She wagged her finger at him in a scolding manner, and I had to suppress another laugh, passing it off as a cough and drawing the side-eye from Diane.
“Okay, okay,” Birn relented, holding his hands up in the air. “I promise. As long as you order me a double cheeseburger.”
“Done,” Diane said, rolling her eyes. “What do you want, Ethan?”
“Actually…” I said, suddenly remembering why I’d come into work in the first place. My mind raced as I tried to decide whether I actually wanted to ask Diane for the time off for my Virginia trip with Tessa now that this lead had come up with the Hollands. And she had been concerned about running out of agents, sticking Birn and Muñoz on desk duty…. And then there was Tessa, who was probably already on a flight to Virginia as we spoke. I didn’t want to hang her out to dry, even for a work emergency.
“Out with it, Marston,” Diane quipped, and I realized that I hadn’t finished my sentence before.
“Right,” I said, shaking my head to clear it and making a split-second decision. “I was actually wondering about that time off you were talking about yesterday afternoon.”
She gave me a baffled look, and Birn chuckled.
“You? Time off?” he gawked. “You can’t be serious. I think I need to check for flying pigs.”
He made as if to get up from his seat and wander over to the window to look for such a spectacle but stayed put with a wince and a rub at his wounded shoulder.
“It’s totally fine if you need me here,” I said quickly. “Just say the word, and I won’t bring it up again. It’s just that something’s come up with that museum in Virginia. But it’s not nearly as important as the case, don’t get me wrong.”
Diane laughed as I stumbled over my words, shaking her head at me.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” she said as she leaned back against the desk again. “Ethan Marston not being strong-armed into taking a day off. Though it is for going on a wild goose chase of your own instead of actual relaxation, I’ll take what I can get. Take as much time as you need.”
“Really?” I asked, not having expected this. “Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you hanging here.”
“You’re not leaving me hanging,” Diane said dismissively, scoffing at the notion. “I have Birn and Muñoz, even if they’re on desk duty. And Holm. And a couple of other agents should be coming back soon.”
“You’re sure?” I asked again, searching her face for any sign of wavering. But her usually stern expression was soft, and she seemed genuine. After a moment, I felt confident that she wasn’t just humoring me because I almost never took a day off, even though she really needed me in the office.
“I’m sure, but if you ask again, I’ll change my mind just out of spite,” she laughed. “Go, head to Virginia. Find your long lost treasure or whatever it is. Just keep your phone on, okay? I want to be able to get a hold of you if we get another break in the Holland case. Hopefully, a real one this time.”
I hesitated for a brief moment. It had been one thing to plan this trip in the middle of weeks of radio silence on the Holland case. It was another thing entirely to run off right when things were starting to stir again. I never would’ve arranged this with Tessa had I known what was coming.
But then again, it was just a blurry airport photo. And I really, really wanted to get to the bottom of this thing with Grendel’s journal. Who knew when Tessa and I would be able to arrange something like this again?
“Alright, I’ll keep it on,” I said, nodding to her and standing, closing up the Holland file to hand off to her while I was away. “And don’t hesitate to call me. I want in on this, no matter what else I’ve got going on.”
“And we want you in on it,” Diane assured me with a grim smile as she took the file from me, and I headed out the door.
5
Tessa
Tessa Bleu sat in the bustling airport in Los Angeles, LAX, and tried to ignore all the chaos that was going on around her.
For whatever reason, the quickest flight from the Yukon to Virginia had taken her through what she considered to be the worst airport on Earth. And anyone who claimed otherwise was gravely mistaken, as far as she was concerned.
She scowled at some nearby kids who she could only describe as sorority girls as they shrieked all the way down the hall to the gate across from Tessa.
Some annoying Hollywood type was talking loudly on the phone next to her, too, wearing sunglasses indoors and pants that practically sagged to the ground. She scowled at him, too, for good measure.
She much preferred New York, where everyone at least tried to stay out of everyone else’s way.
She put in headphones to try to block out all the noise.
“Why couldn’t I get any other flights?” she muttered to herself so that none of the passengers packed around her waiting for the gate to open could hear her. “Literally any other flight in the entire country… Continent, even.”
She felt a buzzing in her pocket as her phone rang, and her spirits lifted almost immediately when she saw that it was Ethan.
“Hello?” she asked as she answered his call.
“Tessa, it’s Ethan,” he said as if she didn’t know that already. She loved listening to his calm, steady voice, though, no matter what he was saying.
“Yes, hello, I was just about to message you,” she said quickly. “I’m sitting out my layover in LAX as we speak. I should be in Virginia this evening.”
“Ah, LAX,” Ethan said, and she could almost hear him wince over the
