Beauty & The Beast (Book 1)

36. In memory

"You're Tess you're so beautiful, make me wanna get you to be my girl," Jake sings, hitting a high note or two inbetween. He sitting at Tess's desk while she works. It's been going on a good fifteen minutes. She looks at him as he keeps singing, in her own personal Popstar induced nightmare.
Cat walks in and Tess has never been happier. He notices her looking at the door and turns in his seat. "Oh what up Cat? In the hat?"

"Yeah, still not in love with the nickname."

"Hm, once a nickname is given it sticks for life," he winks. He grins and looks back at Tess. "Ain't that right, Manslaya?"

Tess glares. "Say that again and I'll pommel you."

"Don't tease me," he bites the air playfully.

"Just go. Just walk away and stay at least ten feet away from me." He sends her a kiss and she rolls her eyes.

"If it helps, I think I found us a new lead," Cat says, taking her phone out, which dings in her pocket. 

"It helps if it gets rid of the Backstreet Boy wannabe," Tess points after Jake then looks at Cat. "And now I have to take him to his basketball practice."

Cat puts her phone away and lifts her face to Tess's. "Uhm, looks like he's in this Twitter war with tweensational Lil Tap Dat?" Tess scrunches her nose. "No joke. And it sounds ugly."

"The name or the Twitter war?"

Cat shrugs. "I gotta go," she smiles and then she leaves Tess to deal with Jake.

*

Tess goes to get the kid, who had changed into oversized basketball clothes. She walks out of the building, not waiting for him, to her car and he hops along behind her.

"Yo, you want some?" Jake asks when they are in the car, holding out a candy bar.

"Put on your seatbelt."

Jake does so, and then he switches on her car radio. He fiddles with it, complaining that the music was from the stone ages. Tess slaps his hand away and he seems to like that.

"Okay, I'll be sure to let the Chief know you find our squad cars underwhelming. She'll be delighted to shell out and pimp our rides."

"Alright," he says while chewing loudly.

"Let's get this over with Oberon," Tess sighs and starts to back out.

"Oberon wishes he had these cheek bones," Jake pouts his lips and nods with a satisfied bite of his candybar.

******

Cat arrived at the warehouse to find out why JT wanted to see her. It turns out it wasn't JT at all. But Vincent. And he's just told her that her mother was in Afghanistan when he was.

"No, my mother wasn't in Afghanistan."

"She was. I remember it now."

"You what?"

"We think your mother was a 'player'... in Muirfield," JT says. Vincent watches her carefully. So does JT. Cat only swallows and looks down. "And you...don't look surprised?"

Vincent frowns. "Catherine what is it?"

"The agent from Muirfield who abducted me, he showed me a picture of my mom with other Muirfield scientists."

JT jumps off the counter and lifts his arms, the tranquilizer gun in his hand like it's become an extra limb. "And you never told us?"

"JT," Vincent warns.

"I didn't believe him." She walks closer. She'd been on one side of the room, JT in the middle and Vincent on the other side. "He was using whatever he could to turn me against you," she looks into his eyes. He looks down. "It couldn't be real."