by Jada Cox
“Fine,” I said after a while, not knowing what else to say. I couldn’t stay mad, but the annoyance was still there.
“I am sorry, Violet,” Malcolm said. “Let me make it up to you and take you to lunch.”
“You just got here, and you already want to go on a break?”
“We’re going to have to eat at some point, and you’re going to go over the case with me. We might as well combine the two and go from there.”
I shook my head, opening and closing my mouth as I tried to think of excuses for why this wouldn’t work but came up empty.
“Alright,” I said. “But it’s going to be quick. We’re already running behind.”
I stood up from my desk as he stood from his chair. I couldn’t help but notice his eyes scanning my body as I put my phone and notes into my purse. I also couldn’t help smiling inwardly that he was checking me out.
We went to a little Thai place around the corner from the office building. I frequently grabbed lunch from there when I was in a rush or got dinner to take home with me when it had been a particularly long day.
We were sat away from the windows, toward the center of the airconditioned restaurant, next to the giant fish tank that spanned from floor to ceiling. It was one of my favorite spots to sit. I loved watching the fish.
“Have you ever been to Thailand?” Malcolm asked as we sat down.
“I can’t say that I have,” I said, plopping my purse on the chair next to me.
“You need to go. Everyone does.”
“Maybe one day when I have a few spare grand lying around,” I said. “Not all of us can afford traveling and mansions.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” he said, “I split the cost of it with my friends. There are actually six of us living in there, not just me.”
“Oh, I know,” I said. “I’ve seen you all out front with your bikes.”
The server arrived with two glasses of water.
“Any other drinks I can get for you?” she asked.
“Ginger and lemon tea for me, please,” I said.
“Thai iced coffee,” Malcolm said. “And I think I’m ready to order. Are you, Violet?”
I nodded. “Prawn pad see ew, please, two stars.”
“And for you, sir?” our waitress asked.
“I’ll have the Thai duck,” he said. “The spiciest you serve. And prawn pad woon sen, and yum calamari, all at the same time, please.”
I stared at him with my mouth open in shock at the amount of food he had just ordered as our waitress collected our menus.
“What?” he said. “I missed breakfast. Anyway, I was told that this guy you’re after,” he lowered his voice, “Skeet Rowe? He’s something of a big deal, isn’t he?”
I took a sip of my water to help me transition from the idea of how much food was going to be at our table to the details of the case.
“You could say that,” I said. “He’s a banker, and if the allegations that he’s running a money laundering scheme are true, then he’s not just doing it for the fun of it. He’s doing it for someone with big money, and you can almost guarantee it means that there’s a gangster somewhere in there.”
“So why is JC Detectives handling this instead of the police? No, wait, scratch that question. Why is the agency called JC? Is it a religious organization?’
I chuckled, rolling my eyes. “It’s ridiculous, actually,” I said. “It’s not a religious detective agency. I have no idea what that would even look like or how that would work. No, the founder is a huge Robert Anton Wilson fan. It stands for one of the characters in his books: Justin Case.”
Malcolm laughed. “You’re kidding me.”
“I wish I was,” I said, giggling behind my water. “We are Justin Case Detectives. I nearly started looking for another job when I heard that.”
“Why, though? Because of the pun, or because it’s named after a fictional character?”
“Oh, the pun, easily,” I said. “I have no time for them.”
“I think you’re going to have to learn to like them,” he said. “I tend to use them quite a lot. They tickle me pink.”
“Are old-timey sayings your thing, too?” I teased, realizing I was using my flirting smile a little too late. I tried to retract it, but found that I either didn’t know how or just didn’t want to. It was going to be really hard working around this guy if I got this way after sitting with him for five minutes.
“What can I say? I like the classics,” he said as our beverages arrived. “So what about this do I need to know?”
I thought for a moment. I had spent all morning thinking that I was going to need to get him up to speed on the specifics of this case, but as my annoyance subsided, I realized that I was already thinking of him as my partner. That was dangerous thinking. I couldn’t have that happen. Not after what happened in the police force. I took a long breathe in. “Nothing, really,” I said. “You’re not my partner in this. You’re my security guy.”
“Right, but I need to know what to be prepared for, what to look out for,” he said, waving his hand in a vague circular gesture.
“Didn’t they tell you that in your instructions?”
“I hate to break it to you,” Malcolm said, leaning his face forward and lowering his voice, “but the agency’s security team are a bunch of amateurs. All they did was hand me a packet of information that I had to sit there and read, and ‘officially’ assign me to you.”
“That took all morning?” I asked flatly.
“I’m a slow reader,” he replied, gravely. “It’s a true downfall on my part. Great cook, like long walks on the beach, good-looking, but the catch is that I’m an excruciatingly slow reader.”
I giggled despite myself. Damn, he’s got a fun personality, too. Do not go for this guy, Violet, I told myself.
“How did you get into this line of work anyway?” he asked. “You look really young to be a detective.”
