Different Senses (7 page)

“A smoke device on a timer,
then he waited until a new, inexperienced employee was almost alone
in the building with him before setting it off. I’d have to contact
your repairers to be sure but I bet that centrifuge is in perfect
working order.”

Kirin shook his head. “I can’t
believe it. He’s worked here from the beginning. Why would he
betray me like that?”

“
You want me to answer
that,
lover
?”

He flushed. “No. So the others
are clear? Devi and Pritam and Waman?”

“Waman isn’t a suspect.
Pritam...may have other reasons to be guilty. I suggest you do a
bit of digging. Uh...I think he’s doing something dishonest. Small
or big time, I don’t know, but apparently he was frantic to find
the pendant, possibly because he doesn’t want the police poking
around. I don’t have any evidence but my gut says he’s up to
something.”

Kirin nodded unhappily. “And
Dev—”

Before he could finish, the
weasel himself walked in. We blinked at him in surprise. He’d
clearly come down in a hurry, dressed without his usual care and
his artfully cut glossy hair an untidy mess. “Devi, what are you
doing here?” Kirin asked.

He put his hands on his
hips and glared. “That’s what I want to know. What are you doing
here with
him
?”

“
Oh that’s funny. Fucking
hilarious. You’re
jealous
?” I sneered. “Please. I
wouldn’t take either of you with a kilo of first grade
nixum.”

“
That’s why you’ve turned
up here, turning everything upside down and using every opportunity
to denigrate me, is it, Javen? Because you’re
so
uninterested in
Kirin now?”

I stalked towards him, furious,
and he backed away, really afraid. I outweighed him and overtopped
him by a head. More than that, I knew how to use my body for evil
and he didn’t, and I had real reason to hurt him.

I forced him up against a
wall. “You think by throwing a hissy fit, you can hide what you’ve
been up to, don’t you? You came down here because you’re afraid we
might find out what you’re hiding. What you’ve been so guilty
about. Did you forget why Kirin broke up with me, cockface?
I
know
what you feel. I
know
you’re hiding the truth. So
what is it? Where’s the pendant? Why did you steal it?”

“I didn’t! Kirin, I
wouldn’t!”

“
Stay the fuck out of
this, Kirin,” I warned without turning around. “If it isn’t the
pendant, what is it? Tell me, you little bastard.” I raised my hand
and he cringed, even though I had no intention of giving him any
excuse to call the police. “You can tell me now or you can tell my
nice former colleagues, none of whom would be particularly thrilled
to have someone like you screw over a fellow officer. I’m the son
of the regional
governor
, Devi. I can make shit
stick like you would not believe. So talk! What did you
do?”

“Nothing! I didn’t steal the
pendant! I....”

“What? Spit it out or I’ll
smack it out of you.”

Kirin murmured my name but
sensibly didn’t interfere. Maybe he wanted to know the truth
too.

“I didn’t steal. It’s nothing
to do with that. It’s about you and uh, him.”

“Yeah? So what did you do? Let
me guess. You’ve had your eyes on him for a while, right?
Pretending to be my friend, cosying up to Kirin?” He nodded, which
surprised me. I never thought I’d get him to admit it. “What else?
Badmouthing me?”

“No! Of course not.”

“Yes, you did,” Kirin said. I
felt him close behind me. “I remember now. All that talk about
Javen’s empathy.”

“I was just being sympathetic,”
Devi said, but the guilt was back. And fear.

“I bet,” I said. “I bet you
were such a comfort to poor, poor Kirin. I noticed you never came
near me. Afraid I’d find out what you were doing?”

“I wasn’t doing anything.”

“We talked for hours,” Kirin
said, anger rising. “After I heard about Javen’s empathy being
triggered and him having to leave the police force. You were over
at the house all the time. I thought you were trying to help, but
all you talked about was how empaths can know all our secrets and
that’s why the law had been changed. How hard it would be living
with one.”

I slammed the wall next
to Devi’s head, making him jump. “How subtle, cockface. How
charming
.”

He pouted, which looked
ridiculous on him and in the situation. “I only told him the truth.
I was right. You can’t be trusted. Look what you’re doing now.”

