“Okay. What do you want me to do?”
There were plenty of things I wanted him to do, but none of them were part of any investigation we were working on. And none that I had authorisation for either. But maybe…
I stood and closed the door to our office, effectively soundproofing the room.
Mase raised his eyebrows, but said nothing, waiting for me to explain.
Instead of sitting back down, I walked over to his desk and took the spare chair beside his. “There’s something you could do for me, but it’s not exactly sanctioned, so feel free to say no.”
“To do with the thing you can’t talk about?”
I nodded.
A steely resolve crept into his eyes. “Whatever you need.”
“It’s nothing illegal, but not something we should be working on either.”
Mase shrugged. “I was a hunter, remember? I’ve done plenty of things I shouldn’t have.” He nudged his knee against mine. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
I’d toyed with the idea this morning on the drive into work. Mentioning it to Jake was out of the question; he’d only worry about Xen finding out. Whichwasa risk, but small enough that I thought it was worth it. If we were ever in the position of investigating that night in any official capacity, I wanted to have everything ready to be able to move fast, because I had a nagging feeling that when it came down to it, we wouldn’t have long to prove John’s innocence.
“You know the pub we went to the other night?”
Mase nodded. “Stella’s?”
“Yep. I want you to find out if there are any traffic cameras that face the front and back of that building. And if any of the surrounding properties have security cameras.”
“I take it you want me to be as discreet as possible?”
“Yes.” I rubbed a hand over my jaw, the skin rough with stubble where I’d forgotten to shave.
That was a lie, actually. I hadn’t forgotten; how could I when my razor was right there in the bathroom? The truth was, I knew Jake liked it, liked the way it scraped over his skin when I trailed kisses down his throat.
And elsewhere.
We might not have that anymore, but I couldn’t bring myself to shave it off.
“You all right?” Mase asked, frowning.
“Sorry. Zoned out for a sec.”
Mase gave me a curious look. I could almost feel him struggle not to ask me something he knew I wouldn’t be able to answer. “What do you want me to do with the information I collect?”
“Nothing.” As much as I wanted to pull any footage those cameras might have caught, I couldn’t. Not yet.
Mase sighed. “You realise that some of those businesses might erase the recordings on a monthly or even weekly basis, right?” He might have no idea of the exact night I was interested in, but he wasn’t stupid.
I sighed, knowing he was right. “Yes. But there’s nothing I can do about it. I don’t have authorisation to request the footage.”
He opened his mouth, then seemed to think better of it. “Okay. I’ll dig around and see what I can find out.”
“Thank you.”
