“No thanks.” Bryn grabbed cereal and a banana. “Is there coffee?”
“Brewing.”
“You were out early.”
So he noticed.“Yeah, felt the urge to run. Wanted to get in a few miles.” Bryn sat at the table. Gunnar joined him with his plate of eggs and wholewheat toast. “What are you staring at?”
“You,” Bryn gave him a lazy smile, licking his spoon slowly.
Gunnar didn’t know where to look. He was being teased, and he knew it. He was saved by Emmett’s arrival. The apartment door opened, and then they could hear Emmett taking off his coat and walking through to the office.
“We’re in here, Emmett,” he called.
“Good morning!” Emmett came into the kitchen with a beaming smile on his face. The day’s ensemble consisted of a bright yellow sweater vest over a white shirt, navy slacks, and a navy bow tie with yellow polkadots. He had traded his usual polished brogues for a pair of the cleanest sneakers Gunnar had ever seen.
“Good morning to you, too. You’re in a good mood today.”
“I love my job. I can’t wait to get started on investigating the symbol you sketched, Bryn. Ooh, is that coffee?”
“Yes, could you get me some too? Gunnar’s been neglecting me,” Bryn replied.
“Of course.” Emmett delivered three mugs to the table but didn’t sit down. “I’m going to start working. Oh, but before I do, on the way in Warden caught me downstairs. He suggested that Talbot and I sublet your apartment, Gunnar, because the current tenant is leaving for a new job. Would you be okay with that? It’s much closer than where I live at the moment, and I’d be sharing with one guy rather than four.”
“Sounds like a great idea to me,” Gunnar said. “I left responsibility for it with Warden, so I guess you can get the paperwork sorted with him. It’ll be good to know there are people I like and trust living there. Let me know when you guys are moving, and I can help with some of the heavy lifting.”
“Oh, that’s okay. Warden said he’d arranged for movers for me, and Talbot doesn’t have anything to move. I’m going to do a call-out for people to donate things that he’ll need for his room.”
“That’s a great idea. I did leave a bunch of stuff there, so you won’t need kitchen equipment, and there are plenty of spare linens and towels in the closet. If you have any problems with anything when you get there, let me know. The faucet in the bathroom can be a bit temperamental.”
“This is going to be such a good day, I know it!” Emmett bounced off with his coffee.
“I guess we should follow his example,” Gunnar said. “We need to pick the next request to deal with.”
“Oh, goody.” Bryn took a long swallow of coffee. “Let’s make it one where we can get out of the city.”
“Any particular reason?”
“A change of scenery would be nice. Maybe an overnight. You know the way it goes…small hotel, booking mix-up, only one bed…”
“Get to fucking work!”
“Yes, sir! Love it when you get all growly, I can imagine the vibration around my cock.”
Gunnar debated banging his head on the table but settled on collecting the dishes.There isn’t enough coffee in the world to deal with this.He stacked the dishwasher then went to join the others. Emmett didn’t as much as glance up from his computer. Bryn, flopped in his beanbag with legs outstretched, was on his laptop.
“I found an interesting one that shouldn’t take too long,” Bryn said.
“Okay.” Gunnar sat at his desk and fired up his computer. “What’s the reference?”
Bryn supplied it and Gunnar scanned the documents Emmett had stored in the folder. “Massachusetts General Hospital, amnesia case?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.” Bryn levered himself out of his beanbag then came to stand at Gunnar’s shoulder. “A young woman was involved in a hit and run. She was found unconscious on a side street in the West End. Some lowlife took advantage and grabbed her purse so she had no ID on her. She took a knock to the head and can’t remember who she is. The local PD thought I might be able to help find out who she is.”
“You can see past amnesia? Isn’t that memory loss by definition?”
“Yeah, but the memories are still there, the person just can’t access them. I can’t get past permanent brain damage or degradation due to a disease like Alzheimer’s, but that doesn’t apply to this woman.”
“No. The doctor’s note says there was some brain swelling but that she should recover fully in time. There’s no reason why she needs to stay in the hospital but they need to release her into the care of someone who knows her. She was wearing a wedding ring.”
