CHAPTER 33

"H ey, it's okay," Carina said when she saw Kieran's reaction.

"Is it? It doesn't sound okay."

"I'm in a little more trouble than I thought I'd be at work. That's all. Did you think it was something else?"

"Yeah, I thought you'd be breaking up with me. Are you breaking up with me?"

"No." Carina shook her head. "But good to know that we're together and not just dating anymore."

"Shit. Are we not? I'm really not good at this, am I?"

Carina laughed and took Kieran's hand. "No, we are . We are, okay? Can we sit down, though?"

"Okay. But don't break up with me. I just found you, and that took forever."

Carina's heart tugged a little as they sat on the sofa.

"What level of trouble are you in?" Kieran added. "Are we talking about a little slap on the wrist where they tell you not to do something again? Is it worse?"

"Slightly worse," she said.

"Carina, I asked you… I didn't want you to get in trouble for helping me."

"I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions, thank you very much, Miss Walsh. I made mine, and I stand by them. Yes, there are many, many gray areas here, and I might have crossed a line or two, but honestly, I don't care. I'm supposed to be on the side of justice, and putting an innocent woman behind bars for the rest of her life isn't justice."

"That's cute, but still so black and white."

"Yes. But this thing with you isn't gray; it's full of color, Kieran. It's got all of these possibilities I thought I'd missed out on when I never found anyone before. Even my longest relationship never felt like this in the beginning. And I know I'm only forty here, but I'm still hoping to become a DA, and I'd be the first openly gay DA in this state, along with the first female DA in this county."

"That's embarrassing for the county. How are we still having first women in government positions in this damn country?"

"I don't know, but it would still mean a lot to me to earn this job after years of hard work. I've always thought that if I didn't meet someone before that, I probably never would, though. Being the DA means I'm a politician, and not everyone wants to be with a politician. Actually, I should ask you. Do you want to be with a politician?"

Kieran leaned back a little and asked, "What changes from now until then?"

"Well, I'd have to run a campaign. It's not a big-city DA job, but there are still appearances and speeches, and it would be nice to have my partner there. Not a requirement. I can always run as a single woman in public, but we'd risk someone finding out about you and calling me a liar."

"And when you get the job?"

"Jason travels a little, but he's in the office about as long as I am, most days. Some days, he leaves earlier, but there would be dinners and events, too, that I don't have to go to now."

"So, basically, you're asking me to be your arm candy?"

Carina laughed and shimmied out of her suit jacket, letting it fall back against the arm of the sofa.

"My very pretty arm candy."

"Yes, that's what‘arm candy' means, Carina," Kieran noted.

"Fine. Very smart arm candy." She moved until she was on top of Kieran, who laid down under her without protest. "Is that something you can see yourself doing?"

"It's important to you," Kieran replied as she wrapped her arms around Carina's neck.

"Yes. So are you. And careers matter – I'm a woman who's always put hers first – but I don't want you to have to do anything you'd be uncomfortable with."

"Then, start by telling me how much trouble you're really in. Stop distracting me and don't lie. Is the DA thing even still on the table? Did I ruin this for you?"

"No, babe," she said, slipping a hand under Kieran's shirt. "Nothing's ruined. I was told to work from home the rest of this week, and Jason is going to decide what to do with me after that."

"What to do with you?" Kieran asked. "What's that mean?"

"There might be a suspension, but I doubt it."

"Carina! Babe!"

Carina smiled at the term of endearment; a first from Kieran.

"He won't suspend me, okay? It'll blow over. I just need to leave Kevin alone and not show my face for a few days. I'll have to back off the case, too, so it does mean I won't get any insider information for you."

"Good. You've done enough," Kieran said.

"Have I, though?" she teased and moved her hand up higher to cup Kieran's breast over her bra.

"Are you trying to have sex right now?"

"What did you think I was trying to do? I took off my jacket and climbed on top of you. Pretty clear signal."

"I thought you wanted to cuddle or something."

"Cuddle? My hand is on your boob, Kieran."

"You had a shitty day, and you want to have sex?"

"I'm feeling better about my shitty day already." Carina leaned down. "Besides, you had good news, so we should celebrate."

"Frank said it probably isn't enough. She wasn't on camera for the entire–"

"No, it's good news. It might not be perfect, but it's still good news, and we're celebrating." Carina kissed her sweetly once and pulled away. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's… It's good, I think."

Carina moved to straddle her and unbuttoned her shirt as Kieran watched. When she finished, she untucked it from her pants and tossed it onto the floor. Kieran didn't move but kept watching. Her eyes fell to Carina's chest as Carina removed her bra.

"Do you want to take this to the bedroom?" Kieran asked.

"No, I'm good here," she replied.

Kieran smiled up at her and reached for Carina's belt, which she undid, leaving Carina with the button and zipper. Seconds later, Carina was standing, removing the remainder of her clothing.

