On the Case #4
She rolled her eyes but shoved Vega’s card into the waistband of her shorts. Her boyfriend missed it but we didn’t.
“Go back inside. I’ve got this,” He snapped at her seemingly possessive over the attention she’d paid us.
She frowned at him again before turning around and going back in the house.
“Agents Ortega-Castillo and Nakoa with the FBI. We’d like to ask you some questions.” Vega was back to being all business but he wasn’t going to get far.
Christopher smirked as he looked between the two of us and then back to Vega. “FBI? What’s this about?”
“The murder of Natalie Rawlins.”
He paused neither of us missing the fear on his face before he gritted his teeth and crossed his arms. Defensive posturing of a guilty man. “I don’t know anything about that.”
“I’m sure you might not think you do but we’d like for you to come with us and answer some questions.”
“You think I’m some broke kid with overworked parents who doesn’t know how this goes? If you want me to come in for questioning you better find a judge that my mother doesn’t know to sign off on a warrant.” He was smug and I couldn’t blame him because he had every reason to be.
I smiled at his bravado feeling that clench in my gut that signaled we were on the right track.
“Fair enough. Just know that we will be seeing you soon.”
He didn’t respond just took a step back and slammed the door to his house, leaving us on the front steps.
Vega and I walked back down the driveway with a renewed sense of purpose. After weeks of not having a lead, this felt like something big. We got in the car both sitting down and cranking the car before either of us spoke. When I put the car in reverse, he finally spoke up.
“That piece of shit is guilty of something. It might not be this but something is off with him.”
Vega was thinking the same thing I was and “No emotion. He should’ve been worried about why we thought he was guilty but he didn’t bother to ask one question.”
“Looks like working with your lady has paid off.”
I thought about Asha and the way we would need to ensure her name was kept out of this until we could get more information on Clancy.
“Looks like. But let’s see if we can find something to get his ass in the office. Then we’ll see just how good she really is.”
ASHA
“What’s good, wifey?”
My brows dipped immediately and I glanced up over my glasses to meet the amused eyes of my fiancé.
“Is that supposed to be some kind of compliment?”
The amusement in his eyes continued to shine as he stood in the doorway of my office. This was the first time I’d seen him in a few days. He needed to go out of town on business that I knew involved his brothers. I didn’t get any details but I realized while I looked at him that I’d missed him.
“It’s a fact so if you’re looking at it as a compliment I guess we’re taking a step in the right direction.”
And just that fast, he irritates me. “Your arrogance truly lacks limitations doesn’t it?”
“I’ve had thirty-five years of building up a thick skin and not allowing anyone to shake the faith I have in myself. I figured you would know about that more than anyone.” He gave a look that immediately made me think of his dick and I felt my temperature skyrocket.
“Are you being cheeky or are you being serious?”
He rubbed his chin probably debating if he was going to tease me or allow me to change the subject. “Cheeky is something I’ve never been called before meeting you. Don’t know how I feel about that.”
“You should probably get used to how I say it. That and the British way I spell things. I know it’ll grind your American gears to see me put a u in favourite.”
“With the way Americans have treated all of my people, do you truly believe I’d give a fuck about something as small as the semantics of a language that is founded on stupid rules?”
“Well, tell me how you really feel. And what do you mean all of your people?”
“Are you going to invite me in?”
“Are you a vampire? You need an invitation to cross a threshold now?”
Those eyes flickered over me again taking the temperature up to a level that could only be reduced by him making me cum.
“I’m sure you know from personal experience just how much I like to bite and be bitten, but drawing blood will never be something I’m into.”
The heat rushed to my face and I abhorred the way he could affect me. It felt…insulting to my soul somehow but yet it was still happening.
This has to be some sort of witchcraft.
“Of course you could come in. I would rather speak with you up close than have one of my colleagues overhear whatever flirtatious banter you feel the need to engage in.”
He strode, because a man like him didn’t know the meaning of the word walk, into my office and left the door only slightly ajar.
I wasn’t sure if he was doing it for propriety’s sake or because he felt the need to have an audience but he sat down in the chair in front of my desk and simply stared at me.
