Brutal

9

He just couldn't get the fact that she'd called him out of his system. He was surprised, pleasantly so, that she'd rung him up. She'd been so free over the phone, so candid, so herself. His heart swelled merely at the thought of her.

Those whiskey irises with flecks of gold and that honey colored hair. Those high cheekbones which were enhanced by a slight hollowness right below them, making her face look more aristocratic than it already was. She was a looker, all right.

He grinned remembering her smile. That day, even after trying his best to piss her off, she'd been as calm as the sea. And later, after he'd given up being nasty, she'd smiled and it had reached straight to her eyes, and his heart.

Her smokey laugh on the phone earlier today had left his gut in knots. But then again, everything about her twisted him inside-out. The other day, he had ignored the wave of desire that had crept into him at the sight of her, because he had wanted to annoy her. But it had made its way back into him when her voice had passed through his ears from the other end of the phone.

He longed to see her this afternoon, have lunch with her. Hopefully, she'd have forgiven him for his awful behavior the last time. Perhaps he could make it up to her... Later. As of now, all he had to focus on was getting her to forget that he was ever an ass to her.

Would he look completely out of his mind if he took flowers for her? 

Of course he would, he chastised himself. He wasn't seeing her. Yet. Bringing flowers was something that guys did for their women. Not to mention, she wasn't his. Yet, he added, smirking to himself.

If she didn't seek him, he would her. In the end, he would make her his Lieutenant. And that was that. After all, this was just the start of something big.

—x—

Ford was pacing in her office, while Cooper was sprawled on a chair, observing her.

"Can you sit down? Pacing is not gonna help."

"Shut up."

"Fine, let's try the other way. Tell me what's wrong?"

Coming to stop, she took her seat and rubbed her face with both hands. "Nothing is specifically wrong, Cooper." He waited for her to continue, simply because he knew her enough to know that she wasn't done yet. "It's just that I have a strong feeling that he's gonna take off from NYC at the next possible chance. And we have to get him before he does so. I just don't know how."

"Let's run through it together. It's obvious that he has some sort of a soft spot for Jade, so—"

"So, he will definitely attend her funeral," she suddenly interrupted. "To pay his respects and maybe apologize."

"That might be it. We need to be there, the funeral."

She went back to frowning. "And how?"

"Ask Radcliffe."

"As if he's gonna call us," she said, rolling her eyes.

"You'll have to tell him to. If he wants his sister's murderer brought to justice, he will cooperate."

"Let's try, he's coming in," she glances at her watch, "half an hour, anyway. I'll ask him."

"Anything else?"

"Uh. Yes. Do me a favor, will you?"

"Shoot."

"You're also gonna be lunching with us, so get something to eat for all of us, please."

"Can't say no to that offer. Que voulez-vous manger?"

"Burger et frites, pour nous trois, s'il vous plaît."