Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
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It’s been a week of blissful silence since I last saw Theo.
Part of me loves the fact I can work in peace…
the other side, not so much. I often miss his brutish ways and the pranks he plays on me.
It makes me wonder if there’s something more going on with him, something he’s not telling me.
And I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since it’s not like we’re best friends who tell each other everything. I’m his enemy, and he’s my… first love.
Flicking through pages, I brush the hair back from my face.
I wore it down today, even putting on extra makeup to make myself feel better, but so far it hasn’t worked.
I’ve barely slept in the last few weeks.
This case has taken all of my brainpower, and after everything at home and with Theo, I’m heading for a breakdown. Or that’s what it feels like, anyway.
Footsteps sound closer, but I don’t look up, keeping my nose firmly in the pages of the latest tome I’m reading, paper scattered across the desk in front of me.
“How’s it going?” a voice says behind me, one I thought I’d gotten a reprieve from.
Closing the book with a heavy sigh, I lean back in my chair and cross my arms, wondering why me? “It’s going fine.”
The chair next to me moves, and my eyes dart to blue eyes that have always been able to break me. Theo sits down, acting more awkward than usual—shifting in his chair, his eyes roaming around like he’d rather be anywhere else than here.
“Is there something you wanted?” I ask, tired of him hating me.
“How did the meeting go with Frank?”
I give him a confused look, and my eyebrows raise, not only because he’s talking to me but also because he’s talking to me gently.
There’s no trace of hate in his tone. Sitting up straight, I take the olive branch he’s offering.
I shouldn’t. After how he’s been, I should be expecting a prank of epic proportions coming my way.
I’m still cautious as I reply, “Not great. He’s watching me. Something about him not being happy with how I’m conducting myself around the office.” I give him a knowing look, one that says, and it’s all your fault.
He swipes a hand down his face, the whiskers of his beard scratching, but the sound is oddly comforting. “Yeah, I, uh… sorry.”
I can’t hide the look of surprise that hits my face. Is Theo apologizing? Did I hit my head and this is all a dream?
Before I can utter a word, he gestures toward the books and says, “Need any help?”
Yup, definitely dreaming.
“Uh, sure,” I stammer, picking up one of the books and handing it to him.
He takes it, opens it up to a page, then grabs a pencil from the stack in front of me. He doesn’t say anything else, just gets to work. My stomach twists in knots at having him so close, but my body clearly likes having him around since, for the first time in years, I relax.
“Where have you been?” I ask. Why I feel the need to know is anyone’s guess.
Theo tilts his head. “Worried about me, firefly?” He chuckles with a raised brow.
“Absolutely not.” I scoff, my cheeks flushing. “That would mean caring about you, and I most certainly do not.”
“I call bullshit,” he replies, a smile on his lips.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “See, this is what happens when you’re nice to the hot guy… he thinks it’s all about him,” I groan.
“You think I’m hot?” he teases, his smile widening.
He’s totally fishing for compliments, which is why I ignore him. “So… where have you been?”
“I had some personal stuff to take care of,” is all he says.
Curiosity gets the better of me, and a little bit of jealousy too. “That girlfriend of yours?”
Theo huffs out a laugh, a lock of hair dropping down into his face. “No, firefly. No girlfriend. Something happened with James’s girl, and I needed to be there for him.”
“Is she okay?” Now I feel horrible, not only for being jealous, but also for James’s girlfriend.
“She’ll be fine. James… I’m not so sure about.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
He smiles gently. “Thank you, but no.”
“Okay.” I can’t think of anything else to say, so I duck my head, grab the nearest book, and try to focus on work and not the way he’s making me feel.
“Okay, so if he’d been watching her for a while, it would stand to reason that he was a friend? She worked at the coffee shop, maybe a customer? Co-worker?” Theo says, sipping on his coffee.
We’ve been at this for hours. It had started quietly, neither of us saying anything, and the only sound was the rustling of paper or a pencil scratching.
But eventually, Theo began mumbling under his breath, which led him to talk out loud, which, in turn, led to where we are now—him asking me questions.
I nod. “That’s what I was thinking. She also used to go to a bar called…” I shuffle the papers on the desk, trying to find the name. “Habitat. Isn’t that the bar on Main Street that had a few girls go missing last year?”
Theo perks up. “Yeah, I think it was.” He goes quiet for a moment, his eyes darting around while he thinks.
I’ve always loved this side of him. His ability to see what no one else can was one of the first things that drew me to him… other than his looks, of course.
“Let me check with some of my contacts, but I’m thinking road trip.”
I laugh. “Isn’t that what the police are for, big guy? I don’t remember learning about this in school.”
A strand of hair comes loose and settles across my face. Theo reaches out and softly places it behind my ear. I don’t breathe for a second, my heart pounding at him being so close.
He doesn’t seem to think anything of it, or if he does, he doesn’t show it as he says, “That’s because you’ve never worked with me properly before.” He winks before standing up and stretching. “Meet me in my office in ten minutes. We’ll go down to the bar and see what we can stir up.”
