Animals

Day 13 Part 2

Tuesday, May 22nd

I barely had time to rest after I got home before Mitch was dragging me back out the door. Not that I expected him to, but he didn't even check to make sure I was okay. I assumed it was because I was good at hiding the fact that I cried.

As always, Mitch was quiet as he drove. I didn't bother asking him where he was taking me because I knew he wouldn't answer. I used to think that he didn't answer my questions because I annoyed him, but the more time I spent with him, the more I realized he was that way with everyone except children. For such an emotionally closed off man, kids really liked him. They seemed to gravitate towards him for reasons I couldn't fathom. Even in random places, children found him interesting. They must have been seeing something I wasn't.

I noticed how people looked at him everywhere he went. Women typically eyed him with hunger and curiosity. That was something I did understand. Mitch was an enigma wrapped in black clothes and leather jackets—a bad boy personified. I wondered if who he really was matched how he dressed on the outside. So far, I was inclined to say yes, but there was a little niggle in the back of my mind telling me not to judge him so quickly. There was something there I wasn't seeing yet, and it bothered me.

"What?" Mitch grunted after casting me several annoyed glances. I realized I'd been staring at him and averted my gaze.

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"About the case?" He suddenly seemed interested in what I had to say, his eyes filled with light.

I licked my lips and shrugged. "What else would I be thinking about?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm sorry?" I couldn't help the shocked look on my face. Of all the sentences Mitch could say, that was probably one of the top ten things I never would've expected from him. Annoyance bubbled up at the fact that he kept shooting new surprises at me just when I thought I'd figured a part of him out.

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the wheel tighter, pursing his lips to keep from shooting back an insult. "Sometimes it helps me to talk the case through. I just thought you might want to."

In my entire career, talking through a case was something I'd rarely done. The times where I had discussed something was with Addy, but only when she was already involved. I typically tried to keep others out of my business to protect those I was working for.

Flashes of dying rats races across my mind, and I squeezed my eyes closed in an effort to force them away. They were hard enough to see the first time.

"You okay?" Mitch asked.

I inhaled strength and nodded. "I've never seen something like that in my life. It was awful. Evanoff used this...like powder substance or smokey stuff. I'm not really sure, but it-." I shuddered at the memory and Mitch quickly turned down the AC. "What it did to those poor rats, I-."

Mitch alternated his glances between me and the road, some kind of battle happening behind his eyes. Before he could act on whatever conclusion he'd come to, I steeled myself and pushed away my feelings. I could analyze this as a scientist would a flatworm and leave emotion out of it.

"The smoke just did something to their bodies. It was like they were deteriorating right in front of my eyes. They said they created a new element, but whatever this stuff is, it's deadly. God, I can't even remember what he called it, but even the name sounded scary."

"Do you remember what it sounded like?"

I tested out a few sounds similar to what I thought I'd heard, but nothing sounded quite right. Finally, I landed on "Soo-nish-tium?"