Jammed (Louis Tomlinson au)

Chapter Four

Before I could leave or talk to Louis anymore, Niall dragged me away and stuck me in "timeout". I wasn't going to kill Louis, if that was what he thought. I mean, he was still a suspect in my mind, meaning he wasn't totally in the clear. But for now, he was just in the middle. Apparently Niall didn't think so.

I'd much rather talk to someone from headquarters now than take a sock at Louis. Preferably I'd ask Mallory, but I was so desperate for answers I'd talk to anyone. It infuriated me that they could change their opinion on Louis Tomlinson so easily. They were falling for whatever image he was playing, and it sickened me. I didn't care if Louis was telling the truth or not, it was too early to trust him. I figured Mallory would at least follow that rule.

I suddenly realized that Niall had handed me my cell phone back after talking to a director from headquarters. Swiftly I took it out of my back pocket and dialed Mallory's office number. Usually we weren't supposed to use this number, because Mallory was a paranoid bitch who hated landlines. I didn't care though, if fact I wanted to get him just a little riled up so that I could really give him a peace of my mind. There was no point arguing with a calm Mallory anyway. Calmness meant strength.

"Jancer, how many times do I have to disconnect this phone to get you to stop calling it?" Mallory's agitated voice finally came through the receiver. Things were going well so far, in my opinion. "As many times as the company bothers to fix it." I answered back, taking it slow and easy. It's not like I wanted to go back and talk to Louis, or that Niall would even let me. That asshole thought he was my mother or something.

"I just wanted to call and see how things are going in America, and whatever the hell made you suddenly take Louis Tomlinson off the suspect list?" My voice became more strained as I brought up the case. Mallory probably figured that it was what I wanted to talk about given that Niall had talked to him about it just a minute later. And if he expected me to be so angry about it, why the hell did he do it?

Damien Mallory was like a father to me. Since I had been in training for the MASK program, he had been there. At a young age, I learned not to trust people. But meeting Mallory, it came so easy that I couldn't help but break my own rule. I respected him and admired him: he was an honest, good man and after everything that I had seen at such a young age he was what I wanted to become through MASK. Mallory had shaped my mind and every single way I think of the world today. As much as we argued, we really did think the same way. So, it disturbed me when his thoughts suddenly became so far from mine.

"Jancer, if you think we haven't done the research then you're wrong. I've had Drew and two other guys from intel working on getting Louis Tomlinson's background info all day. Nothing on his record points to him having any criminal involvement, and his research shows no sign of anything harmful. It isn't a guess that Louis is no longer a suspect in this case, and now that he's clear we can use him to our advantage." Mallory explained calmly and I sat back in one of the many chairs in what appeared to be the company conference room that Niall had locked me inside. I rolled my eyes as he babbled on about Louis' "clean record". But I sat up once I realized the discrepancy.

"Just this morning Marlee called me and told me you had nothing on Louis Tomlinson. She said you'd looked, and there was nothing on the database. And now, hours later, you find enough to defend his innocence. Mallory I really don't appreciate you lying to me." I spoke stolidly. For the first time I found myself doubting Mallory and as much as I hated doing so, I had a gut feeling.

"Things change Jancer. It was hard finding him, there's a good load of people in the world and London Labs has some good security, despite the hacking. It just took that long to pull up the information, sorry if the office is once again too slow for the infamous Jancer Ryan." Mallory was getting frustrated; I could tell as he spoke and started to rummage through the stacks of papers he probably had sitting on his desk.