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Scene #13
"Well that was a waste of time," Gabe stated as they exited the
second bar on their list. "Ah, Dr. Morietti, that's where
you're wrong." "How do you figure?" "It's one less place
Sonya Garza could have been on Friday night. And before you even
say that if I knew she wouldn't have gone to Carter's just remember
what I said about Rogue's." "Leave no stone unturned and all
that." "Exactly," Felicity told him with a smile in spite of
his frown. She purposefully zipped in front of another car, barely
missing its bumper, and he braced his hands against the dashboard.
"Jesus. You are worse than Antonia and Marie put together."
Only when she wanted to be. He'd done just what she'd hoped he
would. He reacted and she gave him something—anything—to distract
him from the tediousness of this part of the job. "Gabe, this part
of the job sucks sometimes. You feel like you're running into dead
end after dead end, but when you finally catch a break and find a
lead, no matter how big or how small, you know in your gut what
you're doing is worthwhile." "Searching for the proverbial
needle in a haystack." "You got it." She liked how quickly he
caught on, the way his eyes lit up when he was working the deeper
meaning. He would've been a great cop, but she bet he was one hell
of a psychiatrist. "Can I ask you a question?" He nodded.
She already knew the answer but she wanted to hear him tell her. Oh
hell, what she really wanted was his to see reaction when he told
her. Would he be embarrassed or proud? "You got your Ph.D.,
doc?" "Yep." Full of pride, and he should be. "That's a
lot of schooling. Harvard?" "Yale." "Color me
impressed." "Don't be. It's just something I always wanted to
do. I like helping people and I like challenging my mind in finding
a way to do that." Silence filled the car as she mulled that
over. Gabriel Morietti, Ph.D. Jesus. Probably a genius on top of
that. Way out of your league, Harper. Even if he does look like
an Italian God and smell even better. Just a look, an innocent one
at that, and he had her thinking of sweaty bodies and rumpled
sheets. How pathetic was she? Her nipples had been hard all
freaking day, her panties damp. Thank God she wore padded bras. The
latter wasn't nearly as noticeable. She really needed to get a
grip. "That's why you became a cop isn't it?" To get in his
pants? If he wanted it to be. "What?" "The helping people and
the challenge of it." "Yes." "You went to college?" One
side of her mouth lifted in a wry grin. "Technical college, Police
Science. Two years." "Then you joined the military?" "Yes.
Army. I wanted to be anywhere but where I was at the time. Heck, I
needed to get out of there." Before she ended up dead. She figured
he'd lend her a confidential ear if she wanted to share, but that
topic was off limits. Only Jennifer knew of her past and that's how
it had to be. "I know how that goes." "And here we are.
Eclipse. If our girl was at any of the clubs we've got on the
lists, she'd have been at three of the nine, and this would be my
second choice." She'd given each of the teams one of the three not
just because of location but because she wanted the work and the
glory distributed equally amongst them. She was nothing if not
fair. "Looks more upscale than the other two." "By a long
way. Wait until you see the inside. Large, three bars, two floors,
huge dance floor, and on a Friday night they'd have been packed in
there tighter than sardines." "Hmmm," was all he said. "This
place is what I like to call a 'meat market'." "A good place
to pick up a companion for the night." "Right again. You catch
on quick, Gabe." "Well, I do have a Ph.D." Felicity rolled
her eyes. "Whatever. Let's go see if we can catch a break."
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