“There’s no age limit when it comes to snooping,” I said simply. “As long as you’ve got the skills and can back yourself up, you can be a private eye.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But you and I both know that’s not your story. The question is, then, what is?”
“We don’t have to do that thing, where we talk about my history,” I said.
“I want to know,” he said, smiling. Malcolm, behind that dark facial hair, had a dazzling smile, the kind where his eyes sparkled before he was even thinking about smiling.
“Alright,” I said. “I started my career off as a cop, and I was good enough at what I did that I was promoted to detective.”
“That’s impressive,” he said. “You must be good at what you do.”
“I suppose I was,” I said, thinking about my time on the police force. There was something about working with the police department that made it feel far more noble than what I did now. We weren’t taking money off people to find their loved ones or solve the things the police left alone. We were doing it because it was the right thing to do, and the government was the one who paid for it, not the victims of the crimes, or the worried family members and lovers.
“Was?” Malcolm asked, interrupting my thoughts. “Why aren’t you still? Why the career change?”
I thought for a moment, wondering why he was so interested in my past. I wanted to respond with something defensive, something sarcastic, something to get him to shut up about it. But in all honesty, I was enjoying myself, enjoying his company. I didn’t know that I wanted to upset him and potentially turn this lunch into something awkward.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said as casually as possible. “It’s a little too personal for a first-time lunch.”
“Shall we have a second lunch, then?” he asked, cocking his eyebrow.
“You’re insatiable, aren’t you?” I replied, smiling despite myself. “I think we should get through the first lunch before we start deciding if we want to repeat this process.”
“Ah, but I am your sec
urity guard,” he said, leaning back in his chair and taking his iced coffee in his hand. “I am in charge of your bodily wellbeing, and part of that is being nourished. So as long as I am working with you, this will not be our only meal together.”
I shook my head, looking down to hide my smile. He didn’t need encouraging. If he kept going on, I was going to give in, and I knew giving in couldn’t end well.
“Alright, if we’re going to keep eating together, we might as well be productive while we do it,” I said. I sighed and rolled my eyes, giving in to the earlier request. “I’ll let you in on the details of the case. But you’re not my partner.”
“Of course not,” he said, smiling. “Just your humble security detail.”
“Alright. Well, it looks like either he’s laundering money for someone else or he has another business going on,” I started. “I don’t see him in need of the extra cash enough to tire himself with an extra business. However, if someone came to him with some money that needed laundering, it would likely be easy enough for him to do it, and he’d make some cash on the side. Thus, he’d be tempted to do it. I have a few ideas as to who Skeet might be doing this for. We’re not going after the provider of the funds, just Rowe. That was all we were hired to do. But we still need to find out who he’s working for.”
“Why?” Malcolm asked. “You just said that we’re not going after the provider.”
“If we find out who the provider is, then there’s more opportunity for me to find Rowe when I need to. If I know who he’s likely to be meeting with, then my guesses for where he’s likely to be narrow down.”
“So, the plan is to just rotate around places he might be at based on who you think he might be working for?” Malcolm asked. It sounded really dumb when he put it that way.
“No, the plan is to try to find out who the provider is. And in the meantime, we’re going to keep a tail on him for a while.”
Malcolm scoffed. “Have you seen your car?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve already thought about that,” I said, waving him off. “I’ll rent a car.”
“I can always get a car,” Malcolm suggested. “I’ve been thinking of getting one anyway, now that I’m becoming more domesticated and all.”
“Domesticated?” I asked. “What, have you only just been house-trained or something?”
He laughed. “Something like that. I’m being trained to live in a house all over again. I’ve been living on the road for quite a few years. I don’t even have a bed yet. I’m currently sleeping in a sleeping bag on an inflatable mattress. But hey, it’s an upgrade from yesterday, which was sans mattress.”
Our server returned with a large tray with several plates on it. Slowly and carefully she unloaded them all onto the table, before reaching into her apron and putting down two sets of chopsticks. I reached for the chopsticks while Malcolm went for the fork. I knew that chopsticks weren’t traditionally Thai, but there was something about eating noodles with a fork that just felt wrong.
I could smell the spices from across the table.
“You’re actually going to eat that?” I asked, wrinkling my nose as the scent infiltrated.
“Oh, this is my favorite,” Malcolm said. “That’s the traditional way. Thai people like things pretty hot.”
“I know, but that smells like overkill over there.”
“I like things hot and spicy,” he said. “What can I say?”
He winked at me, and I had to look down to hide my blush.
Chapter 7 - Malcolm
I wandered to the main floor from the garage down below to find the guys out on the back deck with a barbecue on the go. My mouth watered as soon as the smell of sizzling meat greeted me. It had been several hours since lunch, and my stomach was ready for another feast. I could get used to coming home and food being on the go.
“There he is,” Julian said as reached into the cooler for a bottle of beer and passed it to me.
“How was the first day of being employed again?” Wyatt asked, lounging against the railing of the deck.
