Karma Patrol (21 page)

Luke had taken a breath to keep talking, but Jade stopped in her tracks, pulling him to a halt with their joined hands. He turned to meet her gaze reluctantly, not sure what she would have to say about his miserable past. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d told her that he’d learned early in life not to trust anyone. The self-reliance he’d developed as a consequence had saved his life more than once, but he wasn’t sure he could face sugary sympathy or pity from her.

When he finally met her eyes, he realized he shouldn’t have worried. He could plainly read the sympathy in her expression, but there was also understanding there.

Jade linked her hands behind his neck, pulling him into a tight hug right there in the middle of the sidewalk. He slid his arms around her waist, tentative at first and then with more confidence, and they embraced as the tourists flowed around them like rivulets of water around a rock in a stream.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured into his ear, her head resting on his shoulder.

They held each other for a long moment, but eventually he loosened his grip, clearing his throat as she pulled away. She didn’t comment as he wiped his eyes surreptitiously with one hand, his other hand caught between hers again. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten choked up over anything, let alone over his crappy childhood.

“It was a long time ago,” he said, shaking off the pall of his past and tugging lightly at their joined hands to get Jade moving down the sidewalk again. “Anyway, I spent a couple of years in the service. I was deployed to Iraq for six months, which was an experience I’d prefer not to repeat, and then I got out and came back to New York to go to school. I was an MP in the Army and I was pretty good at it, so I decided to become a cop.”

“And then you got promoted to detective,” she prompted, and he nodded.

“Yeah, a few years ago. Aaron and I have been partners ever since.” He hesitated, then added, “He’s probably the closest friend I’ve got, but we don’t spend much time together outside work. Like I said before, I’m not real close with people.”

“You are now,” she replied, with the sort of forced cheerfulness that suggested he was going to have to go along with whatever she said. “You’ve got me.”

He smiled despite himself, shaking his head. “Yeah. Now the only question is what I’m supposed to do with you.”

Jade laughed. “You could start by taking me out to dinner.”

“Are we done for the day, then?” he asked, and she nodded.

“We can let Midtown West take care of itself for a couple of hours. Show me one of those three restaurants in the neighborhood that you like best.”

Luke took her to a small Italian restaurant a few blocks from her apartment building. She’d walked past it a million times, but she’d never been inside, and she was charmed by the cozy ambiance of the place. The waiter greeted Luke like he was an old friend, and after he took their drink orders and headed back to the kitchen, Luke felt Jade’s gaze on him.

“What?” he asked, and she smiled.

“He really likes you.”

“Who? Sal?” At her nod, he shrugged. “I come here a lot.”

“You must be a great tipper.”

He gave her a crooked grin that made her pulse pound. “I appreciate good service.”

Sal returned with their drinks, setting out a bottle of wine and two glasses in addition to the ice waters they’d ordered.

“On the house,” he declared, beaming first at Luke and then at Jade. “This is your girlfriend?”

Jade expected Luke to deflect the question, and she was pleasantly surprised when he answered it instead.

“First date.”

“You picked a good man,” Sal told Jade, earnest. “Did he tell you he stopped a robbery here?”

“No, he didn’t,” Jade replied, grinning when she realized Luke was blushing. “He doesn’t like to brag about himself.”

“A modest hero,” Sal agreed as Luke’s cheeks started to burn. “It was three years ago. My wife and my daughter were working that night, and he saved both of their lives. It’s good to see him with a woman. He needs a wife of his own!”

Jade bit her lip to keep from laughing as Luke avoided her gaze.

“We’ll see how the date goes,” she told Sal, her tone conspiratorial, and he winked at her.

They managed to place their dinner orders without incident, but Luke was still avoiding her gaze when Sal left the table.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed,” she said, nudging his ankle with the toe of her shoe. “It sounds like you did a great thing. You should be proud of yourself.”

“It’s not that,” he murmured, his eyes fixed on something over by the bar. “There’s someone watching us—no, don’t look. Keep looking at me.”

“Do you think we’re in danger? Should we do something?”

“I don’t—” He paused, tilting his head to the side, and then returned his attention to her. “He’s gone.”

“What do you think he wanted?” she asked, trying to decide if she should be concerned, and a reluctant smile tugged at his lips.

“You,” he replied frankly. “You’re the one he was staring at.”

“But you don’t think he’s a threat,” she clarified, and he shrugged.

“I think he was checking you out. I didn’t like the way he was looking at you, but that doesn’t make it a crime. Even if he is a threat, you’re safe with me.”

His tone made it clear that he would keep her safe her at any cost. His protectiveness warmed her, a pleasant tingle spreading outward from the center of her chest, and she gave him a winning smile.

“In that case, why don’t you pour me a glass of that wine?”

