“Maybe. But until we work together on this, you’re going nowhere. You won’t even make it to court.”
Leonard shoved his reports aside and leaned across the desk. “I wish I could give you more, Stevie, but right now, I can’t. You know how it goes with child homicides. If I give you any more information on her than I already have, I’m putting my job on the line.”
Delta nodded. “I understand.” Moving toward the door, Delta gripped the tarnished knob. “And Elson is putting the life of my best friend on the line. It’s no competition. If I have to choose, I’ll always choose someone’s life over my career.”
“What does that mean?”
The corners of Delta’s mouth turned up slightly. “It means that this is a no holds barred contest, and the rules no longer apply to me. You stick to your regs, Leonard. I’ll take the low road and we’ll see who stops Zuckerman first.”
Leonard slowly rose. “I didn’t hear that.”
“Good.”
Leonard moved slowly out from behind his desk. “You be careful, Stevie. The lines you cross could cost you more than your job. He’s one twisted fuck. Messing with him might cost you your life.”
Delta shrugged. “But then, that’s what we get paid the big bucks to do, isn’t it, Russ? To put our asses on the line.”
As Delta pulled the door open, Leonard stopped her. “Stevie, I want him as bad as you do. You gotta know that. We just have different approaches to the same problem. You do what you need to do. If there’s anything I can kick over to you, I will. Just know that I want that bastard and I want him now.”
Turning, hand still poised on the knob, Delta nodded. “Thanks. You know, that’s the first time you and I have agreed on anything.” Walking out the door and down the hall, Delta smiled.
Maybe there was hope for Mr. Hard Evidence after all.
When Delta returned to Connie’s, she wasn’t surprised to find Connie working on the game. Gina was asleep on the couch, and Megan was studying the now massive charts, graphs, and maps lying in the middle of the floor.
“He wanted to pick your brain, didn’t he?” came Connie’s voice from the table.
Delta nodded. “He’s desperate. Alexandria is pressing him for a perp and they had to release the only suspect they had.”
“Couldn’t tie him into the shooting, eh?” Connie said over her shoulder.
Delta shook her head. “Guess not. He didn’t elaborate too much on it. He was really bummin’.”
“Had he even looked at the disk?”
Delta slipped her arms out of her windbreaker. “No. It’s been `misplaced’.”
Connie did not move from the computer. Dori was in a swamp, jumping from various floating objects in an attempt to get to the other side. Sometimes, the objects were alligators, and they would eat her if she landed on them, and Connie would have to start again from the edge of the swamp.
“I’m not surprised. He probably threw it away the second we walked out the door.” As an alligator rose and grabbed Dori, Connie slammed the joystick back down on the table. “I hate this part!”
Delta shook her head and bent over to kiss Megan before walking over and giving Connie a hug. “Need a break?”
Connie shook her head, but Delta saw Megan out of the corner of her eye. She was nodding.
“Con, let me take over for a bit.”
“But—”
“No `buts.’ Go rest for a bit, and I’ll call you when I get her out of the swamp.”
Pausing the game, Connie looked at the grandmother clock standing in the corner. “It’s already nine?”
“Go rest, and take Gina with you.”
Stretching, Connie rose slowly. “You’ll wake me as soon as you get her out?”
“I promise.” Watching Connie and a sleepy Gina trudge down the hall, Delta turned to find Megan staring at her.
“After you left this morning, Del, she broke down. Cried for almost an hour. That little girl’s death was more than she could take.”
Delta nodded as she grabbed the controls. “Her name was Helen. She was eight.
“God, Del, what kind of a madman are we dealing with?”
“One beyond help. One who needs a bullet between the eyes.”
“Well, he’s getting to her. If tearing her up inside was one of his goals, it’s working. Helen’s death hit Connie hard.”
“She’s blaming herself, isn’t she?”
“I’m afraid so.” Megan got off the floor and walked over to hug Delta’s neck. For a long, quiet moment, the two embraced, blocking out the pain of the real world and reconnecting their spirits in a hug that meant more than just a simple show of affection.
“I’m scared for you both,” Megan said quietly. “Very scared.”
Delta did not let her go. “Because he’s getting to us?”
Megan nodded, burying her face in the back of Delta’s hair. “Because he’s very, very sick. If he could do that to a little girl, what would he do to you or Connie? His hatred of her must run very deep.”
“Deep enough to pull his insanity to the surface.”
“Aren’t you scared?”
Delta nodded, pulling Megan closer. “Shitless. I’m afraid for the people on my beat. I’m afraid of what he’s doing to Connie, and I’m scared to death we aren’t going to solve this damn game before he follows through with his greatest threat.”
“You’ve faced worse odds before and come out on top.”
Turning in Megan’s arms, Delta stared down into Megan’s electric blue eyes and nodded. “That’s about the only thing that keeps me going. That, and you. You’ve been very understanding about all of this. We haven’t had much alone time lately.”
Megan smiled warmly and kissed Delta’s nose. “She’s my friend, too. She was there when you needed her most and offered her home to me when I was a complete stranger. God only knows if you’d be alive if it wasn’t for her. She’s been a good friend to you—to us.”
Delta winced at the thought of what might have happened to her during the investigation of Miles’s death if Connie hadn’t worked with her.
“Yes, she has. Does it bother you that we haven’t had any time to work on our relationship? That we haven’t had any personal time at all? I mean, you mentioned therapy, yet—”
“We will. We’ll make it a priority right after we get Connie out of this. Delta, don’t you know that I just want to be with you? Whatever you need from me, whether it’s to help map stuff or just stand by and be understanding, you have. I want to be in on this until the very end.”
“And until then? What do you do about that big bag of fear you carry around?”
“Fear is something I’ve learned to live with since we’ve been together.”