"Wait. Just… hold on," Kieran said and sat up, pulling Carina against her.

She kissed her stomach and let her hands roam over Carina's body.

"This day just keeps getting better and better."

"Can we continue with that trend?" Kieran kissed her stomach again while she placed both hands on the inside of Carina's thighs and gave a little push.

"I thought that was the plan, babe."

Kieran rested her chin on Carina's stomach, looking up into Carina's eyes, and said, "I want to do something I haven't done yet."

"Yeah?"

Kieran nodded and asked, "Is that okay?"

"That is very much okay," Carina replied. "And would definitely continue the day-getting-better trend."

"I don't know… It might not be good."

"Trust me, it will be." She cupped Kieran's cheek. "Want me to lie down?"

"Can you maybe sit down?" Kieran asked and kissed her just above her belly button.

"I can, yes. But you'd have to let go of me for a second."

"Oh, never mind, then."

Carina chuckled at that and watched Kieran drop her hands from her body. Carina moved around her to sit on the sofa, and after scooting her hips as close to the edge as she could get them, she spread her legs just as Kieran was kneeling in front of her. Kieran's hands were on Carina's knees then. She looked down at Carina's center and seemed to be processing, which was just like her, and it had Carina smiling. When Keiran leaned in a little closer and licked her lips, Carina spread her legs wider for her and watched as Kieran started kissing her thighs one by one. That caused Carina's breathing to pick up. Before she knew it, though, Kieran licked her inner thigh, and Carina couldn't help but close her eyes for a second because Kieran licked her gently, and she was just a little closer to where Carina desperately needed her now. Kieran gripped Carina's thighs then and gave a tentative lick over Carina's clit.

"Yes," Carina whispered out.

She opened her eyes and saw Kieran looking at her. Carina nodded to let her know that she could do whatever she wanted, and it would feel good to her. When Kieran's head lowered again, Carina felt a less tentative lick next. Soon, Kieran was licking a little harder, and Carina had her eyes closed again. Kieran seemed to want to explore, which Carina had no issue with, but she was more than ready for Kieran to be a bit more focused. She wouldn't tell her that, though. This was amazing and could probably still make her come in the next few minutes, even if Kieran did nothing else.

"Carina?"

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me what you like so I can do it?"

"What do you mean? You've been doing it."

"You've been pretty quiet, so I wasn't sure."

"I assure you, I'm very much enjoying what you're doing. You're definitely taking your time, though." Carina winked down at her.

"I like how you taste." Kieran smiled a little shyly at her before she kissed Carina's clit. "But I wanted to suck now."

"Yes," Carina said quickly. "Yes, now is good."

Kieran smiled up a little less shyly this time before she lowered her head and wrapped her mouth around Carina's clit. Carina put her hand on the back of Kieran's head and held her gently in place.

"God, yes," she let out, lifting her hips a bit to let Kieran know how much she loved this. "That's… just what I…"

The orgasm hit her fast. She hadn't been prepared for it at all, but her hips were rocking against Kieran's mouth, and Kieran was holding her thighs down, trying to keep her on the sofa while she came. Carina's hand on Kieran's head had a firmer grip now, but she couldn't let go because it felt so good to hold Kieran in place while she came into her mouth. As the tremors began to slow, though, she loosened her grip and then let go when they'd subsided.

"God, Kieran," she said with her eyes still closed and her head back against the sofa. "That was so good."

"Yeah?" Kieran checked.

Carina opened her eyes and met Kieran's.

"Yes. It was exactly what I needed. God, that was…" Carina trailed off and tilted her head then. "You're still fully clothed."

Kieran laughed and wiped her chin.

"Well, yeah."

"Let's remedy that now," she suggested with a smile.

"Can I do that again after I get naked?"

"After I have my turn," Carina smirked at her.

◆◆◆

The next morning, when Carina woke up, without sex and Kieran to distract her, her thoughts had returned to her job, which she hoped to not only keep but move up from as she stared at her laptop. Carina had to be the earlier riser of the two, so she'd woken up first and had made coffee. Deciding to work from the kitchen, she'd pulled out her stuff and started typing. Working from Kieran's place had proven to be interesting, though. When Kieran woke up, she had walked in, kissed Carina good morning, and made her own cup of coffee. They hadn't really talked then because Kieran had still been half-asleep, which Carina had found cute, and soon after that, Kieran had gone to take a shower before she'd walked out of the bedroom with wet hair.

"You don't need to dry that?"

"I don't have a meeting until one. It'll be dry before then," Kieran had replied and disappeared into her office.

Carina had walked by once on the way to the bathroom and had seen her with massive headphones covering nearly half her head, glued to her screens. Things that Carina couldn't possibly understand had been moving across the monitor, and she'd fallen a little more in love with this woman just watching her work.

