Page 24 of Choose Me

THIRTEEN

JAMES

I fucking hated every second of this. I hated that I couldn't be there for Ava, but I hated that Everett was even more. I had been friends with Everett for years, and I knew he was just being supportive and doing precisely what I asked him to do.

So why did I feel so angry with him?

On the one hand, I wanted to thank him for taking my place and making sure that Ava wasn't alone today, but on the other, I wanted to break his fucking face for it.

I was angry.

My fists clenched as I thought about Everett with Ava. I felt a mixture of gratitude and anger, appreciation and betrayal. My jaw tightened as I imagined him comforting her in my absence, the rage building inside me until it was almost too much.

I felt helpless.

And helplessness wasn't a feeling I particularly enjoyed experiencing.

My chest tightened with frustration as I stared at the never-ending pile of paperwork across my desk, the words inside blurring as I read them repeatedly.

"You okay, Agent Buchanan." Agent Scarlett's voice broke into my concentration and the oppressive silence of the room.

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, feeling her eyes on me."Yeah," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm fine. Just tired."

"Anything I can do to help?" She continued, leaning against my desk, looking composed and at ease.

"I'm good," I replied curtly. "Just sorting through these files."

"You've been working for hours. Why don't you take a break and let me buy you a coffee?"

I was prepared to decline her offer, but I needed to break the monotony and distract myself from the resentment I was trapped in.

I forced out a breath and swallowed, "I guess I could use the break. But I need to be back in a half hour for a briefing."

Her smile was sickly sweet when she replied, "No problem. There's a nice little cafe a block from here."

I stayed silent while we walked to the cafe, while she chatted about her time in the Bureau and her aspirations to work on the human trafficking team. While I admired her drive and ambition, I was too exhausted to care, and it wasn't hard for me to drown out her incessant words.

I ordered the biggest coffee with extra espresso shots on the menu to power through this interminable conversation with her. She talked a mile a minute about herself, and I felt my eyelids drooping as she prattled on.

"Well, thanks for the coffee," I said tightly as the time to part ways finally came.

"Anytime." Her lips curved in a sly smile, her eyes glinting cunningly. "I was thinking if you wanted to grab dinner sometime. I know this really good Italian place on the strip. Their fettuccine is to die for. And the wine is utterly divine."

Was she really hitting on me?

"I appreciate the offer, but I am swamped, and the sooner I help close this case, the sooner I can get home to my girlfriend."

There's no reason to beat around the bush.

Her gaze flickered briefly before she plastered on a fake smile.

"Okay, maybe another time. Let me know if you change your mind." With a mischievous wink, she sashayed off down the hallway.

I shook my head in disbelief and stepped into my office, hellbent on finding this psycho's sister so I could get the hell out of dodge.

* * *

A month came and went, and it felt like we were no closer to finding The Skinner's psycho sister. I had personally gone to every location where someone thought they had last seen her, but just like her brother, she was good at staying one step ahead of us, and she left tiny scraps behind, taunting us, letting us know we got close to her, but that she was more intelligent.

---