Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 132962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“Let’s just go give it a walk-through. If it’s slow, we’ll interview whoever’s there before we make a formal request to bring the employees in,” Mitch offered.
Brown seemed on board, but Connors shook his head no. Honestly, Connors was always slower to agree. Mitch dropped his feet to the floor.
“What’s it hurt, man?” Mitch threw out the question as he stood.
“It doesn’t hurt anything, but if we put these people on the suspect list, it will change how they respond to us,” Connors began.
“Exactly. That’s exactly it. We need to change things up. That’s why we have Brown and Kreed here full time now,” Mitch said.
“He hasn’t even been officially assigned to the case,” Connors pointed out about Kreed.
“That’s why we’re just getting a cup of coffee.” Mitch grinned. Kreed was first out the door; Mitch following along after him.
“I’m driving if you want a ride,” he called over his shoulder.
“We’ll meet you over there,” Brown yelled. He and Connors were still in the conference room.
“He’s a fucking douche, man. Are you sure he isn’t involved?” Kreed asked in the relative privacy of the elevators.
“I’m gonna say yes, but who knows,” Mitch said, thinking over the possibility. Connors had fought him every step of the way through this case.
Chapter 31
The four of them stood outside the coffee shop, staring at the note on the locked door. They were closed tonight. One of their busiest nights of the week, and they were closed. That seemed off to Mitch.
“Closed for the day, praying justice is served,” Brown read the note out loud.
“Huh, what the hell does that mean?” Kreed asked, eyeing the note like the answer would pop off the paper. “Did they tell you they were closing?”
“They aren’t suspects. They don’t have to keep us informed. It would do you good to read up on the policies and procedures handbook,” Connors replied in his usual asshole manner.
“Man, what’s your fucking problem?” Kreed turned to confront Connors on his attitude, and Mitch got between them.
“We’ll come back in the morning. No big deal,” Mitch soothed. “It’s late anyway.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to say this whole time. This way we can make sure the owner’s available to sit in on the interviews,” Connors said, making sure his suit was still laying correctly.
“For real?” Kreed looked at Mitch with a huge What The Fuck expression on his face. “This is what you’ve been dealing with? How do you maintain?”
“The rules and procedures are here to make our jobs easier,” Connors began. He sounded very much like the bullshit film they watched in training, certainly not a seasoned professional. Mitch flipped around and looked at Connors.
“Are you fucking kidding me? I should let him kick your ass because you won’t read peoples body language and learn you’re seriously annoying,” Mitch started in on him.
“Guys, not here. The cameras are on. United front and all that shit,” Brown said, smiling big and motioning them back to their cars.
Kreed slammed the passenger door, rolled his window down, and yelled at Connors from the safety of Mitch’s rental which was far away from the cameras on the building. “He’s a douche bag.”
“That’s what I thought too, but since I’ve been here, I’ve changed my mind. He’s just navigating the political waters to do his job,” Brown replied, walking past them toward Connors’s car.
“I can’t believe he ever gets anything done,” Kreed said.
“He does. He gets his cases closed so tight they never stand a chance in court. I’ve heard all about it, he just follows all the rules in getting them there. We’re lucky to have him,” Brown yelled out several feet from them. Mitch regrettably tended to agree.
~~~
With a slide of his finger, Cody went through his entire collection of photos from the past weekend. He’d visited museums and monuments, even visited George Washington’s plantation in Mt. Vernon on Saturday. He’d taken so many pictures, even some selfies of them together on Saturday night after Mitch got off work. They took one in the cab together, another with Mitch turning quickly to kiss him on the cheek. Mitch had even taken a picture of his breakfast this morning with Cody’s phone, just so he’d remember what he was missing by not choosing to stay longer.
Cody flipped through a few more pictures, but went back to the ones where they were together. Had he made a mistake by not staying? Probably, but there was a game to this dating thing. If he’d have stayed, he would have risked looking desperate, and as he sat alone in his apartment right now, he did feel pretty miserable. Why hadn’t Mitch returned his text this evening when he got home?
The entire week, Mitch had answered him within minutes of his sent text. Now that he was back home, there was nothing. Maybe Mitch had been at work the whole night… And Mitch did have bad reception in the FBI building. But it was close to nine at night, ten in DC. Surely he’d be back at the hotel by now.
Maybe Mitch was out with his partner? Maybe this whole thing had just been a fuck-fest like Cody had originally assumed. Maybe he was being blown off right now. Actually, he was about ninety-nine percent certain the lack of communication meant he’d been solidly played. But if that was true, why had Mitch referenced holding his spot over and over again? Perhaps Mitch liked to string guys along, wear down their defenses. Or maybe he liked having the connection while they were there and when they were gone…out of sight, out of mind.
Cody thumbed back to the pictures of them together. Mitch was a really good-looking guy. Cody wasn’t terrible to look at, but Mitch took everything to the next level. His hair, eyes, and skin tone were all dark, making him the perfect description of tall, dark, and handsome. His lips were full and grew fuller the longer they kissed, and damn, he could kiss. Those dimples though. Cody loved those dimples. He loved the sex with Mitch even more than he loved those sexy dimples. Mitch was the total package of smart, accomplished and sexy as hell. He’d known that going in and knew Mitch was out of his league. Cody should have never gone to DC in the first place.