Page 37 of Never and Always
“We’ll hang out…soon,” hepromised.
“I’ll hold you tothat.”
She loved the little smile he gave her before he backed away and turned down thecorridor.
Mia pulled in a breath to clear the heat from her head. She didn’t think she’d ever gotten so worked up over anyone. Thank God she hadn’t stuck with worrying andwondering.
She made her way back to her room, now excited at the prospect of hanging out withhim.
* * *
Damn it,he had to take a coldshower.
Him.
Nick could almost laugh at himself, except that there was nothing funny about the situation. He wanted a woman he was told he couldn’t have. She was off limits, out of bounds, and supposed to be out of hismind.
He could have cursed Glenn for putting him in this position and for casting judgment on him when he hadn’t done anythingwrong.
Nick understood Glenn’s reasoning behind it. But to go as far as telling him to not go there with Mia, that didn’t feel like it was okay, and he couldn’t say that things between them had been the same since thetalk.
He’d outrightly tried to avoid Mia, and Glenn, too. Since that night he couldn’t think about Glenn without gettingangry.
He’d distracted himself with work, which was coming along really well. And taking form in a manner that he never quite expected. Being away from the house made him spend more time withSawyer.
Sawyer came up with some fantastic ideas that got Nick thinking, and he agreed to a subcontract with the police department. It was the kind of contract that was in line with what he wanted, where they’d hire him as needed. It was pretty much the way they worked now, but it was just making it more official on paper that he was their preferred investigator who be outsourced when a case came up. That way he could work with other detectives, not justSawyer.
Again Sawyer highlighted Nick’s much-needed skill, which was becoming quite evident, again, as they tried to track down Alan and thepaintings.
Nick had managed to pinpoint a location where he thought the paintings could have been taken to, it also turned out to be an address that flagged up on their system for sightings of stolen cars and a few other items of value likejewelry.
He’d singled out the location when it came up as one of the drop-off points for the elusive company that took the paintings out of the facility. They’d managed to get the license plate details from CCTV, and from there tracked thevan.
Last week they found the van, but it was left deserted in a parking lot in Boston. It was completely empty and cleaned out. The local police had taken fingerprint samples, but so far there weren’t anymatches.
The van was a dead end but served some purpose in helping him pick out the drop-off address, which they’d be looking at today. He singled out the location for the simplest of reasons: the van had stayed there for the least amount of time. That was it, but it was enough for him to want to check itout.
Nick had always been the kind of guy that checked everything out even when it looked like nothing. In this case, when they ran the address through the database it came up with all sorts of redsignals.
He didn’t think they’d find the paintings there, but was hoping for alead.
Nick went to the station early to see Sawyer the next day. He’d been leaving as early as he could to avoid Glenn. Mia tended to wake up a little later so that was taken care of. He didn’t think he could stand being in the same room with the two of them. Glenn casting him evil stares and Mia turning him on so much he’d have to jump in a bath filled withice.
“What’s up, man? You’re early,” Sawyer said with a bright smile as Nick went into hisoffice.
Nick laughed. “Just eager to start the day. I’m stuck on militarytime.”
“I guess I’m the same.” Sawyer nodded. “You ever think of goingback?”
“I don’t know.” Nick grabbed a seat in front of Sawyer. “I feel like I did my time. Are you thinking of goingback?”
Sawyer loved being a Marine. The guy was invincible and part of the elite that used to get sent on some crazy-assmissions.
“Sometimes I think I could, but I feel the same, I feel like I did my time, too. Now we serve in a different sort of way. I won’t lie though, I always thought I’d do well in the Black Ops.” He brought his hand up thoughtfully to his stubblychin.
“Well with your track record I wouldn’t be too shocked if they didn’t recruit you. If you get a call put in a good word for me.” Nick leaned back against the chair. He wouldn’t have minded being in the Black Ops, too, but honestly, he didn’t think that sort of life was for himanymore.
He had done his time and wanted to take his life in a different directionnow.
