The Lies That Bind

8: Coffee and Case Files

"Bite me."

She resisted the urge to do just that. "Cheer up. Coffee's on me. And," she added when his sour expression didn't budge, "I'll order pizza for lunch."

"Deal," he said, setting aside his coffee. He immediately started leafing through the first case file, brow furrowed in concentration. "What are we looking for?"

"We need to match the names of the six targets with the old cases Michaels worked over the course of his career." She recited each name from memory. "There's Owen McCormick. Kurt Rivera. Harlan—"

"Hold on." Cooper ripped off the corner of one of the transcripts and reached for a stray pen. "Okay. Go."

"Harlan Caddel," she finished. "Liberty Schwartz. Jeremy Kepner. Lenny Li."

"Professor Li," Cooper corrected automatically.

Calla nudged him again with her toe, delighting in his disgusted expression. "I didn't choose him, Coop. I didn't choose any of them."

"I know that," he mumbled, inching away from her foot. "Can't we just scan through the files to see if the last names are a match for the case?"

"Not necessarily." She licked the edge of her thumb and began sorting through the documents in her lap. "It's not like their names will be plastered across the top of the file in red ink. Quite a few of these cases were never closed. We could be looking for suspects. Eyewitnesses. Anyone, really."

"That's helpful." Cooper reached for his coffee. "Well. Cheers, I guess."

They worked in silence after that, burying their noses in paperwork. An hour passed. And then another. Transcripts littered the couch, the floor—until stepping into the kitchen to put on a fresh pot of coffee became more trouble than it was worth. Calla alternated between the task at hand and sneaking glances at Cooper, a troubled crease etched between his eyes.

Exhaustion had left its mark on him. He hadn't slept well—this she knew, having woken to the sound of his uneasy tossing and turning. She had a feeling it had been a good long while since he'd slept at all.

What keeps you awake at night, Cooper Daniels?

He glanced up, and as he did, their eyes met. "What? Why are you staring at me?"

"I'm not staring at you."

"You're totally staring at me."

"Whatever." Calla stood abruptly and retreated to the kitchen, ignoring him. "I need caffeine."

As she tiptoed across the landmine of paperwork they'd built up over the last two hours, her eyes landed on the EMT costume Cooper had thrown over the back of the obnoxious yellow dining room chair she loathed (she hadn't bothered with her own furniture, not when it was so much easier to move into a pre-furnished unit). Her lip curled at the sight of the lipgloss smeared on the jacket's sleeve.

With perhaps more force than strictly necessary, she put on another pot of coffee and returned her attention to the transcript she'd only half-heartedly scanned moments before.

According to eyewitness reports, Regina Kendrick was last seen leaving her office at approximately 5:37. Both the brother and step-sister deny same-day contact prior to Ms. Kendrick's disappearance. First responders on the scene, including Detective Gerald Michaels and Lieutenant Eric Fargera—

"Calla." Cooper's voice floated in from the living room. "Take a look at this."

"Hold on," she mumbled, scanning through the rest of the report. Regina Kendrick. I know that name.