Love and Other Crisis | Season 1

Episode | 21

Ronin's familiarity with fear was a passing acquaintance. Few things scared him to the point of panic. Carrying Kaliope's limp body in his arms skyrocketed to the top of the list. He hated it. He hated her for stumbling into his life and knocking about like a bull in a china shop.

He supposed it wasn't entirely her fault since he offered her room in the areas she invaded, like his workspace. Where he hadn't permitted her entrance was his personal life. His mind.

Hell's damnation to the woman.

~~

Minutes Before

Ronin reviewed his notes from his interview with Zohar and his daughter Rowena. The patriarch maintained his innocence despite evidence to the contrary—the ring and his daughter's confession that she discovered the stolen item in her father's study.

The Assembly Investigators separated the Falgors for questioning. While Zohar screamed his throat raw, he was innocent, demanding to speak with his daughter, Rowena was incoherent. Her constant refrain as she rocked and scratched at her arms as if fighting a relentless itch was: I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

No one ascertained precisely what she was remorseful about—turning in her father? Helping him steal the ring? Ronin tried for answers and failed. Rowena was too out of it.

Neither of the Falgors offered a clean read of their aura. Rowena's distress muddled the ambiance around her, the color a dirty brown. Zohar was wrought with righteous indignation, hate, and bitterness. It was hard to lock down any other tells. Fear. Anxiety. Guilt. They were buried deep beneath his dominant emotions, if they were present at all.

Ronin tapped his pen on the table. Rowena's state of mind concerned him. Although inclined to believe her distress and confusion were genuine, his counterparts from the Assembly's investigative team were bent on slamming the case shut. Ronin suspected biases on the part of the lead investigator. Their long-held rivalry rippled the waters of open cooperation. They wanted to be the ones who closed the case that spun the CMT in circles. Egos. Ronin would rather lose a few chips off his pride than convict an innocent person.

His interview with Rowena increased his certainty they'd missed a crucial piece of the puzzle. Ronin's unease was definitely about the case. His instincts screamed at him. But what about? He rubbed at the tension in his neck.

Think, Ronin. What is it about this case?

Ronin's phone rang. He reached for it, his fingers pausing. Kaliope Barnes' name showed on the caller ID. He frowned. Why was she calling him at this time of the night? It was almost 1 am. Ronin hesitated for another second. Answered.

"Ms. Barnes—"

"Help. Me."

~~

Present Time

The pain and desperation in Kaliope's voice when she called Ronin for help, undid him. He failed to understand for the life of him why.

The answer eluded him when he hunted down Inola for Kaliope's address. When he tore through the streets, breaking numerous traffic laws for the woman's apartment. And when he almost kicked in the door of Kaliope's apartment because she didn't answer it. Inola, the calm voice of reason—oh, heaven's help him when Nola became the voice of reason—picked the lock with her nail and let them in.

He continued his search for explanations for his visceral reaction. At the same time, Dr. Joriah and his team worked on Kaliope, and he paced like a caged wolf. Ronin berated himself for his overreaction. He wasn't a man taken by emotions, so why? His constant loss of control, and his acting outside his usual self, proved a problem. The case wasn't the sole disturbance on his mind.