“
Exposing you? First time
since the shooting I’ve been glad I’ve got this power.” I stepped
away in disgust, as he folded his arms and failed to meet our eyes.
“You’re a prick. I never cheated or lied to anyone, empath or not.
But
you
did.”

“
Because I love Kirin! I
appreciate him more than you ever could, you uncouth
cop
.”

“Maybe. But he wasn’t yours and
you had no right.”

“He’s not yours any more.
Kirin, tell him.”

“Tell him what? That you played
both of us? Get out of my sight, Devi,” Kirin said, his voice rough
with emotion.

“Kirin, we can talk—”

“No, I don’t think so. Just get
out.”

Devi slid along the wall, and
left the room at a half-run. I turned to face my shame-faced ex.
“You don’t need to say it,” he said. “I was a fool.”

“Yeah. We both were. So I guess
I’m done. You know who the thief is, and we can probably get him to
confess tomorrow.”

“But if the pendant’s gone, I’m
still screwed. I can prosecute Jishnu, but I can’t save our
reputation.”

“I think I know a way to do
that. Let’s talk to Jishnu, and then I’ll let Shrimati Gemate know
that the governor’s son would like to pay her a call.”

His eyes widened. “You’d do
that for me?”

“No. I’ll do it for your
innocent employees who deserve better. I’m still madder than hell
at you.”

“I don’t blame you. I can’t
even blame Devi entirely.”

“Can’t force the willing,
right? You already believed all that crap about empaths, and you
let him persuade you to do what you were half-inclined to do. So
much for loving me.”

“I did. I do,” he whispered. “I
made a terrible mistake. Javen....”

I cut him off with a slicing
motion. “I don’t want to talk about it. Close up, and you can give
me a lift home.”

We rode to Yashi and Tara’s
house in silence, me trying to ignore Kirin’s churning emotions and
the headache they’d given me, and him thinking about who knew what.
I didn’t envy his situation but at least part of it, he’d brought
on his own head. At least he still had his job, his career. His
home. And this auto.

He pulled up outside the house
and cut the engine. “So...see you in the morning?”

“First thing. Pick me up on
your way through, okay?” I put my hand on the door to open it.

“Javen.... We really should
talk. A lot’s happened, and I was so very wrong.”

“It’s too late, Kirin. You
broke it, and it can’t be mended.”

“Can’t it?” He put his hand on
my thigh. “I care about you. I never stopped. I just freaked
out.”

“Yes, I remember. I could
hardly forget.”

“I know you don’t want to hear
it, but I really am sorry. I was wrong in every way and about
everything. I don’t deserve forgiveness, but I hope one day you
will forgive me.”

How long had I hoped for him to
apologise, to admit he was wrong? And yet to hear him say the words
meant nothing now. It was over. I wouldn’t go back, and he wasn’t
asking for me to. Everything was poisoned, dead.

“One day. But not soon. What
will you do about Devi?”

“He’s destroyed my trust in
him. I can’t see how we can go on. I should have listened to
you.”

“Yeah. Not exactly an unbiased
witness though, am I?”

“No. But you spoke the truth.
Javen, can’t you tell how I feel right now?”

He cupped my face and I
let him turn it to him. In the low light, in this auto, so many
memories flooded back, from when we were first in love, randy as
bulls, besotted and amazed at finding each other. Where had that
all gone, that passion? Blasted out of me by a gun and Kirin’s
words. “I know how
you
feel. I don’t know how I feel.”

“Don’t you want me a
little?”

A little? If my cock was making
the decisions, I’d have thrown him back and fucked him, family
house or not. I was hard, and yeah, I could give him what he
wanted, what he was so unsubtly hinting about with his hands and
eyes. I leaned closer, wondering if I should let lust carry me
where reason wouldn’t, but as he came closer to meet me, I stopped,
then brushed his hands off me. “I can’t. You destroyed the trust,
Kirin. I’d hate myself, and you, if I ignored that.”

I didn’t need empathy to read
the disappointment and sadness in his expression. “I can’t exactly
blame you. Javen, I owe you a lot and I will do whatever it takes
to be your friend again, even if we can’t be lovers. I’ll be the
man you thought I was. I won’t ever let you down again.”

