The light streaming through the blinds woke her. Cringing, Hawkins pulled the covers over her head, reveling in the blissful darkness. She enjoyed that moment of sleep amnesia, the instant when you wake from a sound sleep and remember nothing at all. And then it all came back to her, like a punch in the gut. Hawkins groaned and curled herself into a tiny ball. She felt like crap. Her head was killing her, her mouth was dry and gummy, and she was pretty sure that she was going to be sick. She spent a moment cursing herself for her weakness. She couldn’t believe she’d slipped like that, after so long. But dwelling on it would only make the problem worse; guilt and self-pity were, after all, what had gotten her into this mess in the first place. Better to break the cycle. Massaging her temples, she braced herself and threw back the covers, wincing as the light hit her eyes. The digital clock by her bed informed her that it was already after 9am, so she swung out of bed and headed for the kitchen. She was going to be late to work, but no one would really notice her absence, she spent most of her time in the field, anyways. Unfortunately, thinking of work made her remember Ryan Stone. She’d cried in front of him. That was humiliating. The last time she’d cried was when her mother had died, and that had been over 13 years ago, now. This whole incident was going to be really tough to live down, and Hawkins wasn’t sure how she was going to face him. She was just in the process of wondering whether she could manage to avoid him today, when she walked into the kitchen, and was forced to abandon that line of thought.

“Morning, Hawkins,” Ryan Stone waved from her kitchen table.

“What are you doing here?” she looked down at the floor, unable to meet his gaze.

“When I brought you back here last night, it was pretty late and I was sort of worried about you, so I crashed in your guest room. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Mind? Jesus, how big of an ass would I have to be to mind, after everything? Don’t answer that,” she sighed.

“How are you doing?” he asked softly.

“You mean aside from the crippling humiliation?” she muttered sarcastically. “I’m just great.”

Walking over to the fridge, Hawkins retrieved a Gatorade from the door and flopped down in the remaining kitchen chair.

“Are you actually going to drink that?” Stone asked, his tone suggesting that it was probably not a great idea.

“Yup,” Hawkins replied, sucking back a portion of the vibrantly red liquid. “It’s important to hydrate.”

Hawkins was silent for a moment, looking for the right words. The silence was intensely awkward.

“I am really sorry about last night,” she said at last. She couldn’t avoid it, so she might as well get it over with.

“Hey, what’s there to be sorry for?” he smiled kindly.

“Oh, I don’t know. How about the part where I left a crime scene, got plastered and made a total ass of myself? Or the part where I cried and threatened to quit my job? Or maybe the part where I threw-up on your shoes while you were walking me to your car?”

“You remember that part, huh?”

“Unfortunately,” she groaned. “And, I can only assume you are the one that brought me up here and put me to bed, because that part I don’t remember.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Stone replied. “I mean, what are partners for?”

Hawkins hesitated again,

“I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You weren’t,” he replied. “But we all make mistakes. Forget it ever happened.”

“God, I feel like such an idiot,” she groaned. “I really didn’t expect it to get to me like that. Honestly, I didn’t think anything could get to me anymore, after my time in this job. After everything I’ve been through. But that explosion… I don’t know. I just couldn’t…”

“Hey, we’ve all had days like that,” Stone commiserated. “I mean, that bust went sideways fast; people died. I can’t blame you for being upset. Hell, it’s actually kind of a relief.”

“What? That I’m a screw up?”

“That you have feelings,” he chuckled. “You normally play that card pretty close to your vest, you know. It was kind of a surprising revelation.”

Hawkins smiled sourly,

“Glad I could make you feel better.”

“How are you feeling, though?” he was suddenly serious.

“Better, I think,” she replied, after a moment. “It still isn’t easy, but I think that I can deal with it, at least.”

“Hey, when it does get easy, that’s when you really need to worry. Watching someone die should never be easy,” Ryan said. “Still, I am glad you are doing better, you had me a bit worried.”

“Admittedly, it wasn’t my finest moment,” she rubbed the back of her neck. “I haven’t been that drunk in a long time.”

“I thought you said you didn’t drink?”

