Paris Knox and the Order of Things

Chapter 11

It wasn't until we sat at the bar that I had my usual post-case breakdown.

"I can't believe," I ranted at Welsh, slapping the bartop, "that all of this happened in one case. I mean, two people dying from two different murderers is weird enough. And I suspected Kathia Richy from the beginning, it was ridiculous! I bet she saw Rook's body but didn't report it so no one would know she was going to meet him."

The place was busy, but not crowded, with dark, synthetic wood tables and a few lights that gave off a soft orange glow dangling from the ceiling. Me and Welsh were seated at the bar near the wall, probably looking like the outsiders we were.

"That's good detective work, Paris," Welsh said, giving a slightly concerned smile.

Right, this was why I usually vented my post-case frustrations alone, yelling at my ship's walls.

"And the Orders!" I yelled incredulously. Luckily, this bar had that unspoken rule some bars have where no matter what they hear, everyone minds their own business. "This is a tiny asteroid, why are there so many Mars-damned--"

"Orders?" the bartender asked.

I slammed my face into the bartop.

I heard Welsh speak, unfazed. "I'll have the cheapest alcohol you got. Paris? You drinking?"

"No," I mumbled into a coaster.

"And my friend will have a water," Welsh continued smoothly. I heard the bartender move away, then the thud of glasses being set down.

"So no alcohol tonight?" Welsh asked casually as I peeled my face off the bar.

"I don't do alcohol," I mumbled as Welsh took a sip of their glass and made a face. "How about you?"

"I usually don't do alcohol like this," Welsh said.

"What, expensive tastes?"

They smiled conspiratorially. "Maybe."

I gave one of my patented worlds-weary sighs. I couldn't believe Welsh managed to not die once during this whole mess of a case. And they even proved themselves to actually be interesting in some capacity.

I slammed back half of my water and reevaluated my life decisions.

Lillian Rook was going to jail for a crime without a reason. Leah's girlfriend turned out to be a cult leader. Cho was dead because he made a discovery some people decided humanity wasn't ready for. There was a mysterious and apparently dangerous agent affiliated with a mysterious and probably dangerous agency still running around. Welsh was turning out to be interesting.

"You look like you're thinking," Welsh noticed. "We did solve this one, right? It all... adds up?"

"I solved it, if anybody," I murmured.

"Hey, you said you couldn't have got the address without me," Welsh whined.

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "You had the one good moment."

"Yeah," Welsh said dreamily. "It was pretty good, wasn't it?"

I huffed, sipping my water.

"So where are we going next?" Welsh asked.

"Ugh. I don't know," I said.

"You don't?" Welsh said, sounding betrayed.

I growled under my breath and dug my comms out of my pocket. I scrolled through my messages and clicked one at random.