CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Wow,” David said. “That’s insane. I mean, even more so than usual.”
Faith laughed over the phone. “Yeah, it definitely stands as one of my most nerve-wracking cases. Somehow, holding a man’s hand with both of mine while sitting on him and controlling him with my hips never came up in my FBI training.”
“You could not have said that in any weirder of a way,” David said.
Faith giggled. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’ve had a lot of practice since I met you.”
“Wow, okay, stop, please.”
“That’s not what you usually say.”
“Seriously, eww!”
“Eww? Eww?”
“Come on, you know what I mean. I don’t want to think about that guy when we… Okay, yeah, we’re done. Changing the subject.” He took a deep breath and released it in a heavy sigh. “I’m going to let go of the Sierra investigation.”
Faith was quiet for a long moment. When she spoke again, her voice was soft and almost reverent. “Wow.”
“Yeah.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I know. Kinda don’t know how I feel about it.”
“What happened?” Faith asked. “Everything okay?”
He released a whistling breath. “Hoo boy. You’re probably going to get mad at me. Maybe I should tell you when you get home.”
She sighed. “You ignored me. You left the house and did some digging.”
“Yeah, I did. I’m sorry.”
She sighed again. “Well, it sounds like you finally learned your lesson, at least. Want to tell me what went wrong?”
He gave her the short version of everything that had happened while she was away. To her credit, she didn’t interrupt to shout at him or make him feel bad for the several obvious mistakes he’d made. She didn’t even freak out when she told her about cutting his hair.
Her response when it was all over still cut him to the core. “You shouldn’t have gotten Rogers and Hammerton involved. They’re going to need to watch their backs now.”
He looked down at his feet. Jeff and Greg looked at him from the living room, frowning. He smiled and gave them a thumbs up, then turned around. “Yeah. I know. They kind of… I mean, I’m not blaming them, but they kind of insisted.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Jessica did too. I still think it’s not right. Actually… I’ve been kind of thinking about things too.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well… I almost got into trouble with this case. We had a reporter giving us grief, and Jessica and I handled it wrong. I’ll tell you all the details later, but the point is, I put Jessica in the hot seat with her boss, and… Well, I kind of wonder if maybe I come from an older version of the FBI.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Faith, you’re not that old.”
“No, I know. I don’t mean…” She sighed. “I don’t know what I mean. I just know that I’m tired of my friends getting into trouble because of me. I don’t know. I’m just exhausted. I’m just saying that I understand why you’re letting go of the Sierra case, and I think you’re doing the right thing.”
His eyes widened in alarm. “I mean, I don’t want to let it go completely. I was hoping that… Well…”
“Oh yeah, we’re not letting it go. Michael, Jessica and I are still going to make sure we find justice for those dogs. But you are going to be the world’s best vet. You’re going to do what you’re good at and let us do what we’re good at.”
“Yes,” David said, relaxing. “Exactly. Thank you, Faith.”
“You’re welcome. And when we do finish this… Well, I won’t say that yet. I need to think about it first.”
“About what?”
“Nothing. I love you. I’m going to hang up and help Jessica load the car, okay? We’ll see you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too. Give my love to Turk.”
“I will. And honey?”
“Yeah?”
“There will be hell to pay for cutting your hair.”
David sighed. “Yeah. I know.”
“Okay. See you soon.”
“See you soon.”
He hung up, and Jeff and Greg both called, “Aww!” From the living room.
David rolled his eyes and extended a middle finger, much to the delight of his new friends. He brought coffee to the living room, and Greg grinned and batted his eyelashes at him. “Thank you, honey! I love you!”
“Go to hell.”
“As long as I’m with you, sweetie!”
Jeff tried to participate, but he was laughing too hard to get the words out. David rolled his eyes again and grabbed his keys. “Yeah, yeah, yuk it up. You guys are what, thirty-five? Thirty-six?”
“Aww, don’t be… don’t be mad, honey,” Jeff said, wiping tears from his eyes. “We’ll still take you to work.”
“Actually,” Greg called to David’s retreating figure. “We still have to take you to work. Protocol and everything.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” David said. “I’m just waiting in the car so I can drink my coffee in peace.”
“Sorry, babe,” Greg said, rolling to his feet with the shocking grace so many big men possessed. “We’re a unit.”
He slid his hand into David’s, and Jeff started laughing again. He turned to David, and David said, “If you kiss my cheek, I’ll…”
Greg planted a wet smack on David’s cheek, and David sighed.
Greg laughed again and pulled his hand away. “Welcome to having guy friends, Doc. The ribbing is constant.”
David unlocked his car and slid into the driver’s seat. “I think I liked you two better when you were cold and stoic around me.”
“Yeah, but we like you better when we’re watching you stumble through life.”
“It’s cute,” Jeff agreed, sliding into the front passenger seat. “Holy shit, dude, is this a car or a bike?”
Greg grunted as he shifted his bulk so he could close the rear passenger door. “I’m pretty sure my Gold Wing is bigger than this.”
“Ha ha,” David said. “Some of us like to have a turning radius less than that of a school bus.”
He backed the CX-30 out of the driveway and accelerated down the road. Twenty seconds out of the lot, Greg said, “Oh, shit. I forgot my coffee.”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” David said. “I’m already running late.”
“Because you were on the phone with your true love?” Jeff asked with a grin.
David glanced at him. “Seriously, man? You guys need girlfriends.”
"Dude, we really do," Jeff agreed. "Faith doesn't have a sister, does she?"
“She does, but they don’t talk.”
“Hell, who said anything about talking?”
David rolled his eyes, but despite the immature humor, or maybe even a little bit because of it, he was glad to have friends.