Page 72 of Foxy Filthy Omega

Frankie

Worryingabout everything under the sun other than this case was going to scramble my brain and I’d make mistakes I couldn’t afford to make.

I had to focus.

Soren was nothing. Just a rookie I had to train. He was the least interesting person in the world.

Which was why he was so fucking fascinating.

Regardless, we both had work to do.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and shoved everything else down.

Once that numb feeling was back, I opened my eyes and focused on the rookie at my side, not the least bit surprised to see he didn’t look nervous at all. “After we cross that line, how are you going to use your skill set?”

“I’ll use a map,” Soren told me, his voice too low for anyone other than me to hear. He pulled out his phone and showed me a map of the state park. “I’ll find all the entrances and exits. Every trail. Where they meet up or cross paths. Then I’ll mark every route I could think of to this location.”

Well…that was definitely not something Lucy normally did. That’s whatIdid.

Soren tucked his phone into his back pocket and clasped his hands behind his back. “I doubt any of those entrances and exits have security cameras, but they might have them in the parking lots and around the office buildings.”

He shifted his weight and scanned the people doing their jobs for a few minutes. I almost thought that was all he was going to say on the matter, but then he looked up at the sky through the trees.

“Sometimes satellites cover areas like this considering how dangerous the coastline is. Most cars have dash cams and hikers almost always carry their phones on them. Every device that uses GPS can be tracked in one way or another.”

His gaze dropped to one of the guys on the forensic team and I wasn’t sure what to think.

Lucy has never gotten access to a satellite. At least, not that I was aware of. But Soren was talking like it was a normal thing to think about.

I guess it could be when he was working for the government. He’d have access to all kinds of things that would definitely get Lucy put away for a long time.

“We don’t have access to satellites.” I crossed my arms over my chest and raised my eyebrow. “Unless you can call in a favor or something.”

“There are private satellites.” Soren shrugged a shoulder and readjusted his pack. “The police can request a warrant for access to them. There are also private yachts, shipping boats, and the dock. That would cover the coastline.

“The parking lots are bound to have at least one car with a dash cam, if not more and we can ask for footage from everyone who drove here over the last twenty-four hours.”

He looked down at me then and I didn’t know what to say because that was exactly what Lucy would do, but he’d covered more angles than I thought he would.

A satellite? Lucy might consider that if the other shit fell through, but not as her first choice.

But the differences between them weren’t bothering me as much as the similarities.

I rubbed my forehead with the back of my hand, annoyed he might actually be good enough to replace Lucy. “I want you to take a look around the scene first and once I’m satisfied you’re not going to accidentally tamper with evidence, I’ll go talk to that hiker. When we’re done here we’ll go visit the office and see what they have for us.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

My eyes darted to his, shocked to hear him use that honorific when he could just use my name.

Soren winced slightly when he noticed my attention and dropped his gaze to the ground. “I apologize, detective. It’s a habit.”

Still? Hasn’t it been years since he’s left the military?

“It’s fine.” I waved away his apology. I could worry about his habits and what it might mean later. “Let’s get this done before lunch.”

I grabbed the tape and pushed it down so he could step over it, holding up my hand to help him over like I always did.

Soren stared at it and it suddenly occurred to me what I was doing and how fucking ridiculous all this was.

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