Page 1 of More than Need

Chapter 1

Riley Sinclair tapped hispen on a notepad in a repeating rhythm—one-one, two-two, three-three, one-one. His eyebrow twitched at every new paragraph of his detective’s report. He managed to get through a quarter of the three-page document before his own homicidal tendency reared its head. He picked up his phone with an annoyed sigh and pressed three.

“Get in here,” he barked without waiting for a response and then slammed it down. Hanging up a mobile had nothing on the satisfaction of dropping a receiver in its pocket.

A knock came at his door soon after, and Riley’s current headache opened it just wide enough for his head to pop through the gap.

Senior Constable Gideon Clark smiled widely, crinkles appearing at the corners of his light-brown eyes. His dark-brown hair flopped across his forehead when he tilted his head in question. “You called?”

“Not for you to stand in my doorway.”

“It’s safer over here. And it makes a good shield for projectiles.” He slapped his palm on the wood as if to prove its sturdiness.

“Gideon.”

Gideon’s smile turned lopsided, and he ventured across the threshold, closing the door behind himself. “I’m at your disposal, boss. Don’t spank me too hard; I have sensitive skin.”

Riley sighed. Perhaps the real cause of the headache had been inviting Gideon into the room. “Do you do this on purpose?”

Gideon slid into the seat opposite Riley and settled back, hooking his ankle on his knee. It pulled his slacks taut against his thighs and flattened his light-blue shirt against his stomach. Riley forced his eyes up to stop himself from staring inappropriately. He’d gotten over his ridiculous infatuation with this man a long time ago.

“I want to say yes,” Gideon said, apparently unaware of Riley’s thoughts, “but maybe you can lay down the charges first before I incriminate myself.”

He didn’t need to speak to incriminate himself. “I have to read every report that you write.”

“Is that a trick question, or a statement?” Gideon asked, his bowed lips twisting in thought. “Am I sending them to the wrong person? I only cc Ange in since she’s, you know, my partner. I figure you already know that.”

“I don’t need your notes in the margin. It’s not a feature of the program.” He’d even called and checked, and the IT department had been suspiciously reticent about it. “How are you doing it?”

“Skill.”

There were a lot of skills that Riley admired in his detectives. Being a pain in his ass wasn’t one of them. Gideon happened to be one of his best, right up there with Quinn Hughes, but he shouldn’t be allowed to speak in any kind of informal setting. Hisskills lay in gathering information and running lawyers in circles on the stand.

“Stop it,” Riley said firmly.

“My thoughts are important. Not like,inthe report important, but commentary is a time-honoured tradition.”

“For what? Driving your boss insane?” That tradition could go in the bin along with the rest of the report. He’d even risk the fire alarms and burn it.

“You never get special editions of DVDs?”

“No.” What did that have to do with anything?

“You’re missing out. The ones forThe Lord of the Ringsare particularly fun to listen to.”

Riley barely had time to watch movies in the first place, on the rare occasion one piqued his interest. He couldn’t imagine watching themagainwhile people talked over the top of the movie. If he wanted that, he could go watch them in the cinema, where respect seemed to disappear the moment they were inside. He declined every invitation from his brothers to see something new with them for that very reason. “Gideon, there are more commentary notes than actual notes on this one.” The commentary could make its own report. One that rivalled a comedy instead of a homicide.

“I had a lot to say.”

“Say less.”

“If I agreed to that, you wouldn’t believe me. I think this is what people call a stalemate in chess.”

Riley didn’t know if Gideon knew that because of a familiarity with chess, or if he’d pulled that random trivia out of his ass. He was too afraid to ask. Watching a man play chess was a weird fantasy to have, and yet he could now add it to his list. “I’m going to find out who’s helping you add them.”

Gideon smiled wider, face brightening. “Good luck. For a boon, I’ll give you a hint.”

Riley would go for another visit to IT and see who he could intimidate. Someone there had to be helping him.

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