Page 24 of Jared

James clenched the steering wheel even tighter, his knuckles now showing white. He set his jaw, then abruptly changed lanes to pull into an empty car park. James didn't even look to see what the lot belonged to, opting instead to stare at his partner in disbelief. “Oh, come on!” he said, exasperated.

“Come on? Really? Come on? We get this Desmond guy's name from the bouncer as one of the regulars, find out from another of the regulars where he works, and as soon as we enter the store, he and his buddy take off through the back like the hounds of hell are after them. No car, no license, so once we do manage to track down his address, no thanks to his employer, we find he has moved out, just like that. Not to mention his buddy has done a flit. Then we find out he's actually still moving his stuff out, no thanks to the over-protective roommate we'd spoken to earlier. We follow the guys taking his stuff, to that building. That expensive as fuck building there's no way he could afford. He's getting the money for a place like that somewhere, or someone in there is hiding him in there for some reason. Given the way they've both ran, it's highly suspicious. Maybe they're selling drugs at the club and under cover of that shop. Maybe that's why his boss was being uncooperative.”

“Or just maybe it was time for them both to get off work and they were avoiding having to deal with two more customers. Maybe they both moved because a third friend had an apartment share he needed to fill and they jumped on it. Look, let's just speak to him about our actual case, huh? The one with the two guys going around the state, raping guys they befriend at clubs, remember that one?”

“Fine, whatever. But I'm telling you now, James, if anything else suspicious comes up, I'm reporting it.”

“You do that. Somebody else can investigate it, unless it has bearing on our rape case. I know we're the FBI, but this isn't TV. We do the job we're assigned, and anything else concrete, relating to another case, we pass along.”

R.W. gave a curt nod and tried to make peace by picking up his discarded cup and placing it in the plastic bag sandwiched between them.

James gave a muffled curse as he turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the space.

“Yeah, I know. I hate not being able to find and solve the world's problems at the drop of a hat too. We're also both tired and cranky, having been up way longer than necessary.”

“Yeah, I could sleep,” R.W. admitted. “Maybe you're right, maybe we should've just gone in and spoken to him.”

“Ya think?” James snorted.

“Sleep, then let's go try to catch him at work again,” R.W. suggested.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Jared was still sound asleep when Steve slid back into bed, maneuvering him back into his arms comfortable.

“Mmm, where'd go?” Jared mumbled.

“Shhh, it’s just me. I had to check on something.” He dropped a kiss onto the top of Jared's head. He luxuriated in the feel of holding him in his bed, in his arms.His cock filled at the thought of some day soon, being able to claim him in this very bed. He reached a hand under the covers, readjusting himself. Sleep eluded him as other thoughts filled his mind.

Who were those guys and what do they want? Hopefully Tim'll come up with something. He held his mate tighter. No matter who they are, they won't be allowed to hurt anyone in the pack. Especially you.

Realizing that sleep was going to be impossible, he turned off the alarm so that it wouldn't wake Desmond up. He can sleep in all he wants, doesn't have to be to work until two,he thought. He remained in bed awhile longer, until his restlessness threatened to disturb Jared's sleep and he once more snuck out of bed.

Deciding he might as well finish his laundry, he took the clothes out of the dryer and began washing a load of towels and jeans. Folding the clothes he'd taken out, he left them neatly stacked in the basket, all to aware that he risked waking Jared if he went into the bedroom to put them away. The TV was out for the same reason. He sighed. Might as well get some work done. He poured himself a glass of juice and at at his table, opening his laptop. So, they want to expand the bakery and open an eat in section. Let's see how we might accommodate that. He dug into work, flicking through files and getting up to grab a piece of paper and a pen, jotting down notes and ideas.

“There you are.”

He glanced up, blinking as he became aware that much more time had passed than he'd thought. “Morning. Sleep all right?”

“Yeah. Just wondered where you'd gone off to. I remembered you getting up and talking to someone, so thought maybe you'd gone.”

“Nah, just my brother. Him and my dad wanted to talk some pack business with me.”

“Oh.” Jared gestured at the laptop. “Is that what you're doing now?”

“Yeah. The bakery down the street rents space from the pack and they want to expand. Trying to see what we can work out. I'm going to meet with the coven's Prince to to see if we can reach a deal.”

“Coven? Like, witches?” Jared paled.

“No, it's a vampire coven.”

“Wait, what? A vampire bakery?”

Steve chuckled at the look of incredulity of Jared's expression. “Yes, A Bite of Heaven is a vampire owned bakery, and, at least according to my my dad, make the best danishes in all of New York. Must admit they make a pretty mean bear claw.”

“But, aren't bakeries open during the day?”

“Yeah, they open at six in the morning and close at six at night. Though if my dad stops by earlier, they let him have some of whatever they've got coming out of the oven before opening.” Understanding flooded his face. “Oh, the daylight thing. Myth, sort of. They do have to avoid prolonged exposure or they don't feel particularly well, but they don't just puff into dust from a bit of sunshine.”