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She was secretly pleased when Eileen mentioned out of earshot that his last wedding had taken almost two years for his mom and mother in law to plan, and Riley’s answer was that he wasn’t about to let this one get away from him. According to him, ‘his’ Celia gets ideas if he doesn’t stay on top of her, and if he gives her too much time, she’d probably change her mind ten times. She’s snuck away from the kitchen door where she’d been about to walk in before overhearing them. She’s still not sure if it’s a good thing that he knows her this well.
Far from being bombarded when she walked into the station a few minutes later, Pete met her with some news. “Good, you’re here; we have a situation.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, it seems that after our talk with Gil and Bobby, the two of them put their thinking caps on and decided to bring the whiskey bottle in for testing.”
“I’m not following; what’re you talking about?”
“Remember what they claimed happened between them and…”
“Yes, I recall…Oh shoot, how did that slip my mind? Okay, so what’s the problem?”
“Well, by some miracle, the lab was able to run some test, and they got the results. Of course, they knew what to look for from the story I told, which made things a lot easier. GHB.”
“Oh my goodness, where did she get her hands on that? I never heard that we had a problem with that here?”
“We don’t, but it’s not like it’s that hard to get ahold of. The thing is, as I’m sure you know, we can’t bring her in because there are too many variables. She didn’t bring anything with her that they saw, and neither of them actually saw her put anything in their drink.”
“I know, but there must be some way we can get to the bottom of this. I take this as seriously as if she’d been the one making the complaint. The fact that the victims are male doesn’t make it any less important. I’ll have to think of something. In the meantime, how are our prisoners?”
“Wilson’s a wreck, but that woman, sheesh, you’d think she was at the Ritz with all the demands she keeps making.”
“At least they made it through the night.”
“Don’t remind me; the mayor has yet to forgive me for the last time.”
“Speaking of which, that’s some rock you’re sporting. Congratulations.”
“Oh, thanks.” Celia tried hiding her hand behind her, but it was no use. She expected the questions to start, but instead, Pete just went back to business as usual. “Detective Branson should be here sometime this afternoon; I’ve already set up the board you asked for, and that file you wanted on like crimes is waiting on your desk.”
“You’ve been busy.” Celia finished walking towards her desk, her eyes falling on the carafe of subpar coffee that is the bane of every police station. Only this morning, she’d been moaning to Riley about that. She smiled at the thought of him and stopped when she caught the grin on her partner’s face.
“You were saying.” She dropped down in her chair and pulled the folder he’d mentioned towards her. She was fast getting used to the literal paper trail since moving here. Until she left New York, she didn’t know that there were people who still did things this way. And though it was out of necessity since the town didn’t have the funds or just outright refused to buy computers for all the officers though few in number, most things were handled the old fashion way.
“I’ve been thinking. We need to figure out a way to get this girl. If she’s going around drugging men, who knows what else she’s been up to.” Celia gave it some thought but couldn’t see how they’d pull it off. It’s not like they could just go out on the street and hire someone to go undercover. The only other cops other than Pete were twice her age, and everyone knew who Pete was, so that was a dead-end.
“How do you propose we do that?” It wasn’t a bad idea, but they just didn’t have the manpower for something like that, and using an unknown was a big no-no in case something went south. She wouldn’t dream of asking Gil or Bobby to use themselves as bait, but if the girl should approach them again…
“I might have an idea. Let me think about it, and I’ll get back to you.” Pete went back to his desk while Celia read over the very meticulous file he’d compiled for her. She’d gathered most of the evidence the night before but thought having a fresh pair of eyes overlooking things might catch something she’d missed, and she was right. There were two more names on the list.