Having used the bathroom, she left Kieran to her own devices and returned to the kitchen to find that she had a new email from Frank Richard, which was strange because he knew she'd been removed from his case and hadn't contacted her since. She'd clicked on it, curious, and read it to herself. It was only then that she noticed it had been sent to Kevin, too, saying that he'd be interested in pursuing a new deal. Kevin had already replied, saying that Carina was no longer on the case and shouldn't have received this information. Frank had replied back, saying that he thought she'd only been moved to second chair, which he'd known wasn't the case.

"Um, Carina?"

She looked up to see Kieran standing there, holding her phone.

"Yeah?"

"Why did I just get a text message from Frank saying, ‘You're welcome?'"

Carina smiled, nodded, and said, "Frank found a little loophole."

"What loophole?"

"He sent me the bus footage."

"He did?" Kieran moved to Carina's side, sitting down next to her immediately. "Wait. He can't do that, right?"

"Like I said, loophole. Want to watch it?"

"I already watched the part she's in."

"Maybe you'll see something new this time."

"Are you sure you're not in trouble?"

"Frank did it, not me."

"But Kevin is on this email," Kieran noted.

"Yes. He explained that I shouldn't have received it, and Frank told him that he was confused and thought I was only second chair."

"Fucking Frank," Kieran said with a laugh.

"So, the murder window is when?" Carina asked, already knowing the answer.

"Eight to eleven. And she's there around nine, a little before it," Kieran replied.

"So, that's about one hour before the murder that we need to account for."

"Well, she didn't drive to the bus stop. She didn't have a car. And his was found at the house, right?" Kieran asked.

"Kevin will suggest that she got a ride."

"Okay. That's still at least ten minutes, and he'd have to find the person who would've given her the ride to prove that, anyway. Nick took a phone call right at eight."

"Yes, at two after eight, and it lasted eleven minutes," Carina added, remembering the phone records she'd reviewed. "And that person said there was nothing off or weird about Nick during the call. His statement said that they hypothetically talked about a drug deal."

"Hypothetically?" Kieran shook her head.

"We do a lot of that in my line of work, but yeah. So, let's suggest that the murder took place after eight-thirteen. Say that she walked. That walk would've taken her…" Carina pulled up Google Maps and did a quick search. "Oh, that's good: about twenty-two minutes, depending on the route she took. A drive would only be about four, but in reality, it would probably be five to ten minutes once you add getting in the car, getting out with her bag, and walking the rest of the way to the stop."

"Assuming she walked and the time of death is after eight thirteen, she's seen at the bus stop for the first time at eight-fifty-three," Kieran said. "If she walked slow, which is likely because she had a concussion, was still bleeding, and was carrying a bag–"

"Supposition," Carina interrupted.

"Bless you," Kieran joked.

"Frank might be able to suggest that." Carina laughed a little. "But there's no record of a concussion."

"Okay… But you can clearly see that she has a giant head wound with blood in the video. Couldn't Frank call a doctor to say that, in their experience, head wounds like that can cause concussions or, at least, a massive blood loss, which might make her walk more slowly while carrying a huge bag?"

"Yes, he can, but it's still a stretch without evidence. Either way, you'd have to contend with the borrowed car possibility."

"Not really. Like I said, Kevin won't find anyone who can testify that Marin borrowed their car or got a ride that night. I can still tell Frank to check for stolen car records, parking tickets, or vehicles left too long near the bus stop, but she didn't steal a car. She walked."

"How can you be so sure?" Carina asked.

"She told me she walked. She had no idea that there would still be footage on these buses when she told me what happened that night; no way of knowing that we could track this down and either not find her or give her an alibi."

"It's not a full alibi, though," Carina argued. "There are still a few minutes unaccounted for if they can convince a jury that she walked at a normal speed and in twenty-two minutes or got a ride. Besides, we also don't know where she was after she got off this bus and ended up at the depot. The depot is in a neighboring city. They don't have footage going back that far. I checked."

"I know. Frank told me. I'm back where I started," Kieran said as she leaned into Carina's side.

"No, you're not. You and Frank have this now, and it's good, Kieran. I don't want you to think that it's bad news. You'll have twelve jurors at a trial. All you need is to convince one."

"But how can I do that when they have a gun that she says she bought, and another victim in Miami?"

"I know you want to help, but believe it or not, this isn't actually your job, babe. It's up to Frank and the investigators."

"I know. But she's my sister. I want to help."

"Get your PI license."

"What?"

"Just throwing that out there, Sherlock. You get better access as a private investigator."

"I'm an engineer. I code things."

"Whatever you say, Sherlock," Carina teased.

"Does that make you my very sexy Watson?" Kieran wiggled her eyebrows at her.

"Just play the video, Walsh," she replied with a laugh.