Page 23

"Ugh. Roderick, you're back on desk duty until you learn to control your aversions." Wilkinson groaned. "Taylor will join you, Donovan."

"Oh goodie."

It took most of the day and well into the evening before we wrapped for the night with little more to go on. I returned to the hotel room around nine, toting in a couple of sandwiches I swiped from a local deli along with chips and sodas.

I found Nora perched on her bed, clad in skimpy pink shorts and a white tank top, her hair damp to her shoulders. She stared at her computer, holding a pencil between her teeth while she typed rapid-fire. At first, she didn't seem to notice me, until the door swung shut.

"There were two more murders like this. One in twenty-fourteen and one a year later, only a few months before the Seattle killing. The first one was in Pennsylvania, the second in Idaho. Very small towns though." Nora spun her computer around as if I lived eternally in her head while following the conversation. "I found articles from these rinky-dink newspapers. They never hit national headlines. They were both people of color in those instances, and you know how reporting bias goes."

"I sure do. How did you figure this out?" I sat down beside her, looking over her shoulder at her screen. "Are you…hacking someone else's database?"

"Er…not me. Gordo." She smiled, a syrupy-sweet guilt-laden smile.

"Huh." I let out a small laugh. "You little genius. Pulling in that Cyber Crimes nerd…"

"Listen, when the FBI recruits an infamous hacker, you damn well know I'm going to use my resources."

"Ah. This is why we keep you." I grinned and plopped the bag of food in her lap. "I brought you sustenance."

"Huzzah." She tore into the bag. "Please say—"

"Roast beef? You know it."

"Yes." Nora lifted the sandwich into the air like it was a sacred talisman. "Everything I needed right here."

I laughed at her and tore into my own food. "Good to know I can satisfy you."

She narrowed her eyes at me while unwrapping her food. "Oh, you think so, do you?"

"I do, indeed, think so." I snared a bite of my sandwich then pointed at the screen. "Send your preliminary report to Wilkinson. You did good today."

"Thanks." She smiled at me, her cheeks tinging pink before she began eating. "Thanks for dinner."

"Welcome." I patted her knee then hopped up to ditch my boots, the sandwich hanging out of my mouth.

Nora opened a bag of chips while she watched me, taking a few bites before setting her laptop down on the floor.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Think we'll get called in tonight?"

"Doubt it. We have no suspected next threats, and no subject." I shrugged out of my jacket and tossed it on the chair before dropping down on my own bed. "Why?"

"Because…" She smiled while she chewed. "Wanna play?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You've been in this room alone all day. Haven't you rubbed your own clit raw by now?"

"No." She laughed, thumping her hands on the bed beside her. "I was waiting for you to do it."

"Hmm." I glanced over my shoulder toward the locked door then back to her. "I can be persuaded."

"How?"

"Same rules. You asked for it, I fuck you, you don't touch me."

"What if I want to touch you?" She nearly pouted, but it didn't stop her from eating her dinner.

"Nope. Those are the rules."