Chapter 16 Roman
ROMAN
The last few weeks had been like the old days, but better.
I’d kept my physical distance from Hana.
I wanted her to come to me, to crave me, and in order to do that, I stayed away.
But I’d watched her… through the cameras in her house, through the ones I’d fitted in the diner when I broke in one night after she’d closed up.
I’d followed her through the CCTV dotted around town, and through the tracker I’d put on her phone when I gave her my number.
Knowing her movements soothed me, but it fed my obsession, and things had spiralled to a new level.
My urge to touch her had gone unfulfilled, and I was growing desperate.
My name sounded out, and I looked up from my laptop.
“Sean?” My new boss stood in front of me. I had mainly dealt with Thomas since I’d started work, as Sean had been away on a job, but he’d come back a few days ago.
“Can we chat?”
I pointed to the chair next to me. Thomas had offered me an office, tucked away, but I wanted to be surrounded by the tech and my team; it was the best way to keep a handle on what was going on around here.
He sat, leaning back, looking far too relaxed for a man as alert as Sean was. “How are you settling in? Small town life driving you mad yet?”
I shrugged. “It’s not as bad as I imagined.”
He laughed. “Is that because you actually enjoy it here or because the woman you’ve been obsessed with for a decade is here?” My eyes flared. “Tom and I don’t have secrets, but also, I was obsessed with a woman for a while, so I know the signs.”
I drummed my fingers on the desk. “Oh, yeah, and how did that go?”
He smiled wide. “She’s mine now. For keeps.”
Nodding my approval, I spoke again. “I don’t think you came here to swap love stories, Sean.”
He shook his head. “Nope. I didn’t. I have a job for you. Bit of a puzzle really.”
I waited for him to continue as he unlocked the phone he was holding and placed it in front of me.
“This is Cole Larson. He made an announcement yesterday that he was running for mayor in the city. He’s a big-time property developer, has a clean record, lived with his wife and a couple of kids.
” I stared at the image of the unremarkable looking man—50-ish, dark hair greying around the temples, shaking hands with a woman I didn’t recognise in some fancy glass-walled building.
“Right. What do you need me for?”
“He’s dead.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“Dead. Murdered. Single shot to the head, execution style.” He flipped over the top photo to show a much more graphic one below of the now-deceased man.
I hissed, and Sean covered the image with the original one.
“Probably about twelve hours after this photo was taken.” He tapped the publicity image with the tip of his finger.
“Wife came home and found the body. No sign of forced entry, nothing taken, no evidence at the crime scene. Very professional hit in my opinion.”
“So someone didn’t want him to be mayor?”
Sean raised his eyebrows in a silent agreement as he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out something small and black that I soon realised was a flash drive.
“This was in his hand.” I took it off him, turning the tiny device over in my fingers. “A friend of ours who’s a detective has asked us to verify if what’s on here is fake or not because it all feels a little… well, off.”
“You want to tell me any more?”
He shook his head. “No, I want to get your take on what you find. Fresh eyes and all that. I also want you to track his movements from the time he left the mayoral announcement,” he tapped the picture again, right over where the other photo had shown the bullet entered his forehead, “street cameras, CCTV, traffic cams. The usual. I want to know where he went, the exact time stamp and if he met anyone. Then can we find anyone who went to his house? By whatever means necessary.” The insinuation hung in the air.
The police would be looking into it, but they didn’t have the tech or the skill that we did, so we’d find more and find it faster.
“Okay. Leave it with me, and I’ll make it a priority.”
“Good. Just keep your team small and on a need to know basis until we know what we’re dealing with. Use Jarrid if you need him. Do not put yourself in danger, Roman. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Sean,” I replied in a sarcastic tone, but I appreciated how he and Thomas protected the people who worked for them. They’d created a family, and I couldn’t deny how nice it felt to be a part of something bigger than just me.
His phone rang, and I could have laughed at how much his face lit up as he answered, “Well, hello, Dr Slone, are you ready to go home?” he practically purred down the phone as he left.
I was keen to get started, but it was already nearly 7 pm, and I knew I’d end up being here all night, so I closed my laptop and decided to go and do something else instead.