Delta’s left eyebrow rose. “Oh? You’ve learned to live with it, have you?”
Shrugging, Megan pulled away and sat in Delta’s lap. “I try hard. It isn’t easy to always wonder where you are and if you’re okay. It isn’t easy wondering if you’re coming home in one piece. It’s even harder to know that you’ll do whatever has to be done to save someone whose name you don’t even know. That fear eats me up sometimes.”
“And now? Now we have some sick piece of shit out to kill our best friend. What do you do with that fear now?”
“Well, to be honest, since I’m involved in it with you, the fear isn’t overwhelming. That’s not to say I’m not frightened, because I am. At least now, I know what you’re looking for and where you’re going with this case. Sometimes, understanding why you love this job so much helps me understand you.”
Delta leaned back a little so she could see all of Megan’s face. “Really?”
“Delta, when I see you in action, when I see the passion you have for your job and for the people on your beat, I want to be a part of that passion. I need to be a part of that. When I’m not, it feels like your job is a mistress and that I’m waiting for you to return from her.”
Kissing Megan softly at first and then letting her lips linger against M e g a n ’s, Delta sighed. “You’re an incredible woman, my love. Sometimes, I don’t realize how punishing this job is on you—on us. And then, when I do, it slaps me across the face, and I get scared I’m going to lose you.” Looking deep into eyes that could swallow her whole, Delta suddenly felt very little. “I’m not, am I?”
Megan smiled. “God, I hope not. I’d hate to think I’m putting in all this time just to be single again. Delta Stevens, you just don’t get it, do you? I love you. I love being a part of your life. And right now, if your life centers around keeping the one person you love most safe from harm, then so be it.”
“Wait a minute. Love most? I don’t think . . .”
Megan put her fingers gently over Delta’s mouth. “Shh. There’s one thing I’ve known about you right from the very start, my love, and that’s that you can live without food, you can live without sleep, but you can’t live without Connie.”
“That’s cra—”
“Hush. It is not. You wouldn’t know what to do without her, and vice versa. It’s okay. I’ve never been jealous of the love you two share, and I never will.”
Hugging Megan tightly, Delta inhaled her perfume in through her nose. “I love you more than anything. You know that, don’t you?”
“You better. Because I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to you, my rough and tough little copper.” Megan kissed Delta warmly on the lips.
“Mmm. Yes, you are. And I’d like nothing more than to show you just how much you mean to me, but we need to get back to work.”
Hopping off Delta’s lap, Megan scooped up some of the pieces of butcher paper. “I’ve been a busy bee. Want to look?”
Delta took one of the pieces from her and studied it for a moment. “Whew. There’s a lot of stuff here.”
“That’s the problem. There’s so much damn information, I don’t even know where to begin.” Taping the piece of butcher paper to the mantel, Megan stepped back and studied it. The bevelled mirror above the fireplace reflected her lithe figure, and she smiled into the mirror at Delta. “Today, Gina and I decided we should tape all of these to the walls, so the information is all here in front of us. Here.” Bending over, Megan picked up the second sheet and handed it to Delta. “Hang that one up across from here.”
Delta took the sheet and shook her head at all of the facts and figures scribbled across it. “You’ve been very thorough.”
“Connie’s a slave driver. She wants everything recorded, so we just did what she said.”
Delta nodded. “I just wish we had a head start. I’m getting so fucking tired of being half a step behind. Just once, I’d like to see where we’re going before we get there.”
Megan squatted down and picked up the next pieces to be hung. Moving across from the fireplace, Megan taped the butcher paper to the wall. Watching the woman she loved move with such grace and beauty, Delta paced over to her and took her in her arms.
“Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?” Delta asked, swinging Megan around. As she did, Delta’s eyes caught their reflection in the mirror. But it wasn’t their reflection that jumped out of the clear plate glass and into the living room, it was something else.
“Megan, look!” Spinning Megan around, Delta pointed excitedly to the mirror, but Megan didn’t notice whatever Delta was pointing at.
“What, honey? What is it?”
“Don’t you see? Look harder.” Moving Megan just to the left, Delta ran over to the fireplace, gesticulating at the reflection of the butcher paper.
The game is called `Death on S.U.P. Mylo,’ right? In the mirror, `SUPMYLO’is `OLYMPUS’ spelled backwards.”
Megan’s eyes grew wide. “I’ll be damned, you’re right! This might be the key we’ve been looking for!”
A sudden rush of adrenaline pumped through Delta’s veins, lifting her beyond her exhaustion, beyond her despair, and even beyond the fear. Finally, after three deaths, they had the key to the game; they finally had the clue they’d been looking for.
Megan glanced down the hall. “We should wake her, don’t you think?”
“And tell her what? That we have the real title of the game?”
Megan shook her head. “Oh, we have much more than that, my love. What we have is the glue that binds this whole game together.”
“And that is?”
“Olympus, Delta. As in Mount Olympus. You know, where the immortal gods of ancient Greece lived. Elson’s main reference is the ancient Greeks.”
Delta thought back to the dagger and the unicorn and the title of the game. “You’re right. We’ve got it,” she said, trying to maintain her excitement.
Megan smiled. “Damn straight, we do.”
“And now, that son-of-a-bitch better watch his step, because it’s only a matter of time before we’re breathing hot and heavy on his heels.”
Megan nodded, and then turned to all the charts she’d made. “Yeah, but how much time?”
Delta sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “I only wish we knew.”
“So, when Delta discovered the anagram of Supmylo and Olympus, we put some of the other facts together and realized right away that Elson was working from a mythological premise.”
Connie nodded vigorously, her hands wrapped around a steaming cup of coffee. “Go on.”
As if on stage, Megan gracefully swept across the room to the first piece of paper with the now-known title scrawled over the original title.