"People have gotten really good at sliding out of a room when I walk in." Lacey hated to admit it but it was the God's honest truth. "I think that they are all afraid of me or something," she said with a laugh. "I don't know why. Why they would be afraid of me and all that."
"They aren't reacting to you, darling, but usually to the looks Ansell or I throw when they get too close to you," he said. Shrugging at her look he smiled slightly. "What? We're protective of our mate, even when she was pretending we didn't exist."
"Seriously? Are you for real? I was thinking all this time that it was me and something that I've done. Well, glad to know that it's not me. That makes me feel remarkably better," she admitted happily. "Have I mentioned that I utterly adore you?" she whispered very quietly to him so that only he could hear. "Thank you for telling me. I was starting to get a complex."
"I should have told you sooner. I'm sorry I didn't," he told her softly. "Go on, I'll see you in a bit. And remember, talk to her where there's no one else or no cameras, like in her office if you can. I'd talk to her but I somehow doubt she'd let me into a space as small as the morgue alone, let alone her office."
"Yeah, that won't happen," Lacey agreed and nodded. "Go, do what you have to, babe. I will talk to Briar and get her to release me and then maybe, hopefully, I will also be able to figure out why she didn't report it, with her help of course."
Nodding, he stared at her for a moment before stepping back out of the path of the elevators. "If I don't see you in an hour I'm coming and looking, Lacey. Don't make me come looking for you, woman," he warned just as the doors slid shut.
She moved so that she could head into the coroner's office and smiled at the doctor. "Hey, two things. First, please sign off and clear me so that I can get back out there and two, what have you found so far?"
"I just got the MRI and CAT scan," she said with a frown, looking at her computer. "Both look clear." She turned and tipped her head. "You don't have a headache this time. "Why don't you have a headache? You always have a headache."
"Zhubin helped me," Lacey admitted to her and looked at the scans. "It's not looking good is it, doc?" she asked and reached out to trace the small line that bisected her brain along the very base, the barest of lines that caused her unimaginable pain. "Do they know about this one?" She had gotten it three years earlier when she nearly had her head ripped off in a high-speed chase. No, they couldn't have known because they were across the globe when it happened. "It looks as if it's getting better though, or am I just wishing and hoping?" To her the line seemed faded, less prominent.
"I don't know if they know, I've never said anything and you know your records are sealed. But it is getting better." She frowned again. "But you know as well as I that it shouldn't be, Lacey. There is no way it should be getting better given what you went through. Stable yes, worse, absolutely especially after you had your head bounced around like a basketball by your so-called partner."
She turned so fast that she was in the woman's up-close and personal space. "Do not. Ever say anything bad about him. Either of them. Those men are amazing and they are my mates. Mine. I don't know what the fuck is going on with you but you ever say anything like that again and I will rip your fucking throat out. He saved my ass. He was hurt in the process. Yes he healed, but it doesn't counter the fact that he was harmed in saving me. Now, are you going to be able to be civil or do I need to pull every fucking file, camera and listening device from this place to find out just why you are being such a bitch? This isn't you, Briar, so talk it out or something but do not let this destroy you."
The doc's eyes were huge as she stared at her. With an audible swallow Briar nodded. "My apologies, Agent Rose, I meant nothing by it. Would you mind backing up please?" she asked. She was barely breathing, each breath shallow so not a part of her touched Lacey even with her up in Briar's face.
Lacey moved slightly and pointed to the chair. "Sit, Briar. You can't keep this bottled up inside of you, Talk to me, doc. We have known each other for a great deal of time. Talk to me Briar," she whispered softly.
Pacing the far side of the room, her hands rubbing her arms, she shook her head. "I don't know what you are talking about," she said in a desperate tone. "You're cleared for work, Agent Rose, and I need to give you the reports on the victims. I don't know how much help they will be, it was pretty much what you saw on scene is what we got here. I'm still waiting for identities to come through on everyone but hopefully something should pop up later today or tomorrow."
"Briar," Lacey whispered very softly now, not moving, just watching. "I know what happened. Talk to me. You need to talk to someone, you need to get it out and since you and your damn fool hide are as stubborn as me, I know you aren't talking to the headshrinkers here. I'm a friend, Briar. Talk to me."
The doc stopped, her head down, her eyes squeezed tight and her hands on arms practically white from where she held so tightly she'd likely have bruises. "I keep seeing his face." The words burst out like she'd tried to suppress them but it was too much. "Every time I close my eyes I see his face as he throws me down and tears away my clothing. I tried to fight," she whispered in a tiny voice. "I tried to fight with everything I'd ever been taught but I couldn't. They don't tell you just how strong they really are, Lace. I was nothing but an amusement to him. He took me and then left me bleeding."
Lacey got up and went to her friend. Wrapping her in her arms, she held her. "Why didn't you report it? You know what a thin line that they have to walk or they get sent back. So why?" she asked quietly. "And was he who I think? Please, God, tell me that I'm wrong, Briar. Please."
"He wasn't anything to me," she whispered, seemingly collapsing in on herself. She was clinging to Lacey in the next moment, holding on tight. "He used me, told me that after he … he … " Briar shuddered. "Said he just wanted to fuck a human once so he knew what it was like. Said it wasn't anything to write home about and if I reported it he'd claim I threw myself at him. Said he had a way to ensure I looked like the aggressor."
"Briar. Honey, they have a code of honor, never, ever are they supposed to do something like that. Ever. And while the men are deliciously yummy looking, they never should take a woman by force. If you can't file the report, I will for you. Would you let a human get away with this? Let them walk all over you? No, you wouldn't. They are no different. Let me help you get justice, Briar."
"No, no you can't." She pushed at Lacey. Staring at her wide-eyed, her eyes slightly crazed, she shook her head. "He'll do what he promised and more, Lacey, please you can't. I won't be put through that again, I can't. He'll make it so much worse if word gets out that there's a report against him in the system here."
"Crap. Who was it? I won't file a report if you just tell me that much. I swear to you that I won't file any report at all if you just tell me." Lacey needed to help her friend through this hell that she was feeling, it was clear in the way that she spoke and moved and in the way that she reacted with the woman.
Briar's lip was quivering as she looked away. "His name is Ramius," she finally whispered. "He's mated but apparently gets nothing from his bitch. His words, not mine. You have to swear that you won't report it here, Lacey. You do and I don't think I'll survive whatever he might have planned next for me."
"I won't. I swear it to you. I will never report it here that he hurt you." She touched her friend's cheek and nodded. "Now, you okay?" She removed a weapon and gave it to her. "You know how to use these. I want you to keep it on you at all times. No matter what. Anyone even touches you without asking again and you gut the fuckers, do you understand me?"
Briar took the blade slowly and nodded. "Yeah," she whispered. Moving away from Lacey, she set it down on a table before going to the sink. Turning the water on, she splashed some on her face before drying with a towel to one side. Looking around, she narrowed her eyes. "Where's your shadow?"