Even if she was struggling with this antsy feeling she couldn’t define.
A feeling that had come in steady waves since the night before. Gavin had stayed a bit longer after their discussion about his father and her guilt over Darius. While they had no difficulties talking with each other, they’d both acknowledged there wasn’t a lot to say.
After he’d gotten a text from Arlo letting him know about the early morning meeting scheduled at the precinct, she’d encouraged him to head home and get whatever sleep he could.
It was more of those vacillating emotions that had sent her out into the street at the bar in the first place. She and Gavin had been thrust into a level of intimacy that at moments felt right and at other times...left her struggling to find her footing.
“I do apologize for rushing out on you.”
“Of course,” David waved her on, his smile benevolent. “Please get to your meeting. And let’s plan some time to catch up before end of week on your caseload.”
“I’d like that.” She smiled, trying to diffuse her impatience. “I’ll bring the coffee.”
“You’re on.”
Her impressions of the brief conversation lingered as she headed out of the office and toward the 86th. It was an odd, unsettling feeling, and she couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason for it.
Yet David’s attention had seemed...sharper, somehow.
Did he sense she was pregnant?
It hadn’t been a secret she’d had a few difficult mornings in the bathroom throwing up. And a suspected pregnancy was the sort of news people loved to gossip about.
Whether someone had overheard her and deduced the truth or David figured it out on his own, it was the push in the direction she needed. Because what had originally felt like maintaining her privacy and taking the time she needed to ensure her pregnancy was progressing well had passed.
The time had come to share her news. With her family, as Aunt Robin and Uncle Enzo had every right to know. And once she shared the wonderful news with them, it was time to share with her boss and her office mates.
Putting the awkwardness behind her and resolving to think on how she’d give David the news as well, Sera walked into the precinct. She quickly moved through the security check-in and went on up to the conference room, where she found Gavin, Kerrigan, Arlo and Wyatt assembled inside.
“Is there news?” The question came out in a rush before she’d even said her hellos, her anxiety over discovering Darius’s killer more pressing than she even realized.
“Not yet,” Gavin said as he stood to give her his seat. “But we wanted you here for Arlo’s briefing. He took the department through his findings, but he’s got a few more ideas for how we might crack this.”
She took the seat Gavin had vacated, briefly touching his hand as he held the seat for her. It was more outwardly affectionate than she was normally comfortable with, but it felt good to offer that small shot of reassurance.
To feel the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips.
To connect.
Arlo started in quickly, his delivery succinct and pointed. “While we haven’t found any details that give us a name or a gang to follow up with, the video we have gotten so far corroborates your instincts, Sera.”
“Someone set up across the street from the bar, and they were lingering there,” Gavin said, before adding, “planning something.”
“That’s what doesn’t make sense, though.” Sera considered the steady stream of thoughts, memories and random theories she’d cycled through on her way to the 86th. “What I can’t wrap my head around.”
“Around what?” Kerrigan prompted.
“How would they know we were there? That any of us would be there? It was an impulse decision, made on the boat coming back into Sunset Bay. Targeted implies advance knowledge and planning. We didn’t even know our plans.”
Arlo took a seat next to her, his attention laser-focused. “Walk me through it.”
It was the question she’d turned over and over in her mind. The one, when she got past the sharp grief over Darius and that horrific feeling of responsibility, that she couldn’t stop thinking about.
“The shots felt distinctly personal. The fact that Gavin and I were in the crosshairs from across the street. It was noticeable, for lack of a better word. The guy was there, and despite trying to hide, it was obvious he was watching us.” A small shiver raced down her spine in remembrance of that flash of reflection under the lights across the street. “But then Darius’s murder doesn’t feel like an accident.”
“The gunshots seemed to reinforce that,” Kerrigan said, her expression pained. “A shooter might have one bullet that went wild. But three?”
Which was what had Sera pressing on. “Yet Gavin and I were the people being watched.”
Arlo just nodded throughout her telling, taking in her impressions. “Go on.”
“What I’m trying to put together is how would someone, obviously watching us and lining up a shot, shift gears and hit Darius? It wasn’t like he was in the middle of my and Gavin’s conversation. He was on the phone near us but having his own call.”
“You think it was deliberate?” Wyatt said. “Like he was the real target?”
“No. Yes.” Sera shook her head, trying to find the words to explain what she only felt. “I have nothing to go on with this. Nothing that’s proof or even a solid image. All I do know is I kept being distracted by this reflection across the street. Gavin even remarked on it, that I was distracted from our conversation and kept looking away.”
She heard Gavin’s small laugh before he spoke. “I was sort of pissed about it, to be honest. We were having a serious conversation, and she kept looking away.”
“It was distracting. But it was us. We were the object of this guy’s attention.”
“And you never saw a face?” Wyatt pressed.
“No. Nothing.” She shook her head, remembering those weird moments of awareness. “Which added to my unease. But then Darius comes out, and he’s the one who’s deliberately shot. Why?”
“Could he have been the target?” Kerrigan turned toward Arlo, obviously testing it out. “We keep looking at this like it’s a cop shooting, but Darius had an important job. He runs with some big players. Is it possible he was the target all along?”
“I’ve got Cormac and Sanjay looking into that angle,” Arlo confirmed, naming what she assumed were two officers in the precinct. “They’re heading straight to Darius’s office this morning to talk to the staff as well as his boss. Anything’s possible, and we’re going to turn over all the stones. But based on everything Sera’s describing, it still sounds a bit like wrong place, wrong time.”
