Page 80 of The Murder Between Us
* * *
If he’d never beenthis happy, he’d also never been this exhausted. Traveling across the country was wearing him down, as was the weekly anxiety about whether or not he’d make his Friday flight to Des Moines. And even if he did, what was the point if he was so exhausted he could barely stay awake while he was there?
Something had to change.
He stood in the middle of his nearly abandoned D.C. condo, folding his laundry as his microwave warmed up a frozen dinner. He looked left, to his empty, cold bedroom. He looked right, at his empty, cold office. There were no shoes thrown haphazardly on the ground, no bobby pins scattered on the carpet or the countertops. No textbooks or homework worksheets on the edge of the kitchen table. No shirts that weren’t his in the wash. No scent of Noah on his pillowcases or sheets.
Tuesday, he called SAC Bray from the Omaha office. Bray called back Wednesday morning, said he was in D.C. at headquarters, and asked Cole to meet him for dinner downtown.
“So you want to put in a transfer request?” Bray’s eyebrows rose as he sipped his bourbon. The restaurant lights were dim, and piano music played softly. Lobbyists and government employees at a higher pay grade than Cole’s dined here.
He straightened his silverware and spun his wine glass. “Yes, sir. I understand there’s an opening in the Des Moines office.” Everyone had moved up. Noah was the new head honcho, one of the women who hadn’t been on the task force was the new ASAC, and Jacob was third in charge. The rest of the four agents rounded out the office. There was an open spot for a field agent still waiting to be filled, two and a half months later.
“Des Moines is not an easy office to staff. Not a lot of people requesting to be sent there. We usually pull from the academy, send someone brand new out there to cut their teeth for three years. By the time they’re able to transfer, they’ve got the experience to be effective in the big cities. I’m not sure I’ve ever had someone request to move from a city out to a rural office. Certainly not someone like you, a senior agent in the BAU.”
“I want to go, sir.”
Bray sipped his bourbon. He studied Cole. “I don’t doubt you want to. My concern is, howlongwill you want to be there?” His head tipped to the side. “It’s not like I can transfer you out of there quickly. You request this transfer, officially, and you might be looking at Des Moines as your home. Permanently. For better or for worse.”
Your home. Permanently.His heart pounded. His hand trembled as he took a gulp of his wine. “That’s exactly what I want, sir. I want to move to Des Moines, and I want to stay there. I’m done with this commuting garbage. I want to stay in the FBI, too. I know I have a lot to offer the Bureau, and I like what I do. But, more than all of that, I want to move to Des Moines. So I’d like to request this transfer, officially, and if it’s not approved, I’ll resign and move there anyway. Permanently.”
Slowly, Bray smiled. “You’ve thought about this.”
“I have. I’m certain.”
“There are a few things we’ll have to iron out. You’ll have to report to me, at least for your evaluations and reviews. Your SAC in Des Moines can assign you cases and manage the day to day, of course, unless I start hearing complaints of favoritism. I’ve known Noah Downing for a long time, though, and I don’t see that happening.”
His heart was going to burst from his chest. Cole nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak. “However it needs to be, I’m fine with it.”
“Have you talked to your boss yet?”
Cole shook his head. “This shouldn’t be a surprise to him. I’ve been flying to Des Moines every weekend I can, when he hasn’t sent me ping-ponging across the country.”
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Put in your official transfer request first thing, and we’ll see how fast we can get this going. I might have to tell your boss you’ll be resigning if you don’t get approved.”
“Do it. I’m serious. I know where I want to be, and why.”
Bray’s eyes sparkled. “Now,” he said, leaning forward. “Like I said, I’ve known Downing for a long time. You do this, you move out there?” Bray shook his head. “Might as well go buy a ring and take him down to the church.”
They ate steaks and talked about cases that were ongoing in the Omaha area of operations. Omaha covered all of Nebraska and Iowa through the main office and the eight smaller offices, like Des Moines. Cole floated through the meal, one thought repeating on a loop in his mind.I’m moving to Des Moines. I’m moving to Noah. We’re going to be together. We’re going to be a family.
Bray had told him to put in his transfer request first thing in the morning. He did it as soon as he got back to his condo. Within ten minutes, his boss texted him, a single statement:Damn it.He didn’t reply.
Just after noon on Wednesday, Bray called him at his desk at the BAU. “I’ve got agreements on the transfer, and I’m walking it through headquarters myself. No one has ever seen someone like you request to go to Iowa before.” He chuckled. “I told them you had excellent reasons that were all your own and left it at that.”
“Thank you.” He didn’t know what else to say. There was a file open on his desk, gruesome murder scene photos. He didn’t see a thing. “Thank you. I can’t explain how much this means to me.”
“I think I understand. When do you want to start?”
“How soon can I?”
“How soon can you be out there?”
“Day after tomorrow.”
“Well, then, I’ll fill in the date on the paperwork and let you start your handover now. See you in Iowa, Dr. Kennedy.”
* * *
