Chapter 13 - Damien
I considered my luck all the way back to the tenth floor while Sky and Gemma continued with their deliberation about the case.
There was no shaking my barely concealed grin at the thought of being able to escort her to the neighborhood of note, and how Gemma cleared me to go. Even if it was indulgent for me, I was satisfied to know my idea had been backed up by the boss herself, and I wasn’t completely shot down for suggesting it.
Even if Sky had looked annoyed about the whole thing, I was more than pleased about the arrangement. Given how busy she normally was during the day, it offered me minimal one-on-one time with her, and the more time that passed since I last held and touched her, the more impatient I was growing for it.
Standing at the back of the open space, I kept my eyes on the employees ahead while they worked.
Two potential suspects were working on Sky’s floor, and I made sure to observe while they went about their duties, even if I was looking forward to heading out on my little side quest.
First was Raf. The timing of his onboarding and the Levov issues happening were too perfect, along with his obvious eagerness to take up Sky’s time.
The latter could be contested, but it was my observation anyway…
But there was a snag in my investigation. Raf wasn’t the only person hired within that time, which obviously wasn’t enough evidence for me to pin the spying on him. The one other suspect on the floor had been brought on at the same time, which, to my dismay, I couldn’t completely discredit them.
I had my suspicions about Raf, but in watching him, noting his obvious goody-two-shoes attitude and the way he seemed eager to work regardless of how irritating his voice was to me, I found myself thinking I was looking at an eager kiss-ass, not a rat.
The other, however, left their desk a lot more than Raf did. Her name was Sarah, and while she didn’t seem all that note-worthy at first, I couldn’t ignore the patterns in her daily activities.
Almost like clockwork, she’d get up from her desk every forty minutes. I didn’t know why, but after checking the cameras, she always went to the ladies’ room. I wasn’t privy to what she was doing in there, but I had the feeling she didn’t need to go that often.
Either way, the two of them were in my sights, and it was just a matter of catching them slip, then I’d eventually figure out which one was the rat.
As much as I wanted to blame Raf, I did my best to be fair and unbiased. If I blamed him and Sarah turned out to be the spy, then I could run the risk of fumbling the whole operation. I had come so far already, and I wasn’t willing to throw it all away just because I didn’t like how he always seemed to be searching for validation from Sky.
After some time, I heard the familiar sound of heels clicking against the polished floor, and I perked up. Sure enough, Sky was there at my side, sighing as she adjusted a tote bag over her shoulder.
The disdain was clear on her face, but she kept up appearances anyway as she looked at me reluctantly, as if accepting her earlier defeat.
I couldn’t understand why she didn’t want me to escort her for the interviews, given how eager she had been for me before, but I wasn’t about to ask…not while she was still visibly annoyed, anyway.
“Ready?”
Wordlessly, she nodded.
With that, we left the office, enduring a silent and vaguely awkward ride down the elevator, along with an even more deafeningly silent trip through the city in my car.
There were many instances when I wanted to reach out and say something—to break the ice and get myself back in her good graces, but as far as I could tell, she wasn’t too interested in hearing my voice.
Instead, she looked out the window and watched as the city passed. It seemed like she was deep in thought, and I decided to not push my luck.
For all I knew, she could’ve been pondering the new story, and instead of pissing her off right away, I figured that could wait.
Of course, she wasn’t going to be entirely safe from my pestering. That was a guarantee, especially when she made it so easy for me.
Still, it was hard to believe we had slept together, given the slight cold shoulder she was giving me, and didn’t show many signs of stopping. She was being too quiet, and it irked me as much as I found it amusing.
Her demeanor was the exact opposite of how she had been with me before—when we both couldn’t resist that pull between us and did anything to keep that physical contact going. When she was so loud for me, I wondered if anyone in the building heard.
While I tried to focus on the road in front of me, I couldn’t help but let those memories return. The feeling of her skin against mine, the sound of her pretty moans, the way she gripped me so perfectly—
“The first location should be up ahead on the left,” Sky said, finally breaking that silence along with my lewd reverie.
I blinked back the haze it created in my mind and cleared my throat with a nod, uncharacteristically compliant as I turned my left signal on and turned onto the correct street.
As much as her voice startled me, I still wanted to hear more of it, and I could only hope she didn’t intend to be silent the whole time.
Parking the car, we both got out and stood on the sidewalk where the last crime scene had been. Sky took a notepad out of her tote bag, along with a recorder, and she studied the beginning of her notes.
With my hands in my pockets, I glanced around, making sure the coast was clear. Upon inspection, it was a rougher neighborhood, but at that moment, nothing seemed out of the ordinary or caused alarm.
Even if I wanted to be around her for selfish reasons, her safety was still my top priority, regardless of how she felt about it.
“What happened here?” I asked curiously, taking in the street that had been returned to normal after whatever crime unfolded and was cleaned up.
Sky sighed to herself, then looked around. “A hit and run…it happened about two weeks ago now, but the police haven’t gotten any solid leads on the case despite there being several eye-witness accounts. It should’ve been a straightforward case, but for some reason, it didn’t go anywhere.”
“I see,” I murmured, considering the details. “What's your game plan then?”
Even if she couldn’t hide her obvious annoyance, she was still right to the point with me anyway. “I’ll go door to door and ask if anyone has information on what happened. If nothing ties this case to any of the other incidents around here, then at least I’ll know.”
It was difficult to not find her work mode incredibly sexy, but I forced myself to concentrate on the task at hand. There was a time and place and the sidewalk while trying to zero in on a hit-and-run case was not it.
“Alright…lead the way.”
