Page 162 of Nocere

Chapter Nineteen

"Bryant," Walsh's grunting voice called down the hall. "C'mere."

I turned on my heel and headed for his office. He stood there, an electronic cigarette hanging out of his mouth, then shut the door after I entered. The moment I found myself alone with him, anxiety twisted my stomach and I forced my hands into the pockets of my trousers.

"What-what do you need, Sir?"

"There's somethin' I'd like to run by you." He gestured for me to sit as he returned to his chair behind the desk.

"Okay…"

"No one knows this yet, but I figured you should," he said, dropping the fake cigarette on the desk. He pulled an envelope from the pocket of his jacket, then opened it up to show me some kind of letter. "Ramos plans to retire at the end of this year. Did you know?"

"N-no. Should I?" I cleared my throat to cover the stutter, then fiddled with the clasp of my suspenders.

"Well, there you have it. With that said, I'd like for you to take her job as Lead Analyst when the time comes. 'Course, we'd have to start your training now as we're just entering February. What do you say?"

"Um… yeah." My heart gave a great leap when I heard his offer. "Yes, Sir. I'd like that. Thank you."

"Thank the work you did on that serial data. We got a one-up on the feds for that and you made us look good." He chuckled and picked up the cigarette again. "There's a local P.I. that we work with who might have a lead on an identity theft trend. I'd like you to work with her. Take down her data, run some analytics, see what you come up with."

"A private investigator?" My brow furrowed. "That's different."

"Well, this one in particular is a…" He smirked, glancing at the wall of photographs and accolades he had hanging. "Personality. If you can handle her, you can handle anything, Bryant."

I gulped, nodding my agreement to the assignment or signing my death certificate, I wasn't quite sure. "Okay. Thank you, Sir, for thinking of me."

"Quit thanking me already and get out of here." He grumbled and waved me off.

"So when do I meet this P.I.?" I stood from the seat and backed my way toward the door.

"She'll show up this week at some point."

"All right." I opened my mouth to thank him again, but caught myself and took my leave.

A smile made it to my lips as I headed back to my office, and I nearly walked head first into Rebecca. She caught me by the elbow and chuckled.

"Hello, sweet girl. You look happy today."

"I am. You look…" I gave her a once over. "Like you ran a marathon in a swamp." I scrunched up my nose when I saw her muddy boots. "What gives?"

"Perp ran after we interrupted a domestic incident. Caught the bastard, but lost my shoes in the battle."

"I'm pretty sure your radio and gun have some muck caked on, too." I snickered when I pointed at her belt which earned me a swat.

"Take your jabs while you can, girly girl."

"I will." I glanced over my shoulder then back to her. "I have to tell you something about work, but later, okay?"

"Okay." She wagged her brows at me with a smile. "If I get out of here on time, I'll take you to dinner."

"Deal."

The clack of fast-paced heels drew our attention down the hall. Ainsley, still wearing a lab coat, bustled down the hall, her eyes on me. "Rosie, where've you been?"

"With Walsh. Why?"

"Stella's trying to call you." She held out her phone. "She said it's important."

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