They spent the rest of dinner talking about inconsequential things, which was a much-needed break from the rollercoaster of emotion she’d found herself on over the past few days. The corner table where they sat was secluded enough that she wasn’t worried about being overheard, and Sal was as discreet a waiter as she could have asked for. When Luke brought up the shootings over dessert, she knew he must feel as comfortable here as she did, and she listened attentively as he talked about the police department’s frustration with the elusive killer. The two of them had talked a little bit about it that afternoon, but when he mentioned one of the victims not fitting the profile of the others, belated realization hit her.

“Something just occurred to me,” she said, her mind racing. “Most of the victims have been important, right?”

“That depends on how you feel about politicians.”

“Personally, I could care less about them, but Destiny Division covers a lot of politics.”

“Makes sense. Politics shape the world.”

“And so does Destiny Division,” she agreed. “But there was one victim in each of our two shootings who was completely unimportant. Neither of them even had a record in my Karma Division app.”

He looked uncomfortable at the reminder that he’d given her the names of the latest shooting victims. He’d never divulged information on an active investigation to anyone outside the precinct before, but she’d made the convincing argument that running them through her database might give him information he could use. All it told them was what he’d already known, though: three of the victims in the most recent shooting were politicians who’d had important destinies, and one was so unimportant that there hadn’t even been a record of his existence.

“Does that mean something?”

“It depends.” She took a long sip of her wine before replying, giving herself time to think of a way to explain it that wouldn’t offend a Normal. “Usually, all it means is that they were never supposed to have much of an impact on the world around them. If you don’t have an important destiny, you aren’t a soulmate, and you run at a neutral karmic balance, you can live and die without the Fate Divisions ever noticing.”

It was the nicest way she could think of to say that there were a lot of people in the world who didn’t matter. Judging by his expression, the point wasn’t lost on him.

“Could I?”

She gave him a confused look. “Could you what?”

“You said my personal karmic balance was pretty neutral, right? If this soulmate thing hadn’t happened, could I have spent my entire life flying under the radar?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, with enough false brightness that he had to suspect she wasn’t telling the truth. If he did suspect it was a lie, at least he didn’t call her out on it. She didn’t like lying to him, but the alternative was telling him that most of the Normals who were chosen to have soulmates also had important destinies to fulfill, and that was strictly forbidden. “I don’t have access to information about your destiny. Even if I did, I couldn’t tell you.”

“No?”

“It’s against the rules. People aren’t allowed to know their destinies.” She paused to remember how they’d gotten on the subject, making an effort to redirect the conversation. “My point, though, was that the shooter hasn’t targeted anyone with an average-size destiny. They’re either very important or very forgettable. It’s possible that the forgettable ones were accidents…”

“But?” he prompted, sensing there was more that she wasn’t saying.

“But there’s one other group of people who don’t have records in the Karma Division database. Not in the parts I can access, anyway.”

“Who?”

“The agents from Destiny Division. Their records are restricted, so for all intents and purposes they’re invisible to me. What if the whole reason Destiny Division is involved is because the killer is targeting their people?”

“Could be,” he agreed, considering the idea. “Do you think they’re running their own investigation? If they’re as careful about keeping their work out of the public eye as you are, they might have trouble getting around the FBI and Homeland Security.”

“If Destiny Division agents are being killed, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the reason the FBI and Homeland Security showed up in the first place.” She paused, another piece of the puzzle fitting together for her. “If they’re killing Destiny Division agents, I’ll bet that’s how Penzler ended up in danger the night of the shooting in Midtown East. Destiny enforcers get along better with karmic specialists than they do with karmic enforcers like me. He was probably hanging out with a couple of their guys when they got killed. I wouldn’t have gotten an imminent danger alert for the Destiny Division agents because they aren’t in my system, but I heard about Penzler by default.”

“You think Homeland Security is taking orders from Destiny Division?” he asked in a tone that smacked of skepticism, unable to move past the first part of her statement, and she shook her head.

“There’s at least one high-ranking official in every law enforcement agency in the world who’s actually a Destiny Division agent,” she corrected him. “They plant their people there for the same reason they spend so much time protecting politicians. Those agencies have a big hand in shaping the world. Don’t forget that right after Homeland Security took over the case in Midtown East, your case was taken over by the FBI.”

“That’s not…” He trailed off, comprehension dawning. “Damn. It’s not even unusual for them to take over a case like this, so we never would have suspected anything.”

“Exactly.”

“But it
is
unusual for Homeland Security to get involved, especially when there’s no obvious terrorist plot. If Destiny Division has the FBI in their pocket, why not just have them investigate all of the cases?”

She shrugged. “They always have their reasons. Maybe there was something different about the first shooting.”

“Maybe they were caught off guard,” Luke mused, and Jade hesitated.

“That would be unusual,” she said slowly. “I mean, their whole job revolves around never being caught off guard. Still, they’re on the case now, and they’re the best at what they do. Odds are they’ll catch the guy before the police do.”

He looked affronted at that, and she swallowed a laugh.

“No offense meant, Luke. I know you’re good at your job. This just seems like it’s more up their alley.”

Luke reached across the table, covering her hand with his own.

“No matter what happens, I’ll keep you safe until one of us catches him,” he promised, earning a brilliant smile from Jade.