He felt badly for Jenna but he wasn't going to investigate this case. End of story.
After they finished their meal, Chris and Knox went back to the office. Since Knox was between cases, Luke asked him for help looking through old missing person cases from the 1990s which only served to keep reminding him about Jenna's sister. All day long.
By the end of the day, his mood wasn't much better than it had been that morning. He needed a couple of ibuprofen and a good night's sleep. A hot meal wouldn't be amiss either.
What I need is a distraction.
For a moment he thought about heading down to the local watering hole near his apartment but then decided against it. He was crabby and tired, not the ideal state to drink. Plus he was at the point in his life where he was getting tired of the whole...bar thing. He was beginning to notice that he was a lot older than many of the other patrons. It was a sure sign that it was time to move on and grow the hell up. With the exception of Jenna, the women he'd met lately weren't the type he'd want to date for more than an evening or two.
And he'd stopped having one night stands over a decade ago.
He packed up his briefcase and was heading to the exit when Chris appeared, holding up a file folder.
"Looks like I have some reading this evening," he said with a mischievous grin. "Don't worry. I won't say anything about it to you tomorrow."
Knox knew what was in that damn folder. Chris was between assignments as well and helping other people out, so obviously he'd taken a few hours and done some research on Jenna's sister.
Son of a bitch.
Knox wasn't going to have a drink at a bar. He wasn't going to have a peaceful evening in front of the television with some greasy takeout.
He was going to be reading that goddamn file.
Because he couldn't take it anymore. Chris was right. The curiosity was strong. This wasn't about helping Jenna. This was about clearing his obviously fucked up head.
"Give it to me."
Chris blinked at him innocently.
"Give you what?"
Knox didn't need this shit.
"Just fucking give it to me."
Chris's gaze moved to the folder in his hand, a shocked expression on his face as if finding it there was a complete surprise.
"You mean this?"
Knox held out his hand. "Just give it to me before I kick your ass."
Laughing, Chris glanced over his shoulder. "Don't let Logan hear you say that. We're supposed to be a team, and you're supposed to be keeping your pissy moods out of the office. That didn't last long, did it?"
Sighing, Knox hung his head. "Just give me the folder before they find your body in a shallow grave."
"You wouldn't be that careless," Chris scoffed. "None of us would. If you killed me, they'd never find the body."
"That's true. I'm already thinking about dump spots."
"How about that place by–"
"For fuck's sake, give it to me and go home to your wife."
This time Chris handed it over.
"It actually looks pretty interesting. Let's talk about it tomorrow after you look through it."
Knox shoved it into his briefcase. He wasn't a happy man.
"I'm just going to look at it. I'm not going to help Jenna."
"Sure, just keep telling yourself that. Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?"
Me. Most definitely me. Damn.
6
It had been a shitty day and all Jenna wanted was to order in some dinner and then take a long, hot bath. She planned on scrubbing her skin raw. After spending less than an hour interviewing a potential private investigator, she felt dirty. Icky. He had to be the sleaziest guy in the entire state. Possibly the whole country. Within five minutes of being in his company, she'd wanted to vomit.
I won't be hiring him.
He hadn't taken the news well either. When she'd finally managed to make her way around him and to his office exit, he'd realized she wasn't going to hire him, he'd become angry and nasty. He'd actually had the audacity to grab her by the arm and that's when the shit got real for Jenna. She didn't like anyone she didn't know to touch her. It was a thing from her childhood. She'd jerked her arm away and almost yelled the place down, her anger bubbling over. He'd finally backed away but not before calling her a whacko. She hadn't bothered to return the favor, instead taking the opportunity to flee.
Even now, more than an hour later her heart was still pounding and the adrenaline still pumping through her veins. She'd been in fight or flight mode, and she would have fought to get out of there if she'd had to. Just being enclosed in that small office with his body blocking the door had her sweating and panicking.
And if anyone was the whacko, it was him.
He'd actually thought he could convince her to sleep with him in return for his taking her case. This guy made her skin crawl.
Jenna poured herself a glass of wine and pulled out a takeout menu from the Italian place on the next block. They were reasonably priced and the portions where huge. She'd have lunch for the next day as well. She was deciding between lasagna and chicken parmesan when her doorbell rang.
She wasn't expecting anyone. Heck, she didn't even know anyone around here. She'd only moved into this short-term rental about six weeks ago. She'd relocated here to "bump" into Knox.
See how that worked out for me? I'm a terrible person.
But I still miss him. He was...more than I'd
