Karma Patrol (16 page)

“What did she say?”

“Oh, the usual brainwashed nonsense about us taking away people’s free will and forcing them into unhealthy relationships they don’t want. If she doesn’t want a soulmate for herself, that’s fine, but she doesn’t have any right to tell other people what they should or shouldn’t have. I can’t stand people who think they know better than Fate.”

“Do you ever wish you had a soulmate?” The words were out of Jade’s mouth before she could stop them, and immediately she bit her lip and wished she could take them back. She didn’t want to hurt Shannon by reminding her that she hadn’t been given the same cosmic gift she spent her life helping other people receive.

“Never,” the other woman laughed, relieving Jade’s guilt at having asked the question. That guilt was quickly replaced by a burning curiosity.

“Why not?” She was puzzled by the idea. “I thought everyone wanted to find their perfect match.”

“Honestly, I have too much fun dating around. I don’t think I have the right personality for a soulmate. I can’t imagine being happy with just one guy for the rest of my life.”

“It’s all I want,” Jade admitted. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“Of course it is,” Shannon agreed, sympathetic. “You’re a soulmate, Jade. It’s how you were born. It’s a part of who you are.”

“It’s supposed to be a part of Luke, too, but he doesn’t want it.” Jade’s hands clenched into helpless fists as a fresh wave of misery washed over her. “He doesn’t want me.”

“Of course he does.” Shannon’s tone was matter of fact. “And if you weren’t being overwhelmed by your soulmate bond’s frustration, you’d be able to see that.”

Jade felt like she’d been hit with a board. “It’s the bond,” she breathed, stunned. “That’s why I’ve been so twisted up and hopeless about this. It’s making me feel that way.”

“Probably not on purpose,” Shannon cautioned. “Soulmate bonds aren’t really sentient. They don’t think; they just react. Yours knows that Luke isn’t responding the way he’s supposed to, and it’s upset. You’re sensitive enough to pick up on the emotions it’s transmitting, so you’re upset by extension.”

“If it’s doing this to me, what is it doing to Luke?”

“I’m not sure,” Shannon admitted. “I don’t know him well enough to predict whether he’s able to sense the emotions it’s emitting, but based on how poorly he’s responded to the bond so far, I’m guessing he isn’t. However it’s getting its message through to him, though, I can promise you he’s getting it a lot more intensely than you are. He’s the one trying to pull away. It’s going to do whatever it has to in order to rein him back in.”

“How does a soulmate bond communicate with a soulmate who isn’t sensitive enough to pick up on its projected emotions?” Jade asked. She’d never thought about it before. Her karmic ability made her sensitive to that sort of thing by default, so it had never been a question she’d needed to consider.

“It depends on the person, but usually by physical sensation. If I had to guess, I’d say Luke probably develops a stabbing pain every time he thinks about you.”

“How romantic,” Jade said, her expression dour, and Shannon laughed.

“It’s not like the bond can talk to him, Jade. It’s just trying to get its point across.”

“I don’t think that Luke being in pain every time he thinks about me is going to help my cause.”

“You don’t have a say in the matter,” Shannon pointed out. “The bond is going to do whatever it feels is necessary to bring him around.”

“Assuming it can,” Jade muttered darkly. “If you and I weren’t friends, and this was just another soulmate pair hitting a rough patch, what would you do?”

“I’d go talk to Luke. You aren’t the one who’s struggling with the bond, Jade. He’s the one causing the problem by trying to resist it.”

“Then shouldn’t you leave me to wallow in my self-pity and go talk to him?”

Shannon smiled. “I’d rather let the bond work on him for a few more hours. It’ll do its best to make sure everyone he talks to says something that makes him think of you, and by the end of the day he’s going to be absolutely miserable. Even the worst skeptics are usually ready to listen to reason by that point.”

“If he really wants out…” She faltered for a moment, then pressed ahead. It was a question that needed an answer. “You can break the bond, can’t you? If he decides he doesn’t want it?”

Shannon tilted her head to the side, giving Jade a thoughtful look.

“Would you want me to?”

Jade made a noise that fell somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “I won’t force him to be with me. I’d rather be alone than be with someone who only loves me because he has to.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Shannon sighed, putting her arm around Jade as the blonde started to cry again. “He wants you. He
needs
you. He just doesn’t realize it yet. My division doesn’t choose soulmates at random. I know that you feel like this is all one-sided, that he doesn’t want you the way you want him, but it’s just not true. When people think of soulmates, they think of the fairy tale, of love at first sight, but most pairs have some growing pains at first. Soulmate bonds set in at different rates, even between two soulmates who are bound to each other. If you can be patient and give me a couple of days, I promise it will all work out, and soon the two of you will be living your happily ever after and all of this will just be a memory. Okay?”

Jade nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and Shannon gave her a tight hug.

“That bond is really doing a number on you. I’m so sorry this hasn’t turned out the way you wanted it to.”

At that, Jade was able to muster a ghost of a smile. “I think my problem is the disappointment as much as it is the bond,” she admitted. “I’ve dreamed about this for a long time. I was really invested in having the fairy tale.”

“Do you think Cinderella was happy when the prince couldn’t even remember what she looked like? He had to identify her by her shoe size!” Shannon replied tartly, surprising a laugh out of Jade. “You’ll get your prince. Just give me a little more time.”

“What am I supposed to do between now and then?”

“Starting tomorrow morning, you should get back out on the street and work on your catchment area’s balance so that you end up with your dream job
and
your dream guy,” Shannon informed her. Before she could start to feel guilty about the fact that she was moping in her apartment instead of working, Shannon added, “For the rest of today, though, my official recommendation as your Cupid is that you eat an entire pint of ice cream, wash it down with that bottle of wine, and watch trashy television until midnight.”

