Dominate Me

Chapter 11

~ Miles' POV ~

"What the fuck do you mean you lost him? All you had to do was wait until I came back out!" I threw my hands up in the air as my bonehead replacement partner glared at me.

Two fucking years since Hawk left and this was the idiot I'd been paired with. Kyle Atwood, the agent who couldn't even keep a suspect in custody while I questioned the witness.

I took a deep breath, shaking my head as I closed my eyes. Letting my mind roll back over the images of the apartment I'd just been in, over his actions from when we'd questioned him. I had a feeling I knew where he'd be.

"Get in the car, Atwood." I ordered, grinding my teeth as I yanked the door of the SUV open.

"Where are we going?"

"The casino on third."

"Wait what? Why? Miles, this is no time to-"

"He gambles incessantly. Especially when he's stressed, and that's the closest casino from here. Even if he didn't go straight there, he'll end up there before the end of the night."

"How do you-"

"Because it's part of my fucking job to know, Atwood. It's what I've trained for to get to where I am today."

Liam Hawkins, I'm going to wring your fucking neck whenever I find you for leaving me with this jackass.

I forced an irritated breath, trying to remember how my first few years as an agent were - the mistakes I'd made. "He keeps a chip in his pocket and would pull it out every time he felt pressure from us. His mind travelled back to the table every time he got stressed. His phone went off twenty-seven times in the first hour we had him sitting down, each text visibly making him sweat more than our interrogation did."

"Maybe it was just a lucky poker chip. Maybe he'd won a lot and kept that as a souvenir." Kyle offered, still standing on the curb.

I glared over at him. "A serial robber plus a dingy apartment? One that doesn't even have a bed frame for the mattress or a couch in the living room? I don't think so. He has gambling debts to pay off, but every time he steals the money, he runs back to the table even though he's terrified of whoever was texting him."

Kyle furrowed his eyebrows, opening his mouth to ask me how I'd noticed that.

"Just get in the fucking car, Atwood."

____________________

"That bad?" Avery questioned as I popped the cap off my beer.

I glared over at her, letting my eyes show my long day.

She giggled. "He's like your Vanessa. She drives me nuts. I really try to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I just... I can't stand her lazy ass."

"Love, you're her boss. You can fire her, you know."

"Yeah, I know, but..."

"You feel bad. You know no one else will put up with her shit, so if you do, you can make sure she at least has her bills paid."