Bonus Chapter
Griff
Griff hunched over his desk at headquarters, desperately trying to catch up on some much-needed paperwork that had piled up from his and Cal’s last few cases. Cal loathed paperwork, skipping out on it every chance he got. That left Griff to manage it all on his own.
And considering how fond Cal was of breaking practically every rule and regulation on the books, there was never a shortage of forms to fill out or reports to file. The time Griff spent on paperwork had more than doubled compared to when he’d been investigating on his own.
Still, despite the stacks of papers cluttering his desk, thinking of his work with Cal brought a small smile to his face.
As frustrating and chaotic as Cal could be, Griff would be lying if he said he didn’t appreciate having a partner on the job with him.
It was great to know that he had someone there to watch his back and bounce ideas off of.
It was even better that it was someone like Cal.
Someone who could think creatively in ways Griff never could.
Who tended to approach every problem from an unexpected angle Griff never would have even considered.
Someone Griff could trust wholeheartedly, if not to follow the law, then to always do the right thing.
Daydreaming about Cal seems as good a sign as any that I need a break.
Griff set down his favorite Vantoric pen and leaned back. His chair creaked loudly as he stretched from side to side, cracking his neck and working out the kinks in his muscles from sitting in one spot too long.
His gaze wandered absently over the office. It was late afternoon now, and most of the other investigators had already left for the day, but a handful of workaholics like Griff still sat hunched over their desks.
All at once, he froze, his gaze jerking to a halt on Inspector Hayford. The pot-bellied man stood hunched over his desk at the other end of the office, shuffling through papers not unlike what Griff had been doing up until a moment ago.
At first glance, the scene appeared entirely ordinary.
There were just two problems. First, Griff was nearly positive that he’d seen Inspector Hayford go home over an hour ago. And second, the inspector was currently enveloped in a very distinctive brilliant aura.
Heaving a long-suffering sigh, Griff stood and approached. Inspector Hayford didn’t look up, too preoccupied with his perusal of the desk’s contents.
Griff crossed his arms and cleared his throat. “Greetings, inspector.”
Inspector Hayford hid his surprise well. Griff caught barely a slight widening of his eyes before the other man managed to school his expression. “Inspector,” Hayford replied with a placid nod. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m very busy here, so—”
What little patience Griff had left frayed away. He leaned in close and lowered his voice to a whisper. “What in the name of the Goddess are you doing here? Impersonating an inspector? Are you insane?”
Hayford’s pudgy lips twisted into a cocky smirk that Griff would’ve recognized no matter whose face wore it. “You’re always telling me I need to spend more time at headquarters,” Cal said. “Well, here I am.”
“Yes,” Griff hissed. “Doing legitimate work like writing reports. Not illegally masquerading as a city official!” Griff snuck a covert look around the room.
No one seemed to be paying them any mind, but that didn’t do much to set him at ease.
“Do you have any idea what would happen to us if you got caught?”
“To you?” Cal shrugged. “Probably nothing. You’re the city’s golden boy, after all.
To me?” Cal paused, strumming a finger on his rounded chin thoughtfully.
“No idea, to be honest. I’m pretty sure the High Commander is just waiting for an excuse to lock me up, but we’ve never tested whether his approval of you outweighs his dislike of me. ”
“If you don’t tell me what in the Void you’re up to right this second, I’ll personally use whatever influence I have to convince the High Commander to lock you up myself!”
“All right, all right. No reason to get snippy.” Cal scooted around the desk and plopped down into Hayford’s chair. “Do you remember that investigation we started into who else was involved in the void relic plot?”
Griff frowned. “Of course. But I thought we’d hit a dead-end months ago.
The Brotherhood’s connections stop us from going after Bald Locke directly, and even with Sasha and Kelsith’s testimonies, too much remains inconclusive.
The only person who knew the full extent of the conspiracy was Vesalain herself, and she’s been far from cooperative. ”
Cal focused his attention back on Hayford’s desk, quickly perusing more of the papers there. “That doesn’t mean we need to let her co-conspirators walk free. If we can’t find the evidence we need via the normal channels, then we’ll just have to get creative.”
Realization flared in Griff’s head, and he groaned, covering his face. “Oh, for the love of—you’re not just impersonating an inspector. You’re here actively trying to prove that one is guilty of treason.”
