing,” Bo said.

“Do you actually mean it this time?” Jacob asked.

Carter nodded as his partner moved to stand beside him. “I do. I promise, Jake, I’m done with the bullshit.”

“Awesome. Looks like you can be back on the case,” Jacob said. “You know, now that we all can be friends like mature adults.”

“I’m glad we’re all being mature,” Bo said. “But with that out of the way, my program got a hit this morning.”

“Oh, sweet.” Jacob rounded the table to stand beside Bo. “What is it?”

Clearing his throat, Bo brought up a news article. “I’ll save you the boring task of actually reading through the whole thing. Lauren Bates, mother of two, was driving late at night. She rounded a curb at about ninety miles an hour and rolled the car. She and her daughter, who was in the passenger seat, died. It was labeled as a suicide. Lauren had been depressed for nearly a year and had attempted suicide before the fatal incident.

“This was in 2017. The daughter, Brooke, was thirteen. Lauren was forty-two. The husband and son, Andrew and Gordon Bates, were left grief-stricken, obviously. Lauren and Brooke had a funeral and a burial, and Andrew and Gordon were out of work for almost two weeks.

“Brooke Bates was born on February fifteenth, 2004. Natalie Lambert was born on February eleventh, 2004. Lauren Bates was born on November seventh, 1975. Cleo Marshall was born on November 2, 1975. Andrew Bates is chief of surgery at Walker-Bates Memorial Hospital here in town. He has a scar on his thumb from a rogue patient who attacked him. Gordon Bates is a veterinarian at the place here in town, as well. You want two prime suspects without flaw? I’ve got them for you, and my system’s already voice ID’d them both to the nine-one-one calls. They killed, they called in, and they got themselves caught because they were stupid enough to call the cops to make sure the victims were found.”

“Bo Austen, take a fucking bow. Jesus Christ, you are amazing,” Jacob said. One corner of Bo’s mouth lifted. “I’m gonna talk to Leu and put in for a warrant. Austen, you’re amazing, honest to God. Thank you, you little genius. Thank you. You’re amazing.”

“Thank you, Jake,” Bo said quietly. With a wide smile, Jacob offered a two-finger salute to Bo before walking out of the lab.

“Can I ask you something?” Carter questioned.

“Yes.”

“Why do you hate taking credit for your accomplishments?” Carter said. “What you just did? That’s amazing, and you’re acting like it’s nothing special.”

Bo lifted his shoulders. “When it came to solving the biggest case in my entire career, I couldn’t do it. Everything I’ve done since then has been… mediocre, at best,” he said softly. “I don’t take credit for mediocre.”

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