Page 85 of The Last Straw

“This is Darryl.”

“Darryl, this is Detective Floyd with Dallas PD. I’m trying to get in touch with your boss.”

“Oh, he’s not here. He called in yesterday and told me he was going to be gone for a while. I have his cell number.”

“Was this a planned trip?” Floyd asked.

“No, sir. A bit unexpected, but that’s Sonny. Do you want his number?”

“Sure,” Floyd said, curious to know if it was the same number they’d already been given, and it was.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Darryl asked.

“If he calls in, have him call this number,” Floyd said. “Ask for Detective Floyd.”

“Yes, sir, I sure will,” and the call ended.

Floyd looked at his partner.

Mills shrugged. “I think someone’s on the run.”

“I think you might be right,” Floyd said. “We need to get back to the station and get a search warrant for J.J. Burch’s apartment, then let Wyrick loose in there. She offered, and I’m not going to turn that woman down.”

This was their stay-at-home day, and Charlie was giving Wyrick all the space she needed, but after a few hours of quiet, he wanted to know what she was up to, and headed to the office where Wyrick was working. After all the years they’d spent working together, he was still amazed at how fast her fingers moved across a keyboard, and how fast her thoughts were churning to be able to do that.

“You’re staring,” she said without looking at him.

“No, I’m not. I just came to see if you were getting hungry.”

“Not particularly,” she said and kept typing, and Charlie was still there.

He shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I’m hungry,” he said.

“I’m not cooking,” she said and pulled up a new screen to implement another search.

He laughed.

“Are you cooking?” Wyrick asked.

“No. I’m doing DoorDash. I’ll pick it up at the gate. They won’t be on the property, okay?”

“I might be getting hungry. What are you ordering?” Wyrick asked.

“I think Chinese,” Charlie said.

She paused and looked up.

“Ooh, good call. I’ll have spring rolls, sesame chicken stir-fry and dumplings. I love pork dumplings.”

“You got it,” Charlie said. “I’ll let you know when it’s on the table.”

“Don’t forget condiments. I will need orange sauce and hot mustard,” Wyrick said.

“Anything else?” Charlie asked.

“Fried rice. What are you having?” she asked.

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