“Two reasons. One, it’s going to be Mom’s birthday soon, and I wanted to know if you’re on board with giving her a weekend at her favorite spa.”
George groaned. “We do that every year, Danny. So yes, I’m on board. Same procedure and everything.”
“Gee, forgive me for asking. You could have changed your mind, you know.”
“Not really. I’m bad with presents, just like you and Griff, which is why Mom let us off the hook years ago by allowing us to basically give her a repeat present every year.”
“You’re insufferable without coffee. Well, second, I was a bit worried about you because of the Andi situation, but now we’ve talked about it and everything’s fine, or so I think. Is everything fine?”
“Nothing’s fine and you know it, Danny. But you can’t do anything to help with this except call me at the butt crack of dawn and remind me why it’s a good thing we don’t live under the same roof anymore.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Danny snorted, then got serious. “I mean it, George, if you need help, if you need to talk, call me at any time. This is the first time I’ve seen you so out of sorts, and it makes me a bit nervous. I’d feel better if you gave me regular updates.”
“If I promise to do that, will you stop calling me at ungodly hours?”
“That could be negotiated.”
George hesitated. “Thank you, Danny. Really. It was good talking to you.”
“And it was interesting talking to you.” Danny had already left the seriousness of the situation behind. George found he could live with that. His brother’s call had helped him relax.
“I’ll talk to you soon. Have a good day, Danny.”
“You too, George. And catch those bastards!”
“Will do.”
George disconnected the call and put the cell on the nightstand. For a brief moment, he considered going back to bed, then decided against it. There were still evil guys to catch, and he wasn’t that tired anymore. Coffee, a short workout, then back to work. It sounded like a plan.
AFTER Aquick shower, George went out to swing by the Starbucks and get him and Andi breakfast. His partner had texted him that he would walk to the precinct and they would meet there. When George arrived at their desks, Andi was already there, looking slightly better than the day before. The dark circles under his eyes had evened out a bit, and when George placed his usual plain bagel and cup of tea in front of him, he even smiled. It wasn’t the kind of smile that lit up a room or made the main characters in romantic stories swoon, but it was definitely more than just a quirk of the lips, and coming from Andi, it was a thousand times better than some stupid lip motion brightening the day of some lovesick fool.
“Thank you, George. You’re a lifesaver. And thank you for driving me home yesterday. Without you, I’d have probably ended up sleeping on one of the slabs in the morgue.”
“Evangeline would’ve killed you. And you’re welcome. It’s what partners do.”
Andi’s eyes flashed at these words, but not like he was going to lash out. It was almost… tender. George tried not to overthink it. They were both still tired.
“Do we have any new leads?” he asked instead.
Andi shook his head, then took a bite from his bagel. “Unfortunately not. The license numbers on the vans were fake, and the vans were both stolen six months ago in Beaufort.” Andi stared at their whiteboard, that showed mainly question marks and dead ends. “I hate to say this, but we don’t have anything to go on.”
George contemplated the whiteboard as well and had to agree. They had the bodies of the three girls, the testimony of the four victims they had saved, and the less than helpful confessions of Ronald Wallace, Taylor Vance, and the four men they had taken into custody during the raid. They also had Detective Harris, a cop who may or may not be a part of the trafficking organization and Andi’s hunch that the person responsible for all this, the one wearing the lion mask, seemed to be somehow sick. That was a lot of dead ends for a case with so many people involved already in contact with the police and/or under arrest.
“You don’t have another one of your—insights?”
Andi raised a brow. “Was it hard to find a good word for it?” He grinned, taking the sting out of his words. George picked up on the lighter tone and flipped Andi off.
“Idiot. Insight sounds so much better than nefarious and probably illegal information.”
“I told you, it’s not illegal. Not really.”
George winked. “I know. Any ‘ideas’?” He made sure to draw quotation marks in the air. Andi threw a napkin at him.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re using my unique talent?”
“Because I do.” George shrugged. “The way things are with this case, I’m grabbing at any straw I can reach.”
“And now I feel underappreciated,” Andi muttered.