I wasn’t in the mood to play games but this felt like a silent challenge and I would be damned if I lost. Even if this wasn’t a test of strength, I felt as though my mental fortitude was being challenged and it caused me even greater offense than I thought it would.
“You need a bigger office.”
I can’t lie and say I wasn’t relieved when he broke our temporary standoff. Having to just look at him was something that was getting harder to do. The bastard had the nerve to be unnaturally attractive and I was at least thankful I wasn’t being tethered to an old man for the rest of my life.
His dick is fairly phenomenal as well.
“I’m on the lowest rung on the tenure path here so this is as good as it gets.”
He looked around clearly unimpressed with the four walls. “You sure? I feel as though this is the type of place they cram TAs where you all have to rotate your shit in and out.”
“Well, I’m sure you understand that every education department is doing all they can with the barebones minimum for the government that’s lining its pockets like a bunch of fat rats.”
Ori wouldn’t back down from his position which felt oddly comforting. “Tuition here isn’t cheap. And I doubt it’s gone down in the last few years to where you can’t get a full, adult-sized office instead of something that looks like a damn janitor’s closet.”
“When you work for a school in a country that doesn’t value education this is what you have to endure. Besides, the size of my office isn’t a direct correlation to my ego. I couldn’t give a damn about any of this and frankly if I didn’t enjoy the work I did I wouldn’t be here.”
“What is it about teaching that ended up being your passion?”
That wasn’t a question I expected him to ask me but it was one I didn’t mind answering.
“Getting people to think outside of their norm. I might work and have knowledge in a very specific field but I’m sure you realize I do a lot of lower-level coursework as well.
Between psychology, sociology and a few other classes, I hope that I’m not aiding in the churn and burn phenomenon that has been seen in society today. ”
He quirked the side of his mouth in what I guess he thought was a smile. “Lots of ChatGPT essays being handed in?”
I had to roll my eyes at him bringing up the new bane of my existence.
“Don’t get me started. I have no problem with technology being there to help people who need help or to help broaden learning or make it more accessing.
My problem is with the unchecked nature of AI.
How it literally creates something whether it’s factual and then funnels it into search results.
People have been citing the most easily refuted nonsense and it’s taken a lot for me to not throw in the towel. ”
“Because you hope.”
My eyes fluttered at that word wanting to hold on tight to it and banish it all at once. “Hope can get you through the darkest days. Isn’t that one of the major themes in this country? Hope. Liberty. Justice?”
“None of which I’ve ever fully experienced.”
“I know that your islander background has ensured that you have a disdain for the government. Which makes your employment with them all the more confusing.”
“A topic for another day.”
“If you insist.”
The awkward quirk was deeper now and we simply watched one another silently. “I do. But one thing you need —
“Dr. Avery—”
The door flung open causing Ori to turn around as his hand reached for his gun.
The head of our department strode into the room seemingly unbothered that he’d interrupted a meeting. He came and stood right next to Ori as though he isn’t important enough to acknowledge.
I stood up, trying to hide my irritation and the intrusion, since he had already been reminded of his manners and still ignored my boundaries.
“Dr. Callahan, I thought I requested that you knock before you entered my office. Some students can be intimidated by the presence of the dean of their college being able to barge in when they have grievances.” I kept my tone modulated, knowing that if I displayed the extent of my irritation Ori was going to give Callahan the Anderson treatment.
“The door wasn’t closed.”
“And even when it has been you’ve still trespassed without gaining my permission.”
I felt Ori’s eyes grow more intense and I realized how poor that choice of words truly was.
“Being so rigid isn’t the way to show your desire to collaborate with your peers and your bosses. I told the dean your issue with Margo is also overblown. I don’t understand the need—”
“It’s not for you to understand.”
I knew he was going to do it. He’d hesitated far longer than I’d expected him to, which I silently applauded but I was aggravated with him thinking he needed to step in.
Dean Callahan seemed to just realize Ori was there, an impossibility given the man’s massive size, and glared at him as though he were insignificant.
Realizing that he wasn’t going to deal with this man in a civilized manner, he pushed back from his chair and stood up to his full height immediately towering over the intruder.