“Later, Bud,” Layne returned.
Layne stared at the door for long minutes after it closed. Then Blondie sauntered up to him and sat at his feet, head back, tongue lolling, the invitation to pet her or, preferably, give her a rubdown, opened.
He turned and surveyed his house from the kitchen thinking he was beginning to like the place.
He looked down at Blondie and asked, “You wanna go to work with me today?”
She had no idea what he was saying but she got up on all fours, her body shaking with excitement and she barked.
Layne decided to take that as a yes.
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what the fuck is that?” Devin asked when Layne came through the door to his office. Devin’s eyes were on Blondie.
Blondie ran forward and jumped on Devin’s wife beater covered chest.
“It’s a dog, Dev,” Layne answered then ordered Blondie to get down.
Blondie whipped her head toward Layne, whipped it back to Devin, aimed a lash of her tongue at his face, got nothing but air and then jumped down, put her nose to the ground and started her voyage of the discovery of his office.
Devin scowled at her and then looked at Layne. “Jesus, boy, next thing I’ll find out is you drive a mini-van.”
“That’s another reason I called you here all the way from Cleveland, Dev. I wanted you to help me pick the color,” Layne returned and Dev rolled his eyes.
Then Devin walked to the reception desk and picked up a white cup of lidded coffee. A Mimi’s coffee.
Devin was wearing a pair of dress pants he should have thrown away probably five years ago, a pair of scuffed shoes and his wife beater. Thick, gray, chest hair could be seen out of the top of the wife beater and the shock of white-gray hair on his head looked like he hadn’t even run his fingers through it after getting up from the couch. Total bedhead.
“You didn’t get me a coffee?” Layne asked, walking into the room.
“What am I, your nanny?” Dev asked back.
Good to know Devin hadn’t changed. Layne knew the man would take a bullet for him but he’d give him lip the entire time he was doing it.
“You go to Mimi’s in your wife beater?”
Devin moved away from the reception desk to his bag spread open on the couch and Layne moved to the desk, dumping the folder with TJ Gaines’s file on it, turned to Dev and leaned back into it.
“Woman runs that joint ain’t difficult to look at,” Dev muttered rather than answering Layne’s question which did answer Layne’s question that, yes, Dev wandered into Mimi’s wearing a wife beater like he’d wander up to his own kitchen counter and pour himself a mug of joe.
“Yeah,” Layne agreed, “and her husband used to be center on the football team, he’s no less solid twenty some years down the line but his devotion to wife and family, coupled with his gun collection, means you should not go there.”
“Can a man pay a woman a compliment?” Devin asked cantankerously and shrugged on a shirt.
“Sure,” Layne replied and Devin buttoned his shirt, his eyes locking on Layne.
“Well, now that we got all the heartwarming reunion shit outta the way, you run off what you got for me. I’m goin’ to the po-lice station to take a shower and I’ll want it ready when I get back.”
It was clear Devin took some time last night to get the lay of the land. He’d never been to the ‘burg but he knew where to get coffee and where the police station was, two things Devin Glover was sure to take note of on any assignment.
“Dev, no one knows you at the Station,” Layne reminded him. “You can’t waltz in there and take a shower. You can shower at my house.”
“Your house two blocks away?” Dev shot back.
Layne grinned at him. “No.”
“Be back,” Dev stated, grabbing his coat and hoofing it out the door.
Blondie barked at it.
Layne tagged the file and walked into his office, hitting the power button on his computer as he picked up the phone to call the Station and tell them a crotchety old man was going to stroll in like he owned the place and take a shower and their best play was to let him. Kath picked up at reception at the Station, Dev showed up while Layne was talking to her and she instantly agreed.
Layne went to his e-mail and found Merry’s intel about Astley and he also found that Natalie didn’t fuck around. As promised yesterday, she’d sent an e-mail with the names of people at work she thought might be able to help. She added addresses, phone numbers and copious commentary and she even made notes of who she’d already contacted to let them know someone would be calling them, helping out by making cold contacts warm. Checking the e-mail, Layne noted she’d sent it by eight o’clock last night and there were fifteen names on her list, eleven of them she’d already contacted.
Natalie, Layne had discovered yesterday, did not like Dr. Jarrod Astley, this e-mail was added proof and indication that she really did not like him.
He printed off the e-mails and put them in the file he’d created when he’d done his searches two weeks ago, making notes on the searches of what was probably now bogus due to Astley’s recent activities. He needed to start looking into TJ Gaines and he unfortunately didn’t have time to re-run Astley’s shit.
He’d begun work on Gaines, and was not liking what he was finding, when his cell rang. The display said “Colt Calling”.
“Layne,” he said after he put it to his ear.
“Hey Tanner, you busy today?”
“Yeah but what’s up?”
“Merry gave us the rundown on Stew. I got a guy you might wanna talk to.”
Layne sat back in his chair. “When?”
“I gotta go with you. He’s not fond of strangers,” Colt told him.
“Right. When?” Layne repeated.
“How’re you fixed to meet me at the Station at one?”
“I can do that,” Layne replied.
“Got it. See you then.”
“Later.”
Layne flipped his phone shut and Devin walked in carrying another cup from Mimi’s.
“That for me?” Layne asked.
Devin looked him in the eyes and took a sip, this being his answer.
Then he walked to the desk opposite Layne, held out his hand and grunted, “File.”
Layne grinned, picked up the Astley file, reached across the desk and gave it to Devin.
Devin weighed it with his hand moving up and down and asked, “How long you been workin’ this?”
“Haven’t really. There isn’t much there.”
Devin put his cup down on Layne’s desk and opened the file, his eyes skimming the paper on the top. “Rely too much on computers these days,” he grumbled.
“It’ll get you started.”
Devin looked at Layne. “How deep do you wanna bury this guy?”
“So deep he won’t remember what oxygen feels like.”
Devin studied him. Then he nodded, grabbed his cup and turned to go.
“Dev,” Layne called and Devin turned back. “Dinner, my house, be there at five thirty so I can introduce you to the boys and try to talk you into behaving yourself so my girl Rocky and my son’s girl Keira don’t run screaming into the night.”
Devin’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “Only person I can be is me, boy.”
“Why don’t you try on a different personality for tonight?” Layne suggested.
“Women love me,” Devin shot back.
Layne grinned and muttered, “Right.”
“You wait and see, I’ll have them eatin’ outta my hands.”
“Just as long as you don’t try to do that literally.”
Devin grunted. Blondie, standing next to him looking up at him and likely wondering why he wasn’t petting her, barked. Devin glared at the dog and then he disappeared.
Layne chuckled and turned back to his computer.