“We both know he is.” Cal impatiently shoved the stack of papers aside and began opening desk drawers.
“All the signs point toward Hayford being one of Vesalain’s accomplices.
He had access to that same Pentarch bank account as Sasha and personally attended the High Scholar on multiple occasions before her arrest. Not to mention his connections to Bald Locke.
Even if he wasn’t directly involved in the void relic affair, he’s certainly had his hand in countless other crooked schemes over the years. ”
“Perhaps,” Griff conceded with a sigh. “But all of that is circumstantial at best. We have no hard evidence of any wrongdoing.”
“Exactly.” Cal shut one of the drawers and opened another, rummaging through its contents. “Hence why I’m here looking for some.”
Griff could feel a headache coming on. He took back every kind thought he’d ever had about working with a partner. “I don’t suppose it would do any good to tell you to abandon this fool’s errand and go home?”
“You know me so well.” Cal beamed up at him. The expression looked out of place on Hayford’s usual scowling face. Griff hadn’t much cared for the other inspector before they suspected him of conspiring against Derimay. Since, then, their relationship had only gone downhill.
Cal moved on to yet another of the desk drawers.
This time, when he tried to slide it open, it refused to budge.
Cal grinned. “Finally, something interesting.” From somewhere beneath his disguise, he extracted the set of specialized lockpicks he kept in the tattoo on his chest. “You might want to look away for this part.”
Griff huffed but did as Cal had suggested, giving the room another quick scan.
Thankfully, they still didn’t seem to have attracted any attention.
Everyone else had their own duties to attend to, and what few people remained this late were all too busy with their own cases to care about someone else’s.
After a few moments, Griff heard a soft click from behind him.
“Got it,” Cal said. “Now, let’s see what you were hiding…”
There was the sound of a drawer sliding open and the shuffling of more papers, followed by a low whistle. Despite himself, Griff turned back around. “What is it? What did you find?”
Cal glanced up from a small notebook he had open on his lap and raised a brow. “Are you sure you want to know, inspector? After all, I wouldn’t want to implicate you in any kind of illicit activity.”
Griff rolled his eyes. “Out with it.”
“You sure know how to lay on the sweet talk, love,” Cal said with a wink.
“Bad news, you owe me an apology. Good news, I think this might be exactly the evidence we need to tie Hayford more directly to Vesalain’s operations.
The Void-cursed fool probably hung onto it in case he needed the info as a bargaining chip. ”
Griff grimaced, eyeing the journal. “Evidence that no judge would ever allow in court given how we obtained it.”
Cal shrugged. “As if that’s ever stopped me before. Legal or not, it gives us some new leads to follow.” He held out his hand. “Give me your pen and notepad so I can copy this down.”
Griff considered refusing, but he knew that wouldn’t stop Cal. Besides, he couldn’t deny that he was eager to see what Cal had turned up.
A fact that Cal, unfortunately, didn’t miss. “Admit it.” A hint of smug orange flickered in Cal’s aura. “You’re glad that I’m here. We’ve been banging our heads against this case for months without any progress. Say what you will about my methods, but they get results.”
“I’ll admit no such thing.”
“Oh, come on,” Cal teased. “You stole that ledger from Bald Locke without a second thought when we were investigating the void relic.”
“That was different!” Mild outrage infused Griff’s voice. “Derimay faced a major threat, and Bald Locke was a known criminal. Extenuating circumstances demanded drastic action.”
“Uh huh.” Cal didn’t sound convinced. “And how do you know that Hayford isn’t involved in something even more dangerous? Better to be wary than dead. If breaking a few teeny, weeny laws is what it takes to keep the city safe, then so be it.”
Griff shook his head. “And you wonder why the High Commander doesn’t like you.”
Cal made a wounded sound. “At least you appreciate me.” When Griff didn’t respond, Cal flashed him a pair of puppy dog eyes that would have been much more effective if he wasn’t currently wearing someone else’s face. “I’m just doing my best to be useful. Like any good partner would.”
While his tone remained teasing, a subtle waver in his aura gave away the hint of insecurity buried beneath his bravado. Even after nearly three years on the job, Cal still occasionally struggled with accepting that he truly belonged here in the new life he’d built for himself.
Griff heaved a heavy sigh. “Maybe, every once in a while, your methods occasionally get some results.”