the packet of photos over. “Have fun pinpointing the location.”
“Of a business that existed sometime in the last twenty to thirty years?” Nate’s tone was wry. “No problem.”
The captain stood. “Oh, and the message from IT was that they’re still working on the sound and voice enhancements. I’ll let you know when those come through.”
“Thanks.” Nate rounded the corner of his desk to sit after Morales exited the room. “We’ve got old telephone books in the reference room.”
The information filled her with resignation. The task of combing through three decades of phone books didn’t exactly rank high on her list of plum assignments, but someone needed to do it. “I’ll put together a list of letter combinations to look for.”
He nodded. “Good. Leave it with me and I’ll start Shroot on it tomorrow.”
Brightening at the suggestion, she said with more enthusiasm, “Good idea.”
His eyes glinted. “Glad it met with your approval.”
She knew without asking that he was referring to the partial conversation he’d heard when he entered the room. Turning to face him more fully, she leaned back in her chair. “If you’ve got something to say, Detective, go ahead. Don’t be a girl about it. Put it out there.”
The temper she’d tried to stoke was visible but still held in check. “Nothing to say.” The dangerous gleam in his eye gave lie to the words. “I knew the score going into this. I’m a team player, and I know what it takes to run a task force. So when the brass pulled you in without a full explanation of what exactly you were expected to contribute, I swallowed it. When I was instructed to make sure you were fully apprised of every detail on the investigation, I didn’t question it. You and Morales have a history. I get that. But I didn’t appreciate walking in on your grade report on me or my performance in the case.” His teeth bared in a grim pretense of a smile. “I also know there’s not a damn thing I can do about that either, so I guess I’ll be swallowing that, too. I expect it’ll become an acquired taste.”
She studied him silently for a moment. Risa was all too familiar with the ego massage necessary in instances like these. She’d just never developed a liking for it. The fact that the topic had arisen wasn’t surprising.
Discovering that she cared, more than a little, about his feelings did.
“This is what I do.” Her sweeping gesture included her desk, his office. “Usually Raiker’s agency is hired to send in an investigator to assist law enforcement with high-profile cases.” She lifted a shoulder. “It came about a little differently this time, but regardless, I have a conversation like this, almost verbatim, in seventy-five percent of the cases I’m involved in. Lead detective isn’t happy about me being invited in, and I spend more time than I’d like tiptoeing around sensitive toes to avoid treading on them. Sometimes I have to fight for details the cops want to hide. Other times I have to elbow my way into the inner circle of the investigation. I’ll tell you the same thing I tell all of them.
“You are running this investigation. I consider us partners. Full partners. But ultimately I answer to the administration, those responsible for me being here.” She nodded toward the door Morales had closed behind him. “He’s doing his job. But I don’t need anyone else to run interference for me. If I had a problem with the way you were handling my position on the investigation, I’d tell you about it.”
He regarded her for a moment from those midnight dark eyes. They gave away nothing. The spark of temper she’d seen in them earlier was gone. Or perhaps only hidden.
When the silence stretched, annoyance settled in. She swung her chair back to face her desk. “Was it the adjectives that bothered you? Because I might be able to come up with better than ‘decent’ next time. But there’s no way in hell I’m going with ‘Nate the Great.’ ”
She heard the crumple of paper a moment before it hit her in the back of the head. Bit her lip to keep from smiling. “Aiming for the trash can, McGuire? Remind me to help you with your hook shot.”
“Actually working on my fastball.” And the tone in his voice reassured her that they were back to what passed for normal between them. “And that was definitely within the strike zone.”