Sky didn’t seem quite as annoyed at that, and with a nod, she began.
We started at the far end of the street and made our way down, going door to door and asking residents in the neighborhood if they knew anything about the accident or the perpetrator. For the most part, Sky either received the wild ramblings and repeated stories told by people more worked up about the fact that it happened rather than anyone with something she could work with, or she was dismissed. Those people either didn’t want to speak to any press, or they knew nothing and wanted to keep it that way.
For the most part, Sky seemed disappointed in what little information she was gaining from the public, but she put on a brave face and kept going anyway.
I admired that about her, but at the same time, I found myself growing restless too, wishing more people would open up about whatever information they knew. Even if I didn’t admit it outright, I was getting invested in it too, wondering if it did connect to any of the other crimes and if we had something bigger on our hands.
When Sky knocked on the front door of an old brick house, a man pulled the interior door back, gave her a once-over, then scoffed. “What do you want?”
Sky gave her usual greeting and let the man know she was a journalist for a local media outlet looking for some insight into what happened, and for a moment, a look of recognition scurried across his face—almost like he knew something.
That expression soon faded into an irritated one. “I don’t know nothin’, and I don’t talk to reporters anyhow.”
I caught the vague slump of Sky’s shoulders at that, and in an instant, I was irritated.
Well aware that I was supposed to just be her guard and escort her around the neighborhood, staying quiet and out of the way, I couldn’t help myself.
“It seems a lot like you know something,” I interjected, reaching for the handle of the screen door and pulling it open. “And you’d rather turn this nice reporter away instead of making yourself useful…”
Sky immediately froze up next to me, prepared to stop me, but I ignored her and opened the door to leave nothing between us and the man.
Upon seeing me up close and how I loomed over him, the man’s eyes widened, and he took a slight step back, dropping his tough, indifferent demeanor at once.
“Mind sharing with us, pal?”
Finally, the man nodded and stepped aside, allowing us inside his home.
Sky glanced at me as I gave her a satisfied grin, but instead of looking pleased with my slight flex of power, she let go of a breath, shook her head, and followed inside.
After hearing everything the man had to say and leaving with a few tidbits of useful information, the two of us were back on the street, wandering towards the next house, when I smiled and put my hands in my pockets.
“Not too bad, hm? Sometimes you need a bit of muscle to get someone to talk.”
Sky scoffed. “That was incredibly inappropriate of you.”
“Inappropriate?”
She stopped walking and gave me an incredulous look. “Yeah, inappropriate. You were technically trespassing and coerced him into speaking. I told him what company I work for…you understand how that could end poorly, right?”
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I knew she was right.
Still, she continued, looking more annoyed than before. “Look, I don’t need you getting in the way, and I don’t need you causing any problems for me. I’m trying to be professional here.”
I cocked a brow at her. “I got that man to talk, didn’t I? We got something useful, like how the suspect might have a nefarious background in this area.”
“We might’ve gotten that information, but it would mean nothing if he suddenly decides to call the police on us. I’m a journalist, not a cop. I don’t have warrants to enter people’s homes.”
Again, she had a point.
Huffing out a breath, I scrubbed a hand down my face. “I’m just trying to help…you weren’t getting a whole lot, so I thought I’d make him talk.”
“That isn’t how we’re going to do this. At this rate, I’d rather you watch from the car instead of getting in the way,” Sky muttered, still looking utterly annoyed with me.
Of course, hearing that made my stomach drop, but I didn’t let my face show it.
When I didn’t say anything to that, she continued, “I don’t have much of a choice in you being here, but I need you to let me do my job. Let me handle the people and asking questions and just…guard, I guess. Please don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.”
Even if the two of us had sex and seemed to be on a fast track to potentially becoming something, there was no doubting how much she was resisting me. How she seemed colder than before and was being too stubborn to budge in the slightest.
It was irritating, especially after knowing I already had her. But at the same time, it brought me a strange sense of satisfaction.
I knew she was playing hard to get and wanted to seem as uninterested as possible, but she couldn’t fool me. Given how she was for me on Friday, I knew she wanted me just as much as I wanted her. She wasn’t just being coy, she was being difficult.
But I never minded a challenge.
So long as I knew there was a chance she was still attracted to me and wanted me, then I wasn’t going to lay down my sword just yet.
That being said, I couldn’t risk pissing her off more.
I sighed, then nodded. “Alright, fine. I’ll shut my big mouth and let you handle this. But I’m not waiting in the car. Anything could happen, and if I’m stuck there, then I’d be useless to you.”
While she seemed vaguely frustrated still, Sky conceded. “As long as you don’t risk my job or dignity, then I don’t care.”
She was being a hard-ass, but I guess I deserved it.
Continuing back up again, we moved down the street while I hung back by a step or two, offering her room to do as she needed.
In forcing myself to stay focused and on schedule, my mind drifted back to the man we spoke to last, and I couldn’t help but wonder about something he had mentioned.
“Hey, just a second,” I murmured, pausing again.
Sky released a deliberate sigh. “What now?”
“I just want to know something. What was that name the man gave us?”
While irritated by me stopping her once again, the expression faded slightly as she double-checked her notepad. “…uh, Pesci? Why, does that mean something to you?”
Thinking about it, I let go of a breath and shook my head. “No, I’ve never heard that name before, but I think we should stash that one away just in case.”
While she didn’t object, Sky gestured ahead of her. “Can we continue now?”
Letting a faint grin appear on my lips, I nodded. “Lead on.”
Nodding, but not without letting her eyes linger on me for a moment, she proceeded, and I followed a step behind her, keeping my eyes on our surroundings.