“Won’t get a chance.” But as he
winced, I added, “To have you as a friend would feel good.
Just...don’t push it.”

“I won’t.” He leaned over and
kissed my cheek. “Good night, and thank you.”

“We’re not done yet, and you
still have to face Devi.”

He grimaced. “Yes. Part of the
penalty for rank idiocy.”

“See you tomorrow. Call as
you’re leaving your place.”

I stepped out of the auto and
he drove off. I didn’t go inside immediately, wanting to appear
calm before I faced the family. Was this the closure I needed, or a
false start? I was still alone, and without a job, and kicking Devi
in the teeth hadn’t felt anything like as good as I thought it
would. I didn’t get off on hurting people and never had. So
rent-a-thug work was out as a career, for a start.

I needed a hug, and there were
twins inside the house who had any amount of them for their broken
down uncle, so I went in search. Sometimes, the only solution was
to wait for things to improve on their own.

~~~~~~~~

Kirin picked me up just before
eight. “I hope you realise this is the earliest I’ve been out of
bed in months,” I grumbled as I climbed into his auto.

His eyes were tired, and his
voice sounded harsh like it did when he hadn’t slept well. “I’m
aware of the sacrifice. Uh...Devi’s gone. He left me a resignation
note, took a few essentials and told me where to send the
rest.”

“Not surprising. You’re not as
crushed as you could be.”

“No. Which says it all,
really.”

“Mmmm.” I didn’t want to talk
about the weasel. “We need to record the interview with Jishnu, so
we’ve got proof if you need to go to the police. He could get nasty
about this, if you sack him.”

“I know. What about Kajal
Gemate?”

“Calling her now.”

Shrimati Gemate’s assistant was
surprised to hear from Governor Ythen’s son, but of course Shrimati
Gemate could find time to see him. Would just before lunch suit? It
certainly would. I closed the call, and found Kirin looking at me
out of the corner of his eye.

“That’s only the second time
since I met you that you’ve used your father’s position for
personal reasons,” he said slowly. “The first time was last night,
with Devi.”

“Well, I don’t usually like to
remind people about it. Besides, I’m a bit of an embarrassment to
dear old Dad. He and Mum pretend they keep us kids out of the
spotlight for our own privacy, but really it’s because they don’t
want to admit too publicly they have a cop in the family. And
certainly not a biracial ex-cop.”

“They ought to be proud of
you.”

“
Yeah, you’d think.”
Didn’t want to talk about
that
either.

The recording equipment,
normally used for training and some promotional purposes, took very
little time to set up and then Kirin called Jishnu into his
office.

This time, Jishnu was more
afraid than guilty when he saw me. He knew the game was up, but he
still tried bluster. “Kirin, do I need to call my lawyer? This is
verging on workplace harassment.”

“Sit down and shut up, Jishnu,”
I snapped. “We know you did it. We found the wallet where you hid
it, and the dispatch record where you sent the pendant back to
Shrimati Gemate’s lawyers, and when I speak to the centrifuge
repairers and confirm there’s nothing at all wrong with that unit,
it’ll be brought back so Kirin can run some tests on it. I’d bet my
investments that he’ll find the residue of smoke-creating
chemicals, and probably even signs where you attached the remote
trigger to the motor. So all I really want to know from you is why?
How much did they pay you?”

His face drained of colour.
“You can’t prove anything!”

“Wrong. We have more than
enough to call the police in, and once they do and once they talk
to Shrimati Gemate and examine your phone logs and your bank
records and do all the things that as a civilian I can’t do right
now, you’ll be prosecuted as a thief. You’ll never work again, not
in this field and likely in no other. So you have a choice. Tell
the truth in full, then resign quietly and leave, or be exposed as
the criminal you are.”

His eyes darted back and forth
between us. Kirin stared back, implacable and angry. From me, the
man would see no pity for I had none. I loathed thieves. “It’s not
an open-ended offer, Jishnu,” I said. “Talk, or Kirin calls the
police.”

His capitulation came quickly
after that. “All right. They didn’t pay me anything. They’re
helping me out with a legal problem.”