Hawkins laughed,

“Like I said, you don’t really know me, Stone.”

He raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I told you I don’t drink. I did not say I never drank,” she elaborated. “Probably better to be open about it, especially given last night. I might have had a bit of a problem, in my late teens, early twenties. I was going through a rough time, my mother had died, I didn’t deal with it well… It’s not important why. Let’s just leave it as I don’t drink anymore and it is for the best that I keep it that way, occasional mistakes aside.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed…”

“Probably not, but I’m willing to let it go, if you don’t make a big deal of it.”

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

“Deal.”

“I am never going to hear the end of this one at the office, am I?” she groaned.

“Why would they ever know anything about it?” he asked.

“You mean you aren’t going to tell them?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Nah. What you do in your personal time is your business. No one needs to know.”

“Not even Collins?”

“Of course not.”

“Thanks, Stone. And thanks for… being there. I’m not sure what I would have done if…”

“Oh, you would have been fine, eventually,” he shrugged. “I just helped speed it up a little.”

Hawkins wasn’t as sure about that, but she appreciated him saying it.

“Just make sure you always remember,” he continued. “The one to blame is the asshole who blew the place up, not you. If you start taking responsibility for every crime you can’t prevent, you’ll lose your mind.”

It was surprising how true that was. It was exactly what she had been doing; she had been taking all the responsibility, but he was right, she had to remember to put the blame where it was due.

“You’re right. And on that note…”

She hesitated, unsure if she should bring it up now, but something about the previous day’s events had been bothering her. Wallowing in self-pity had pushed it to the back of her mind, but now that her head was a bit clearer, she couldn’t help but wonder.

“Let me ask you something,” she began. “Would you have figured on Martin killing himself that way?”

“Don’t start obsessing over this, Hawkins,” Stone warned.

“No, it’s not like that,” she waved off his concern. “This is important, please.”

Stone thought for a moment.

“No,” he said after careful consideration. “I wouldn’t have thought he would do something like that. Everything I know about the guy suggests he was the type who believed he could talk or bargain his way out of anything. I figured that, when he was cornered, he would have surrendered, probably tried to make a deal, just like every other time he got caught. When he got down on his knees and put up his hands, I was sure that that was the end of it. Blowing up the building seems extreme, and out of character for Martin,” Stone sighed. “I really don’t know why he did it; it doesn’t make sense to me.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Hawkins paused a moment, hesitant to speak her next thought. “I don’t think he did it.”

“What?” Stone looked surprised. It was clear that it hadn’t even occurred to him that Martin might not be the one responsible.

“I don’t think it could have been him. I think that bomb was placed and detonated by someone else.”

“Look, Hawkins,” Stone chose his words carefully, “I know you want to think that there is still someone out there to blame for this, but nothing you do can fix this. You can’t…”

“Don’t start treating me like I’m fragile. This isn’t about me. This is about the evidence,” she snapped impatiently. “The techs were lucky yesterday, they found the detonator quickly, I was there when they did. They determined that a cell phone was used to both arm and detonate the bomb, remotely. Now, I saw every instant of that video feed and it has been replaying in my mind over and over ever since. Every time I close my bloody eyes, I see it. You saw it too. Think back. Did you see Martin pull out a cell phone, reach into his pocket, anything?” Stone shook his head and she continued, “No. In fact, he raised his hands long before the device was armed and started flashing. Did you see him lower them, even once?”

“No,” Stone knitted his brows. “I don’t think he did.”

“Trust me, he didn’t. I can play the recording back if you want confirmation,” Hawkins had no doubts what it would show.

“So, how do you arm an explosive without ever touching the detonator?” Stone asked.

“My thoughts exactly,” Hawkins said quietly.

“Collins is going to kill you,” Stone groaned. “Hell, Collins is going to kill me.”

“Yes, he already told me his feelings about this line of investigation last night,” Hawkins sighed.

“He didn’t,” Stone grimaced.

“Yeah, he reamed me out for wasting time and resources looking for someone who didn’t exist. He suggested that my distraction and misplaced focus got his agents killed.”