“The first part was pretty long, but it got better after that,” I said. I twisted the cap off the beer and took a swig. Coming home to a cold beer on the back deck felt like heaven. So far, I had no regrets about buying this house aside from having to think about furniture. “Tomorrow’s going to be a long one. I’ve actually been assigned to work with our neighbor.”
“Really?” Dain asked, flipping some burgers which were sizzling next to some hotdogs, twelve massive steaks, shish kababs, and a few ears of corn. It was an impressive barbecue to be able to cook all that, but it wasn’t going to be enough to feed all of us. “How random is that?”
“Not that random,” I said. “I only heard about the company because I saw the bumper sticker on the back of her car.”
“You went out and talked to her the other day, didn’t you?” Quin asked, a newspaper in hand as he sat on the floorboards and leaned against the window. “You just kind of floated out of here like a moth flying to a flame.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I guess I did,” I said.
“What’s it like working with her?” Wyatt asked.
“I enjoy it,” I said. “She’s kind of funny. She puts on a hard front, but once she lets it down, she’s kind of cute. It doesn’t help that she hates her boss, and her boss assigned me to her. I think she takes that out on me a little. But yeah, she’s cute when she’s mad, too.”
“Cute?” Cory asked, rummaging in the cooler for his own beer. “What kind of cute? Cute like a good personality, or cute like visually?”
I chuckled. “Both, actually. Though, to look at, I think she’s more than cute. Today she was wearing a low-cut blouse, skirt, and heels, and I was really struggling to not be caught staring at her. She’s got a very fine booty on her.”
“Don’t shit where you eat,” Dain said, turning and pointing a finger at me. “You don’t want to hook up with the neighbor girl.”
“Yeah,” Quin agreed. “It’ll just make things weird between her and this whole house. Especially if she’s one of those clingy girls, the kind that likes to just show up unannounced and wait at your house when you’re not home.”
“I don’t know,” I said, thoughtfully. “First of all, I don’t think she’s like that. She’s trying to keep me away, but I know she likes me. Besides, I was thinking something a little more permanent than just a hook-up.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Cory said. “You can’t go changing things. We just bought a house. You’re getting a job. That’s enough change for my liking right there. Relationships aren’t our thing, and picking up casual lays has always worked for us.”
“Man’s got a point,” Julian said. He stood up from his spot on the stairs and stretched. “Don’t fix what ain’t broken. I gotta take a leak.” He maneuvered by Wyatt and went into the house.
“Our lifestyle wasn’t broken,” I reasoned. “We were just ready for something different. We don’t need to work, but we are ready for something different. Change is the spice of life. ”
“No, variety is the spice of life. You’re saying that you need something different than meeting beautiful women and taking them home with you?” Cory said. “I’m not following.”
I snickered. “Forget it.”
“It’s way too complicated for us to get into relationships anyway,” Quin said. “We’re shifters. We aren’t human. Not only that, but we’re Dragons, which means that we outlive basically everyone. Unless you can find yourself a Dragon babe, it’s probably not worth pursuing.”
“I can just see how that conversation would go,” Dain said. “‘Hey, you want to start dating? Just so you know, I turn into a giant fire-breathing lizard with wings sometimes, and I’ll live to be like 500 years old. But hey, I’m loaded.’”
“That’s not how it works, though,” Cory said thoughtfully. “When Dragons find a mate, and the mate’s not a Dragon, their aging will slow down to match the Dragon’s aging. So, basically, they’ll live just as lo
ng.”
“Really?” I said. “I didn’t know that.” My parents had never really spoken much about what it meant to find your mate when I grew up, and the guys and I never spoke about mates, either. I’d never really believed in mates to begin with.
Julian returned as I finished my beer and tapped the edge of the empty bottle on the decking.
“So,” I said. “Did you get in touch with that interior decorator I found, Julian?”
“I did,” he said. “He came out and saw the place. We decided on a color theme, and he’s going to hopefully have some furniture for us at least in the next couple of days.”
“That’s it?” Dain asked.
“No,” Julian replied. “They’ll do the decorating and stuff as well, but since we literally have nothing at the moment, he said he’d get some furniture in immediately. If we like what he got us, then he’ll come up with a design concept around that. The process to get the first design will take a couple of weeks.”
“And if we don’t like the furniture?” I asked.
“Do we really care?” Julian asked. “We’re sleeping on inflatable mattresses and don’t have anywhere to sit but the floor. It’s like we’re squatting in here.”
“Fair point,” I replied.
“Did he say anything about patio furniture?” Quin asked.
“I didn’t ask. But I wanted to go and get a truck tomorrow anyway,” Julian said. “I thought it might be useful. Once I have it, I can pick up some stuff for out here.”
“I’ve got nothing going on,” Cory said. “You can ride on the back of my bike to get the truck.”
“Sweet,” Julian said, high-fiving him.
“Right, guys,” Dain said. “Burgers and dogs are up.”
I couldn’t sleep that night. There were too many things going through my mind. I had wanted to see what Violet knew about Skeet Rowe and gage how worried she was at lunch. She seemed pretty confident.