Shadow Unit 2 by Emma Bull & Elizabeth Bear

Author:Emma Bull & Elizabeth Bear [Bull, Emma & Bear, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction mystery, behavioral analysis unit
Publisher: Emma Bull
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Act III

Reyes leaned back in his chair, inhaled the comforting smells of garlic, bread, and simmered tomatoes, and studied as much of the team as was gathered at the round table. So far it was Falkner and Lau, but Chaz had called to say he and Brady were en route.

If Lau was still shaken by the Grossman case, she was hiding it well. She would, though. Lau knew that appearance could substitute for essence, and sometimes become it. Her hands were folded and relaxed on her placemat and her gaze steady on his when she said, “Local media is pretty receptive. If we need to get the profile to the public, they’ll run it.” She crooked one side of her mouth in a not-smile. “A lot of real estate advertising dollars out there.”

“On the other side of the aisle, we’ve barely scratched the surface of local groups opposed to development.” Falkner had draped her coat over her chair and unbuttoned her suit jacket; the neat white V of her blouse glowed in the overhead light. Reyes bet it would be unmarred by tomato sauce at the end of the meal. “If our gamma’s been spotted on the fringes of one of them, we haven’t found the right one yet.”

“So this could take a while,” he said.

“It could take catching him red-handed.” Falkner shrugged. “But we’d need an impossible quantity of manpower for the stakeout.”

Brady and Chaz wound through the restaurant between the tables, seeming unconscious of the diners who turned to watch as they passed. Brady pulled out the chair next to Lau.

“And how was your day?” Lau asked him.

Brady settled on the chair and sighed. “Chaz made me drink mud.”

Chaz looked up from hooking his backpack over the chair next to Reyes. “And eat carrot cake!”

“To kill the taste of the mud.”

Chaz snorted. “Also, we’ve had a wi-fi curse all day, so no figures from Hafs.”

“I got ’em,” Lau said. “I’ll summarize; you can do pattern magic on them later.”

The waiter arrived before she could begin. Reyes ordered chicken piccata and risotto. Lau never objected to sitting at table with meat eaters, but he thought making her watch him eat veal might try her patience unnecessarily.

Lau asked for her insalata caprese to be served with the entrees, which meant she could talk while everyone else dug into soup or salad. “According to Hafidha, Gilden’s industry isn’t quite the profit monster it looks at first glance. New houses are going up faster than they’re selling. Builders are working on spec, hoping buyers will show up. There’s lots of shiny new developments with too many houses sitting vacant.”

Reyes speared a mushroom out of his salad and ate it. It was an acceptable salad, but he hoped it was the low point of the meal. “So Gilden Properties probably has cash flow problems.”

“More like definitely. The company started a big project in the next county and were turned down by the planning commission. They’ll have spent a bundle on surveys, studies, and testing, and none of it is going to show a return.

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