"Five ten Rathdown Street."
Footsteps sounded in the outer room, and the lights once again came on. Help had arrived. She half expected him to release his grip on the felon, but again, he went against the norm, tightening it instead.
"Time?" he continued flatly.
The morgue door opened, and five gray-suited men filed in, weapons at the ready. On seeing them, they holstered their guns and approached.
The felon gagged a little, struggling to breathe. "Ten ... ten thirty."
"Thank you." Releasing his grip, Gabriel pushed him into the arms of the nearest gray suit. "Detain these two for further questioning."
Two other gray-suits approached the unconscious man at her feet and unceremoniously dragged him away. Obviously, the SIU didn't give a hoot about prisoner rights. Jack would have been right at home with these boys.
Her gaze darted back to his body, and she bit her lip. This wasn't Jack. She was sure of that much. A damn good imitation maybe, but still not the real thing. Which begged the questions, where was the real Jack, and why in hell did he need a clone?
Gabriel walked around the drawer and touched her arm, his fingers like fire, sending heat past the thickness of her sweater, down onto her chilled skin.
"Langston, I want you and Renolds to stay here and guard this body until I arrange for its transfer down to the SIU vaults. No one is to touch it, not even State."
She glanced at him in surprise. His expression was grim. "Come on," he said, and tightened his grip on her arm, hauling her from the room.
"You came here to check whether this was really Jack, didn't you?" he said, once they were clear of the room.
She nodded. There was no point in denying the obvious.
"And?"
"And it's not."
When the elevator opened, he swiped his card and punched the button for sublevel fourteen. "What makes you so certain?"
"His lack of tan, a missing scar." She hesitated. "The fact that he has no mark or indentation on his finger from his wedding ring."
Indeed, that was the most telling. Jack's love for Suzy was almost as obsessive as Suzy's was for him. In the three years since his marriage, she'd never seen him take the ring off. Even if he'd lost it during the ten days he'd gone missing, there would have been a fading band of white on his finger.
She blinked suddenly. Suzy. Why had she implied that jealousy was the reason behind her shooting Jack? Suzy of all people would have been aware of the truth. She knew how little they saw of each other after-hours, if only because Jack had spent all his spare time with her.
Unless, of course, she was involved in Jack's schemes, whatever those schemes might be. Maybe the first person she should talk to when she got out of here was Suzy Kazdan.
The doors slid open, revealing the SIU foyer. Finley was waiting at reception for them.
"Next time she wants to go to the restroom, have someone escort her." Though Gabriel's voice was even, a hint of censure ran through it.
Finley flinched. "I've posted security at the lab doors."
Gabriel nodded. She met his gaze and saw the anger burning bright in the intense depths of his eyes. He might not have said anything about her running off, but he would eventually. She smiled grimly. If he'd read her file, and he probably had, he'd know following orders had never been a strong suit of hers, even though she had the rep for being a by-the-book cop. Given the slightest chance, she'd be out of here.
"I have a ten thirty meeting I have to get to." Though he was talking to Finley, his gaze was still on her.
She shifted uncomfortably and glanced at the clock. He was really going to have to fly if he was going to get to Carlton on time. Though the suburb was only a few minutes from the CBD, the traffic in the city at this hour was hell.
"Watch her until I get back."
Finley nodded. Gabriel turned and walked away. As much as she wanted to go with him, she knew it was pointless to ask. He wanted her here, in Finley's hands, to find out why she could see the kite monsters when no one else could. And what Assistant Director Gabriel Stern wanted, he apparently got.
A situation that was about to end, she thought grimly.
Finley cleared his throat, and then he nervously motioned her up the hall, towards the labs. She knew she could get past Finley. Once the doctor got his nose into his computers, his attention would wander. Security was another problem altogether.