Rowan stared at his bossy and unapologetic cousin, then took a deep breath and shot the detective another awkward smile.
'She really needs to work on her people skills!' He thought to himself while glancing at the detective's tight expression.
Though Detective Mulligan seemed reluctant at first, he finally gave her a nod before stepping aside.
He then picked up his phone from the desk and began contacting those who had been involved in Detrim's case, instructing them to head back to the police headquarters at the earliest.
Despite lowering his voice, they could hear everything he said to his colleagues thanks to their excellent hearing abilities.
While he was busy on his phone, Rowan's mind went back to a few minutes ago.
When Rowan had arrived at the sixth floor after parking his car in the underground parking area of the building, he successfully located his brother and his cousin and realized that they had already met the detective.
As he walked in their direction, he heard Detective Mulligan greeting Jodie with his usual jovial tone, but his chirpy voice soon died down after he caught sight of Nita.
Rowan paused in his steps when he noticed how the detective blankly stared at his cousin, showing no intention of looking away.
An alarm bell rang in his head, and before he even knew it, his body had acted on its own.
He had cleared his throat a little too loudly, attracting the attention of not just this group, but also of those in their vicinity.
However, Rowan had no time to be concerned about what others thought of him as he hurriedly closed the distance between them and stood next to his cousin.
He then introduced Nita to the detective and watched how the two of them shook hands, which was nothing but a polite yet distant gesture.
'So she doesn't mind handshakes...' Rowan noted as he did not see an ounce of distaste in Nita's demeanor as she took her hand back from the detective.
As he observed their interaction, he saw how the detective's polite inquiry about how he could assist them had landed him in a tough spot thanks to Nita's demand to meet everyone who had ever visited the crime scene.
After all, bringing back so many people from the field would be a hard task, even for him to accomplish.
While it did seem unnecessary to the detective, Rowan could guess what his cousin had in mind when she expressed her interest in meeting everyone.
'She sure is a smart one!' He mentally applauded her thought process and at the same time, he had no intention of stepping in and coming to the detective's rescue.
Hence, even after sensing how the detective was looking for his input in this matter and some much-needed assistance, Rowan simply gave him a helpless smile, as he would rather not lend his support to the tall and bulky man.
This only increased the detective's displeasure as he once again stared at Nita, trying to gauge what her thoughts were.
Once again, noticing how the detective was peering into Nita's eyes with that searching look, Rowan felt the need to butt in.
However, even before he could make a move to ward off the tall man's unwanted attention on his cousin, she had done just that on her own.
Her impatience only made Detective Mulligan's brows furrow deeper as a frown settled on his face.
Though he was quick to wipe that frown off his face, the three present had witnessed it.
Unfortunately for him, they were neither affected by his frown nor did they care about offending him, as they had already expected him to react this way.
If his earlier frustration wasn't enough, Nita's final statement had only made him stop and stare at her.
The way he looked at her, without even blinking his eyes, trying to figure out what she was thinking but failing to do so, brought a strange thought to Rowan's head.
Ever since Rowan had arrived, he had noticed this anomaly in the detective's behavior.
Each time he looked at Nita, particularly into her eyes, he appeared to be in a trance.
With a glazed-over look in his eyes, he would simply stare at her until someone did or said something to snap him out of his daze.
This strange behavior reminded him of Nita's odd yet strong reaction back when he had accidentally touched her hand in Detrim's car.
'Does this have something to do with her abilities?' He wondered as that was the only explanation he could think of, considering everything he had experienced today.
That sudden jolt of energy he sensed, almost like electricity passing through him when he grabbed Nita's hand, came to his mind.
Now, seeing how the detective kept looking at her with that dazed expression was helping him connect the dots.
'Does she have the power to hypnotize people with her touch?' He was trying to put together the pieces of this mental puzzle that had emerged in his head earlier.
If Nita's touch was sufficient to hypnotize people, then that would explain why she had reacted so strongly when he had grabbed her hand in Detrim's car.
She did not wish to put him under her hypnosis, as he was her ally, not her opponent that needed to be tamed.
Similarly, it also explained why she had grabbed Jodie's shoulder back at the Valken family mansion and also in the car.
She wished to hypnotize Jodie to make him behave himself in the mansion and wanted him to complete the task she had given him without making a fuss in Detrim's car.
Therefore, she had touched Jodie with the intention of having him do as she pleased without objection.
However, when Rowan had touched her, she freaked out as that same power must have transferred to him, which was not something she planned.
This made her react so strongly and also explained that she did not like it when others touched her without her permission.
'And after the Detective shook hands with her, he fell under her trance as well...' Rowan reached the end of his deductions about Nita's powers and felt that the theory he had come up with was a good one.
Though it appeared that the detective wasn't entirely under her control as he seemed to be averse to her commands.
'Maybe she wasn't able to maintain contact long enough to gain complete control over him.' He found a plausible explanation for Detective Mulligan's behavior.
Rowan had touched Nita's bare skin, whereas she was wearing gloves when she shook hands with the detective.
Not to mention that the two had shaken hands for just a second before they separated.
'And this man is huge!' He added another reason why that brief handshake did not work in Nita's favor.
However, Nita did not seem to be bothered by the lack of complete control she had over the detective, which made Rowan wonder if even that small amount was sufficient to make the big man do her bidding with just a little persuasion.
After all, despite the obvious reluctance he displayed, that same big man was now dialing all of his colleagues and instructing them to head back to the police headquarters for Nita to meet them.
'No wonder Uncle Uri called her back to the city!' He repeated his previous words, praising the Valken family Head's vision as this seemed to be the right decision considering their current circumstances.
While Rowan failed to notice that this theory of his had numerous loopholes, he chose to focus on the parts that made sense to him and gazed at Nita with admiration and awe.
'Never touch her again!' He reminded himself to keep his distance if he did not wish to fall under her hypnosis as well, like his brother had fallen victim to her powers earlier today.
Nita had no clue that Rowan had misunderstood what her abilities were but even if she did, she never would have corrected him.
After all, she too wasn't entirely sure of what her abilities were and why she was granted something so unusual.