“Ugh,” Stone grimaced.

“Yeah. Normally I wouldn’t give a damn about what he thought, but I wasn’t feeling so sure of myself, at the time. I let him get to me, which I hate, honestly. I doubted myself and I shouldn’t have. I’ve thought about it, and I’m not wrong, Stone. You’ve seen everything I’ve seen in this investigation; tell me you agree with Collins, tell me you think that we should close this case, that there is no one else involved,” she asked him earnestly.

Stone rubbed his temples,

“I can’t say that I’m confident that there really is another person, Hawkins,” he replied cautiously. “But there are enough inconsistencies here that I wouldn’t close this case. Not without further investigation.”

“Good enough,” Hawkins would take what she could get right now. She couldn’t blame him for being a bit dubious. “So, screw Collins. Today we dig into that bomb. There is something about the timing of the detonation that is bothering me, but I’m not sure… I still need to think about it. Either way, if we can trace it back to who detonated it, we may find the person who set all of this in motion. And I really hope it leads somewhere, because we just lost our last known conspirator.”

“That’s true, isn’t it?” Stone mused. “They are both dead now. Could that be a coincidence?”

“Think of what you said about Martin just a minute ago. If he was caught, he’d try to make a deal. Hell, he sold out his own cousin the last time.”

“If he did have a silent partner, maybe they never wanted him taken into custody,” Stone finished the thought, eyes widening. “I have to admit, part of me was starting to believe that you were tilting at windmills, but you may have actually something here, Hawkins.”

“I’m glad you’re coming around to my side.”

“Well, I mean, the planning, the motive, the phantom payment and now this. It fits. But Hawkins, there is no hard evidence that anyone else is involved. If there is a third man, they would need to be damn good and damn thorough. Why would they go to all this trouble? What could they be trying to accomplish?”

“I don’t know,” Hawkins sighed. “That’s what’s driving me crazy. I can’t figure it out and I can’t get a scent on this guy. But I know he’s there. Whoever this is, you’re right, they are very good. But that just means we have to be better. I’m not giving up on this, Stone. I won’t.”

“Well, just remember that I’ve got your back, alright?”

Hawkins raised her eyebrows,

“You know, you may regret promising that, if you value your career.”

“Meh,” he shrugged. “I figure as long as you’re right, the details won’t matter much and we’ll both come out fine in the end. So, how about it, are you right?”

“Only one way to find out,” Hawkins replied.

“Then, where do you want to start?” Ryan asked.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I need some rebound time before I can do anything productive. It’ll take some time for the techs to finish processing the bomb, anyways. Help yourself to some food, if you want, and after that we’ll head in and see what they found for us.”

“Fine by me, I’m starving. Can I get you anything?”

“I’ll pass, but thanks,” Hawkins felt nauseous even thinking about food. “I’m going to grab my paper.”

“Oh, right, the paper thing,” Stone chuckled.

“The paper thing?”

“Believe it or not, the fact that you read an actual, physical newspaper from front to back every day is in your personnel file.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Hawkins rolled her eyes. “I swear that the people who keep those files just put things in there to thicken the folder. Who could possibly care about that?”

Shaking her head, she rose from her seat and headed to the door. As she did, Stone busied himself making an omelette. He didn’t seem even the least bit self-conscious, standing there in her kitchen, rifling through her cupboards. It made sense, Hawkins reflected, if his reputation was deserved, she imagined he found himself making breakfast in strange kitchens on a fairly regular basis. She retrieved her morning paper from the hall and settled back down at the table. Hawkins was probably one of the few people her age who actually read a physical newspaper. And the file was accurate; she always read it cover to cover, even the obituaries and the personal ads. It was something of a ritual, it helped her relax and focus on the day ahead. And today, she needed that focus and clarity more than ever. Stone sat down across from her, holding a plate of food. Reading had its usual calming effect, and with her partner sitting across the table, eating an omelette smothered in ketchup, everything had a bizarrely domestic, ordinary feel to it. But then, she turned the page, and her blood ran cold. Hawkins reread the large advertisement again, but there was no mistake. Suddenly, everything had changed.