“It’s lunchtime, Theo. Won’t it be shut?” I ask, pulling myself together and pushing away from the desk.
He shrugs. “I’m sure someone will be around. And if not, we’ll go back later when there is.” He walks out of the library as I scratch my head, wondering what trouble he's going to get me into now.
Turning up to a nightclub in broad daylight is weird—it looks like any typical industrial building without its strobe lights and queue of people trying to get in. The brickwork is crumbling, and the black door that grants you entry into something I like to call hell could do with some serious DIY.
I follow behind Theo when he opens the door, and my shoes stick to the floor as I walk.
Ew.
Music blasts my eardrums as Theo opens another door, one that leads directly into the club.
A few people wander around, cleaning, restocking fridges, and moving tables.
The black walls are peeling, the paint years old.
The bar takes up the entire back wall, large and imposing.
The DJ booth sits in the far corner, and someone stands behind it holding a headphone to their ear.
Theo marches to the bar, a man clearly on a mission. I follow and stop next to him. A young woman with short, bright pink hair and a nose ring glances up at us.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” she calls over the music, pointing to the door. “The manager will have my ass if you guys don’t leave.”
Theo smiles, and I watch as the girl blushes.
Yeah, he has that effect on most people.
“That’s handy, cause it’s the manager we’re here to see.” He winks, and she blushes further, stammering out that she’ll go get him.
Theo leans against the bar and turns to look at me. “Well, this should be interesting.”
“Uh huh,” is all I manage to say before a tall, creepy-looking man starts walking toward us. I tilt my head in his direction, and Theo, sensing what I’m not saying, turns round.
“You guys cops?” the nasally voice shouts, before signaling to the DJ to turn the music down.
I breathe a sigh of relief when the music cuts out. My eardrums no longer feeling like they’re about to burst.
Theo chuckles at the guy, not offering his hand. “Nope, just wanted to ask a couple of questions though.”
The guy crosses his arms over his chest, his black slicked-back hair not doing anything for him. He’s at least a foot shorter than Theo, so if he thinks he’s going to intimidate anyone, he’s wrong.
“Get a warrant or get out,” the guy snarls, his eyes narrowing.
My hackles immediately rise. That’s not a normal reaction for someone with nothing to hide.
Theo shrugs, clearly unbothered. “No problem. Thanks for the… hospitality.” He takes me gently by the elbow, leading me back the way we came.
“Theo,” I whisper-yell, “what are you doing? The guy’s clearly hiding something.”
“Shhh,” he says, ushering me toward the exit. My protests die on my lips when he gives me a scathing look.
It’s only when we’re safely back in the confines of his car that he speaks. “That guy wasn’t going to talk, firefly, so we need to go around him.”
“Go around him?” I ask, my brows furrowing.
Theo turns the ignition, the car rumbling to life. He looks over at me as he says, “Yeah, we’ll go back tonight… undercover.” The maniacal grin he gives should have filled me with dread, but it just makes me smile, until a thought stops me dead in my tracks.
“I can’t tonight,” I groan, my head hitting the headrest behind me. “You’ll have to go without me.”
His jaw clenches, and his hands tighten around the steering wheel, the faux leather squeaking. “Hot date?”
The thought is so preposterous, I laugh. “No. I haven’t had one of those in years. I, uh, have other plans.”
His hands and jaw unclench, his shoulders visibly relaxing. “You haven’t dated in years?” he asks, head tilted slightly like he doesn’t believe me.
“You were the last person I dated, big guy,” I reply quietly.
His head fully swings in my direction, his eyes wide. “You haven’t dated since me?”
“Is there a parrot in this car?” I ask, glancing to the back seat. “That’s what I just said, wasn’t it?”
“Why?” he asks incredulously.
I shrug. “I had other priorities.”
Theo eases back, forehead creased and lost in his own thoughts. I try not to dwell on it as I look out of the window. Neither of us speaks as he drives, the silence growing heavier with each block. The city rushes past, glass and steel surrounding us.
“As much as I’m loving this new and improved Theo, wanna fill me in on why you're being so nice to me all of a sudden?”
He blows out a breath before saying, “Things change.”
I shift in my seat, angling my body to face him. “Do they?”
“People can change, firefly. They can become better versions of themselves if they do the work.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing? Getting better and putting in the work?”
He nods, just once. “Some new information came to uh, light as I was working with my therapist. I mean, I’m not going to stop hating you right this second, but, uh…” He pauses, and my heart beats faster. “I think it’s time I let it go, for me… not for you.”
“That sounds like a really good idea,” I agree, placing my hand on his thigh.
We both look down, my stomach dropping at the act, but it was such an instinctual movement, I didn’t think anything of it. I feel the flex of his muscles under my hand, yet I can’t pull my hand away.
He clears his throat, and I finally come to my senses, drawing my hand back as if I’d been burnt.
I just hope he never finds out about the secret I’m hiding, because if he does, he’ll never forgive me again.