Disrupted Engagement (Valor and Doyle Book 6) by Nicky James

Author:Nicky James [James, Nicky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-09-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Quaid

Late Wednesday afternoon, Jordyn and I located ten-year-old Mathias Inman. After turning the city inside out, the child turned up on a park bench eleven blocks from his house. The boy had run away with a backpack full of clothes, a peanut butter sandwich, and his BMX. A cold night outside and a long day without food had brought him out of hiding, but he was afraid to go home lest he get in trouble.

I’d offered to stay at the office and work on the paperwork, and Jordyn had been more than happy to skip out and head home. She’d gone longer without sleep. It seemed fair.

Edwards was still in his office, but the door was closed, and he’d been on the phone for over an hour, his face souring as the minutes ticked by. Whoever he was talking to at this time of night was leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

Otherwise, the bullpen was quiet. The handful of detectives lingering were all in the same boat as me, swamped with paperwork.

When Ruiz plopped down at Jordyn’s desk shortly after eight, I wasn’t surprised. Aslan had texted me twice while Jordyn and I had been out running around, and I had yet to get back to him. It wasn’t that I was ignoring him, but I wanted to get home first before getting sucked into a conversation. It didn’t surprise me my radio silence had once more drawn Aslan to seek Ruiz for an update. I couldn’t decide if it was annoying or endearing.

“Did he text you again?” I asked, not taking my eyes off the computer, clicking over to the next section of the report.

“No. I mean, not about you. Those two idiots have me working for them, so we’ve been in contact.”

I glanced across the desks, frowning. “Doesn’t Cornwall have their own IT?”

“No idea. You’d think so.” He smirked, lounging back on the desk chair, cradling the back of his head in folded fingers, looking all kinds of smug. “I guess they wanted the best.”

It took effort not to roll my eyes. “Why do I surround myself with men who have overinflated egos? Is that why you’re here late?”

“Yep.”

“Is Aslan still working?”

“Don’t you start too.” He pointed an admonishing finger in my direction.

I gave a coy smile and returned to my report. “Fine. What are you doing here if not checking up on me?”

“Remember how I said you should take a couple of days off and go see him, figure out what’s going on?”

A chill rolled up my spine, and I sat straighter, stopped typing, and faced Ruiz again. “Yes. Why?”

“I think you should do it. You don’t have an active case anymore. Your kid was recovered. Take a long weekend before something else drops. Tell Edwards”—he tipped his head at my boss’s fishbowl office—“you need Thursday and Friday off. Personal matters. You never take time off. He won’t say no.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You know something.”

Ruiz held up his hands. “I’m not getting involved.”

“You already are because you know something.

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