Page 45 of Lau Ahi
I tore my eyes from Ori’s profile to look at the woman who had chided his behavior. She did it playfully so I assumed they had that type of rapport. What I didn’t know was how he was going to handle her teasing him at a time like this but when Alec’s face broke into a grin I felt myself relaxing.
“You always think we’re the problem children, Cochran.”
“If y’all are always the suspects at the scene of the crimes then what other conclusion do you expect me to draw?” Cochran was smiling but Ori still hadn’t moved from glaring at Anderson. “Introduce me, Nakoa, so that we can get on with the day. The last thing we want is to hold up progress. You can hit something later.”
“Director Cochran, Dr. Asha Avery.”
I stuck out my hand and she did the same but I couldn’t return her smile.
“Pleasure to meet you despite these circumstances. I’m going to tell you now that we might be an annoying bunch to work with because of the circumstances so please don’t hold it against us.”
“I understand the situation is delicate so no pre-apologies are needed.”
Ori gave me the same slightly confused look at how my voice had changed and even glanced at Alec to confirm he was hearing me correctly.
“We appreciate you. You can find a seat, and we can discuss a few things as a team. If you don’t mind I’d like to pick your brain with what we know so far.”
“You’re worried this isn’t isolated aren’t you?”
I looked up from the autopsy that had thrown me back into my memories. I was thankful for the interruption grounding me in reality. “What gave you that idea?”
“You wouldn’t need me if it were. There’s something that you found at the site or that you’ve seen somewhere else that makes you think there’s more to this than just Ms. Rawlins.”
“You’re extremely observant. Funny how your true accent is out now. Passionate about this are you?”
“I have a tendency to revert to how I normally speak when I’m more comfortable in a situation. Anderson’s presence wasn’t conducive to my comfort. But here, studying this information and having your insights I feel more relaxed.”
Alec, Ori and I had been sitting around going over what they knew for hours after the latest briefing. To Anderson’s dismay Ori and Alec were chosen to get me up to speed on what was going on.
“Comfort among murder and mayhem. We might need to keep an eye out on you.”
“Female serial killers are so few and far between that the idea has been all but dismissed by experts, since they are usually created after trauma or for reasons of pure revenge or a sense of morality.”
“You don’t think men have those same ideas?” Ori’s words were a challenge as we sat around the space dubbed the War Room that had since been vacated by every other agent. Like everything else, it too was nondescript and I had to wonder what the government was spending all the tax dollars on. The furniture looked straight out of an office supply catalog and the art could’ve been purchased for any middle of the road hotel chain. Besides the tablets and the Smart Whiteboard, we could’ve been sitting in a community college or an MLM headquarters.
“You think that family annihilators have any sense of trauma besides the potential damage to their egos that would happen if the world found out they weren’t as successful as they claimed? Or the men who feign being good guys in order to lure their prey? Funny how it’s called a Venus flytrap, but women rarely have to use deceptive methods to kill. Most often men go merrily to their deaths because they never see a woman as a threat until it’s too late.”
The room had narrowed down to the two of us as I spoke and I knew he was going to say something to irritate me simply because he could.
“And underestimating a woman has been the downfall of many men.”
“This sounds perilously close to the Samson and Delilah parable.”
Alec made the sign of the cross over his chest briefly, and Ori shook his head at me.
“Please don’t get him riled up.”
I wasn’t religious but I also didn’t want to be disrespectful. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”
Alec smiled showing he wasn’t offended which allowed me to relax. “Years of training with strict Roman Catholicgrandparents. Who also believed in spirituality and ancestral veneration. I’m at war in my head so don’t mind me—”
“Your upbringing shapes how you view the world and interact with it. I won’t say anything offensive I promise. If I caused offense by classifying it that way I apologize. That wasn’t my intention.”
“I wasn’t speaking of Samson and Delilah. Just on the everyday ways that men think that a history of repressing their female counterparts deems them superior. Instead, it ignores and overshadows the leaps that women have made despite efforts to keep them down. Especially Black women.”
Ori’s words felt poignant. Targeted and directed toward me.
Would this be considered progress?
