rose on his tiptoes to kiss Jonah’s cheek.
“You need nicer friends,” Jonah said, feeling his cheeks heat.
“Stop it,” Avery said, slapping his bicep. “I love it so much. Thank you.”
Several moments and a long, breathless kiss later, Jonah looked into Avery’s twinkling eyes. “Be honest,” he said. “Is lunch the real reason why you came over?”
“It’s only part of my motive,” Avery admitted. “Fancy a nooner?”
Jonah feasted on Avery before the food and didn’t feel an iota of guilt when his intern returned to work late and rumpled.
Jonah spent the remainder of his suspension running down leads and interviewing as many subcontractors as he could with either Felix or Rocky acting as his sidekicks. Even though their names weren’t included in the official police report, the guys managed to uncover the names of the three construction workers who’d discovered Earl’s body.
John Chambers, an electrician, Doug Haverty, a plumber, and Rex Miller, an HVAC contractor, were hesitant to answer questions until Felix assured them that he’d keep their names out of the press or their podcast.
“Why aren’t the cops the ones knocking on my door?” Chambers asked. “I saw the police commissioner’s interview about reopening the case, and I’ve expected a visit from SPD every day since then.”
“I can’t answer that,” Felix said.
Jonah could, but he didn’t. Milton and Morrissey had omitted their names from the file.
The three men all worked for different subcontractors but knew each other well. They admitted to seeing Earl around the jobsites while he worked for Jerry, who had contacted Jonah and confirmed that Earl had worked at the site where his body was discovered. Chambers, Haverty, and Miller all said Earl seemed like a nice guy. He was clumsy and awkward on the sites, but he tried really hard. They couldn’t remember seeing Earl argue with anyone.
The interviews didn’t garner new leads, but Jonah gave their names to Ellie when they met for lunch on Friday.
“Nice work,” she said. “I asked Milton and Morrissey why they excluded the names of the construction workers who’d found Earl in their official reports.”
“And?”
“They told me to go fuck myself,” she said with a grin.
Jonah and Felix didn’t even get that much during their attempt to interview the crotchety bastards later that same day. Milton and Morrissey both slammed their doors shut in their faces before Jonah or Felix could identify themselves.
Frustration mounted when it seemed like they’d hit a wall, but Jonah pushed on. Giving up wasn’t an option.
The investigation claimed his days, but Jonah reserved his evenings and weekend for Avery. They cooked together, attended a drag cabaret at The Dive Bar, watched thunderstorms on the front porch, and played a rowdy game of poker with Marla and Amos. Jonah enjoyed watching Avery brew his chai and claiming each new flavor was his favorite. Every moment Jonah spent basking in Avery’s sunny warmth only made him crave it more. He kept going back to touch the sun again and again and again. When Jonah returned from his journeys unscathed, the light inside him expanded, chasing away the shadows. Something new stirred inside him. No, not new. Reawakened. Restored.
Hope.
Maybe, just maybe, love didn’t have to burn.
Jonah could easily list a dozen ways he preferred to start out his first day back to work after his suspension. Walking through the visitor’s front door at the bureau and waiting once again for Trexler to meet him was not one of them.
Mary, the receptionist, was a quivering mess once again when she paged Trexler. Jonah’s temperament was much improved over the last time he stormed through the door like the thundercloud Avery accused him of being. That didn’t seem to ease her nerves.
Trexler took his sweet time meeting him. Jonah forced a natural smile on his face, ignoring the smug expression his supervisor wore. “Good morning, sir. My badge, please.”
“Not so fast,” Trexler said. “Follow me.”
“Of course,” Jonah said, then smiled at Mary. Just like the previous time, she’d raptly watched their interaction. “Have a good day, Mary.”
“You too,” she said after a brief hesitation.
Trexler didn’t say a word as they traversed the halls, saving his tirade for the privacy of his office. Jonah listened to a twenty-minute lecture that Trexler wrapped up with, “I hope you’ve learned a lesson.”
“Absolutely, sir,” Jonah said stoically. Their conversation ebbed into an awkward silence when neither of them had anything left to say. Trexler wanted Jonah to ask for his badge back again; Jonah would prefer someone douse him with honey and cover him