Tea gets plunked beside her, shocking her out of her moment.
“Oh, thanks.”
“Didn’t we have a conversation about you not touching my shit?”
“Well, yes, but then I was thinking about credit cards, and I thought I’d get it done while you were out.” She picks up the cup and swings the seat around to look up at me, eyes taking in my jeans and lacking shirt. “Where did you go?”
“Fresh air.” I walk out and pick up the shirt draped over the back of the chair I brought down earlier, shoving my arms into it. “We need to get on the road to get surveillance set up.”
“Yes, but I've found some credit card activity. He was at a hotel recently. Should we check it out?”
“Alright. Go get dressed.”
I hear her moving rather than see it, probably because I’m not looking at her again. I need to stop whatever this shit is that’s revolving in my head. She’ll get herself out of this mess and then she’ll be back to Broderick mansions and her Broderick lifestyle. I’m not part of it. What I am part of is my own systems, the same systems I go back to and close down because she hasn’t.
One phone call made, just in case given the location we’re travelling to, and I wait for her to get ready. Ten minutes later and she’s in front of me with all the paperwork from yesterday in her hands. “Ready?” she says, grabbing her coat. I nod, get my keys and the camera gear I packed earlier, and head for the backdoor. “Noah?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you.” I keep walking, letting her duck around me into the outside world. “I mean it. Thank you. I know what I’m asking is going against what my brother has asked you, but I can’t do this alone. It’s nice to have someone. To help, I mean.”
“I’m not being nice, Neve. I’m being selfish. And fucking stupid.” She gets in front of my face, tilting her head about for some reason. “Don’t be thinking it’s anything but that.”
“I’m not. I’m just saying. You didn’t have to, and you are, so thank you.”
I get past her and unlock the car, ready to get on the road and stop whatever this conversation is. She gets in with me and stays quiet as I pull out. Good. We don’t need this sort of emotional shit. We’ve just got a killer to find, and then she can go back home and Landon can think about kicking my arse for insubordination. Not that he physically could, but he will hurt me in the only way he can. I know it. Probably won’t even matter to him that I was helping. He’ll see all this as some direct non-compliance, and then he’ll use more threats to make my life hell.
Time passes silently as we travel, and I’m thankful for it. Having her in my space is becoming difficult to manage, let alone the fact that I’ve got free rein to get inside her if I want that. It’s starting to make me think about things that are nothing to do with me. Which is confusing. One fuck and she’s more than she was before? Don’t even want that kind of life. One person? Honesty? Sharing? Not my style. Shouldn’t even be idling in my mind. It’s the way she works my systems that's doing it. It’s winding me up, making me see her as someone worthy aside from her body again.
We pick up some food at a service station en route, and I do my damnedest not to watch her mouth as she eats or her fingers leafing through documents as I drive. Fine fingers, two rings. One on her first finger, probably platinum. One on her little finger, probably the same. No engagement ring. Wouldn’t be, I guess. What the fuck am I thinking about? She just needs to get that hand around my cock a few times. That’s all I need to think about. In fact, I should pull over and make her get on with that rather than letting myself drift in whatever headspace I’m currently in.
“Noah?”
“Yes.”
“You missed the turning.”
I refocus on the road and cough, trying to pretend I meant to do that. Didn’t in reality. I was just too busy getting lost in thoughts that are nothing to do with me. And some that are. “Next junction is quicker.”
“Oh. Okay. How do you know?”
“Been around here a few times before.”
I have, and tie that thought in with her and I’m turning into a fucking mess of thoughts and indecisions. Still, the next junction is taken and we speed out along smaller roads that eventually lead to country ones. Doesn’t take long before we’re driving towards the place we’ve been aiming for, and I pull up just outside the hotel Lewis stayed in.
“Right, so, maybe I should go ask?” she says as I get out.
The door slams behind me and I look around, scanning the surroundings. Credit cards said he came here and spent money, but it’s unlikely she’ll get any more than that from where he slept. “Okay. I’ll go check out the town. Call me when you’re finished.”
I turn to walk away, and then realise that if he is still here, or even around this area, leaving her alone is stupid. I wander back and lead the way into the hotel, reaching into my pocket for something useful in these kinds of situations. “Stay quiet and look like you’re supposed to be here,” I mutter, as we aim for the reception desk.
The red-haired, young receptionist looks up as we get to it, her face a strange ray of happiness. “Hello, sir. How can I help?”
I push the fake police ID on the desk. “DCI Aversham. You had a Lewis Davis staying here on the ninth. I’m looking for information on his current whereabouts.” She looks at the ID as I pull it away, then looks around the foyer.
“I think you probably need the manager, but he’s not in until the afternoon shift.”
“No. I just need you to see if he’s stayed here since then. Would you mind checking for me?”
