Chapter Five

Chapter Five

On Monday morning, before Charlie headed up to the office, he poked his nose into Gwen's café.

"You're getting in a little late," she said.

"I was out dancing with Carrie. I have no idea when we actually got in."

"Sunday dancing. Good Lord, what will the youth of today get up to next?"

Gwen rose from her chair and wandered behind the counter. She picked out an almond-encrusted pain au chocolat.

"Here. Try one of these. They're something new."

Charlie bit into it and his eyes lit up. "Oh my God. I'll never eat a plain one again."

Gwen smiled. "Now, what can I get you?"

"An extra-large latte with a triple shot of espresso."

"Anything for Declan?"

Charlie paused. Business as usual. "A large double-shot Americano, please."

He grabbed the coffees and headed up to the office. As Charlie got to his desk, he heard the familiar crash of weights hitting the floor of the apartment above. It was leg day for Declan and Charlie knew that meant he'd be doing squats with his barbells.

Crash. Another set done and he'd dropped the weights to the floor.

It's a wonder that any of the ceiling lights in the office still work.

Charlie put on his best smile and headed up the stairs. Declan came into view. He wore nothing but tight workout shorts and training shoes. Charlie remembered once telling Declan that the company had enough money that they could afford a new pair of trainers for him. Declan had said that he had the trainers worked in the way he liked.

Declan's muscles strained as he squatted and hoisted weights that far exceeded his own mass. He bent forward at the waist, keeping his back flat and his head looking straight ahead, watching himself in the mirror. Then he dropped the weights onto the padded floor mat. He paused for a second, looking at the reflection of his body.

Charlie cleared his throat. Declan turned and saw Charlie at the top of the stairs. They stared at each other for an awkward moment.

"I…thought you might want this," Charlie said, offering up the coffee.

"Thanks," Declan replied. The tension was palpable.

Charlie put the coffee on the small kitchen counter.

"I'd better…" Charlie started, pointing to the stairs. "Emails don't answer themselves."

He turned and Declan said "Charlie—"

"Yes," Charlie said, spinning around.

"Thanks for the coffee."

"Yeah. No problem."

Charlie headed down to the office leaving Declan alone. Fuck.

As Charlie reached his desk the phone rang. He answered. "Declan Hunt Investigations, Charlie Watts speaking."

"Yeah, ah, may I speak to Mr Hunt, please?"

"I'm afraid he's not in the office at the moment. Perhaps I could help you. I'm Mr Hunt's assistant."

"Um…sure, I guess. Look, I was wondering if Mr Hunt could look into my case. It's a rather personal matter. I think I might be in trouble."

"I see. I'm very sorry to hear that. Why don't I take down your contact information and I'll have Mr Hunt get in touch with you when he comes in?"

"I've been told I can trust him. I just don't know what I'll do if…" Their voice started to crack.

Charlie said, "You've come to the right place. I assure you." Charlie noted the name and phone number of the potential new client, finishing with, "I promise he'll get back to you as soon as he can."

As Charlie disconnected, he heard, "Once again, you are a life-saver."

He turned. Declan was leaning out of his office doorway with his coffee in hand. He still wore nothing but his shorts, shoes and sweat. He hoisted his coffee cup.

Just remember, Charlie thought, business as usual.

"I just had a call from a Cody White. He wants to talk to you. Here's his number."

Charlie brought the message to Declan, who met him halfway. Declan took the piece of paper. Charlie stood less than a foot away from the detective. He took a deep breath in, trapping the scent of the man who, moments ago, had made him feel weak in the knees in spite of himself.

As Declan scanned the message, his cell phone buzzed. "Can you give Cody a call back and tell him I've been delayed and will get back to him as soon as I can. I have an important meeting I have to get to."

"I don't have anything in the office calendar. Did I miss something?" Charlie asked.

"No. I didn't put it in the calendar. It's personal," Declan said.

"Oh. Okay," Charlie said, trying not to sound hurt.

"I'm going to go take a shower. By the way, I've been thinking about that Yamada guy from the party the other night. There's something not sitting right with me about his story. Could you write up anything you remember from our meeting and see if you can dig anything up on him? And while you're at it, see what you can find out about Malcolm Tull."

"Sure," Charlie said.

"I'll text you when I'm done and maybe we can grab a drink and you can fill me in. We can meet at Bar-None around five-thirty if that's okay with you."

"Sounds great."

And maybe you can fill me in on your mysterious meeting that isn't in your calendar.