“That sounds fabulous,” Jade sighed, leaning back against the overstuffed couch cushions. “I feel like I’ve been running in circles all day. I just want to not think for a little while.”

“Here,” Shannon replied, handing her the remote from the coffee table. “Pick out something mindless to watch. Do you have ice cream in the freezer or do I need to run down to the bodega?”

“Are you kidding? The freezer is all ice cream.”

“Bowls to the right of the stove?” Shannon asked as she disappeared into the kitchenette, and Jade managed a small but genuine smile.

“Why get the bowls dirty? Just bring the whole container.”

Luke did his best to concentrate on the case, but his thoughts inevitably drifted back to Jade. She’d been in tears when he’d left, and the knowledge that he’d made her cry tore at his heart. He’d spent his entire life avoiding romantic entanglements and staying out of situations where anyone could get hurt. Despite his best efforts, though, he’d somehow stumbled into this mess and managed to hurt Jade. Maybe this would be enough proof for her that he couldn’t be what she wanted him to be.

What he really needed right now was a distraction. Unfortunately, the files in front of him weren’t offering anything useful.

“This is hopeless,” he announced, and Aaron snorted.

“That’s exactly what I told Kalindi earlier. You didn’t catch any connections that we missed, huh?”

“There’s just nothing here.” He gestured to the file folders scattered across his desk. “Of the four victims from the latest shooting, one was an upper-level associate of the Global Economic Forum, one was an assistant at the UN, one was the mayor’s former campaign manager, and one was a patient care tech at a private medical facility. You’d think the first three might have something in common, but other than their involvement in politics, it doesn’t look like they’ve ever crossed paths.”

“So we stay with the theory that the killings are random,” Aaron replied, but Luke shook his head.

“It doesn’t make sense. I mean, I know there are a lot of politicians in New York, but for five of our seven victims to be involved in politics seems like a huge stretch if the killings are actually random.”

“If we think the shooter is targeting politicians specifically, maybe we should be notifying the UN and the mayor’s office and all of the other political strongholds in the city.”

“To tell them what? That someone might be gunning for their people, but we have no idea who or why or how to avoid it? I agree that we probably have to say something to them, but what good will warning them do when we don’t know how to keep them out of harm’s way?”

“We could lock up every politician in the city and call it protective custody,” Aaron offered, and Luke snorted.

“Yeah, but we’d only get to enjoy it until the lawsuits started coming in.”

“Or we could just let the FBI handle it. After all, this isn’t really our case anymore.”

“Their mistake,” Luke muttered. “If they’d kept us in the loop instead of deciding to take over completely, they could’ve dumped the public relations stuff off on us.”

“They could’ve done that if they’d wanted to,” Aaron agreed with a frown. “They have before. I wonder why they’re so dead set on having this one all to themselves.”

“Probably for the same reason Homeland Security took over the shooting in Midtown East.”

When Luke caught his partner looking at him, he realized Aaron was waiting for an explanation he didn’t have.

“I’m not saying I know what it is,” Luke added belatedly. “I’m just saying there’s something more going on here than we know about. I wouldn’t put it past the FBI to keep evidence from us in order to make sure that we don’t beat them to the killer’s identity and steal the glory of making the arrest in front of the news cameras.”

“Well, we lost our task force when the Feds officially took point on the case, so it’s just the three of us investigating it.”

“You mean the four of us?”

“Nah. Mitch called half an hour ago. He tested positive for the flu.”

“The captain sent him home?”

“The captain didn’t need to send him home. You’d show up to work even if you came down with the bubonic plague, but Mitch knows none of us want him within fifty feet of the station house until he stops being contagious.” Aaron paused, then added, “And it’s not actually three of us. It’s two and a half.”

“What?” Luke asked, confused, and Aaron rolled his eyes.

“You’re half-assing this case at best. Most of your brain is too busy thinking about Jade Bailey to think about the evidence.”

“I’m fine,” he argued, but Aaron was unmoved.

“You’re completely infatuated. I’ve never seen you like this, Luke. If there weren’t a sniper on the loose, I’d be the first guy telling you to take some time off and go after her with everything you’ve got.”

“There’s no future there,” Luke said, ignoring the pain that kindled in his chest again at the words. “I can’t be what she needs.”

“That’s bullshit,” Aaron informed him. “You’re afraid to be what she needs. Which is sad, man, because I’ve seen you face down serial killers and coked-up gangbangers and mafia hitmen without flinching, but you don’t have the stones to get emotionally involved with a cute girl. You should give it a shot. You never know; you might actually like it.”

“The only reason I’m thinking about her is because I’m concerned,” he lied. He was concerned, but it was far from the only reason he was having trouble keeping his mind off of Jade. “I can’t shake the feeling that this guy might come after her.”

“Why?” Aaron asked, and Luke shook his head. He couldn’t tell his partner any of the things Jade had told him this morning, but he also couldn’t help his suspicion that there was more to Jade’s presence at yesterday’s crime scene than just coincidence. If she wasn’t involved, then maybe she was a target.

“I can’t put my finger on it.”

Aaron looked at the enormous stack of witness statements on his own desk and sighed. “Why don’t you go over to her place?”

“What? No. We’re in the middle of an investigation—”

“I can handle things here until Kalindi gets back from reviewing surveillance footage over at TARU. She’s—”

Aaron’s phone buzzed, vibrating against his desk, and he grabbed for it before it could tumble off the edge and hit the linoleum floor.

“Hang on. It’s Valente.”

“From Traffic?” Luke asked, and Aaron nodded, putting the phone to his ear.

“Hey, man. How’s the wonderful world of taxis and tourists?”

Luke picked up the first statement from the stack on Aaron’s desk, but the words refused to make sense. All he could think about was Jade, with tears in her eyes and his name on her lips.