Deadlock || ᴠᴍɪɴ

Chapter 6

“Are you sure about this?”

“Well, you already checked out of your hotel, didn’t you?”

Rob was right.

“Yeah, but still. I hope I’m not intruding.”

Upon returning to LA, Rob and Jimin had gotten dinner in downtown Chinatown. After that, Jimin had checked out of his hotel and brought his things to Rob’s house.

Although Jimin had initially refused Rob’s offer to stay at his house, Rob was so insistent that Jimin finally caved. It was obvious that Rob wasn’t offering out of pure goodwill and that he had other intentions; however, Jimin was sure that the man wasn’t the type to force himself onto anyone. He knew he didn’t have to be overly on-guard around Rob.

“Stop being a worry wart,” Rob smiled in exasperation as he sat down across from Jimin on the sofa. “If you were intruding, I wouldn’t ask you to come over in the first place.”

“But if I’m here, you won’t be able to bring anyone home.”

“Are you taking a swipe at me? You know I’m not dating anyone. I’ve been lonely and single since I was dumped three months ago.”

“Whoever he was, he didn’t know what he was losing,” Jimin quipped. “It’s not every day you meet a university professor who’s not only handsome and nice, but also good at changing diapers.”

“Why, thank you. I couldn’t ask for a better compliment,” Rob laughed as he untied his tie and threw it at Jimin. “Anyway, what about you, Jimin? Don’t you have some cute girl waiting for you back in New York?”

“If I did, I’d be too busy on the phone with her to be here drinking with you, Rob.”

“You’ve got a point. Some more?” Rob said as he poured white wine into Jimin’s empty glass. “Speaking of phones, the guy you were talking with… Heiden? Is he your supervisor?”

“Yeah. He’s a prick, but thanks to you, he was in an irritatingly good mood. Looks like Nathan’s interview hit a jackpot. He was so impressed with it, I didn’t get in trouble for my lack of leads from visiting Schelger.”

Jimin had called Heiden the previous day to tell him that he wanted to bring Rob onto the case. At first Heiden was not convinced, despite Jimin explaining that Rob was a criminologist who had cooperated with the FBI before. However, as soon as Jimin mentioned that Rob had interview footage of Nathan, Heiden had instantly changed his mind and given immediate permission. Right now, he was probably frantically analyzing the footage that Jimin had sent.

“It’s important to hear things directly from people,” Rob said. “Sometimes there are important clues hidden in the things they say and how they act.”

Despite Rob’s words, Jimin hadn’t been able to spot anything noteworthy in their conversations with Gasly and Spencer. When he complained of the fact to Rob, Rob pointed out that the relationship between Corvus and the previous Warden Corning may be an important point to focus on.

“What was their relationship like from what you saw, Jimin?”

“Well, being inmates, we didn’t get to see the warden much in the first place. Oh, wait, there was one time. I saw Corning come to the library to see Corvus, and he was in a rage about something.”

“The warden came all the way to visit him?” Rob asked with interest. Jimin explained to him what he overheard. He recalled that they were talking about Neto. Neto had been placed into solitary for an extended period to prevent the dispute between the Blacks and Chicanos from turning violent, but had suddenly been returned to his regular cell around that time.