Page 11 of Exhale
“I want to see the autopsy report,” Jordan fired back.
“You’re hindering our investigation,” Bixby said with a deep scowl that seemed to be permanently etched into his brow ever since their arrival.
Wearing a charcoal gray suit, with his hair slicked back into a comb-over, Bixby thought he was hot shit. It was clear by theway the man puffed up and disagreed with everything Jordan had said thus far.
Owen knew that Jordan had grit, but he didn’t really know just how hard-headed and tenacious the younger man could be until now. Which might seem odd to some people since they had known and worked with each other for roughly four years.
It wasn’t odd, though, because he and Jordan had only worked a dozen cases in all that time.
And when on a job, Jordan kept a professional distance.
Plus, Jordan had mad skills at dodging him.
A few times when Owen had requested Jordan accompany him on a mission, the next thing he knew, Jordan would be working out of the Phoenix office in Northern California for a few weeks.
Always keeping that distance, so why was Jordan here at his side now?
Their conversation prior to making the trip to Arizona had been interesting to say the least.
“I need to take care of something personal,” Owen had said when he got off the phone with Detective Knoll from the Arizona Sheriff’s department.
“Why?” Jordan stepped closer.
“A death,” he murmured evasively.
“Who?”
Owen gave an impatient sigh, but Jordan wasn’t backing up, nor away. In fact, the younger man reached out and gripped his upper arm to keep him still.
“My ex-wife died.”
Jordan blinked, shock clear in those brilliant blue eyes, then they softened and grew concerned.
Owen steeled himself against that look. It made him want to pull Jordan into his arms and kiss him.
“So…” Owen cleared his throat. “I’ll be back in time for the mission.”
“I’m going with you,” Jordan said softly, releasing his grip.
“You…don’t have to.”
“I’m going,” Jordan said stubbornly.
So here they were, standing in what was left of his ex-wife’s friend’s house. The fire had started in the kitchen and spread to the dining room, burning the front bedroom before firefighters had put the blaze out.
“You’ve had two days to figure this out,” Owen said, turning on Bixby.
“If you two would excuse us, we have an investigation to continue,” Bixby growled, gesturing to nearby police to get them out of there.
Owen waited until Jordan held his eyes before he turned and walked out of the demolished front room. He walked across the front lawn and made it to the sidewalk.
“What do we do now?” Jordan asked from right next to him.
“I need to go by Ginny’s place, but first, we need to find a place to stay,” he said and flipped the lock on the rented SUV.
“Good idea.”
Jordan got a call on the drive out of the neighborhood, and hooking the phone between his shoulder and chin, the young man pulled his laptop out of his bag and popped it open.
