Jammed (Louis Tomlinson au)

Chapter 21

The next morning, Niall woke us up at the crack of dawn, his voice blaring through what should be soundproof walls as he waited in the hallway for either Louis or I to let him in. Of course, it being an unexpected visit, both Louis and I had to hurry around and find some sort of clothing to cover up with. It's not like we had anything to hide anymore, but it was Niall.

I grabbed a shirt and slipped it on, not realizing that it's Louis' until I've got it on and can clearly see whatever band's logo is spread across it. It still smelled like him, and I heard him laugh from the other end of the room as I played with the soft fabric. I guess he didn't mind, but obviously Mr. Horan would have something to say.

Louis let him in, and upon seeing me a big, old devilish grin appeared immediately on his face as he failed miserably to hold in a laugh. I rolled my eyes and as he came to sit next to me on the edge of the bed, I smacked the back of his head. He groaned for a moment, rubbing his neck as his laughter died down. He must have had some serious reason for coming here.

"Okay. what do you want this early in the morning, Niall?" I groaned and his eyes widen, as if he'd suddenly remembered that he might actually have something important to talk about. Not that I didn't think that my relationship with Louis was, because it was. But anyways, Niall looked ever so eager to talk, big surprise, as both Louis and I sat beside him and gave him our full attention.

"So, after Mallory left, I followed him like you asked. He walked down to the building where the Kaminskis work. When I asked the receptionist if I could talk to him really fast, she said that he was in a meeting with Mikhail Kaminski." Niall explained. It wasn't much information, in fact it complicated things even further. Mikhail was dead, I mean, I would know. And if Mallory had just been at the building to get Louis, why would he need to go back?

"Do you have any idea what he was doing there, then?" Louis asked, hoping, like I was, for something else more significant. My heart was racing just a little, somewhat from the fact that we still had no idea what Mallory's game was, but mainly because Louis had placed his hand on my thigh and damn was it anything but comforting.

"Not entirely," Niall answered, much to our dismay. Louis sighed deeply and moved his hand away from my leg as he scratched the bit of facial hair on his chin. "Marlee's looking for something to give us any clue as to what he was doing there, but they've got damn good security."

As if on queue, someone started banging on the door and we all heard the muffled yells from Marlee, commanding us to let her in now. Louis ran over and opened the door, Marlee soon joining us all on the bed with her laptop in hand. At first I thought I had a chance of hiding the evidence from last night as Marlee eagerly got to work, but in her second glance in my direction, her mouth forms an "o" shape as she stares at the shirt I'm wearing.

"Are you guys serious? People could be dying and you're too busy doing this to care?" she asked, looking between Louis and I. I almost laughed, because it was quite hypocritical. I mean, if I could count the times I caught her and Niall while I was working. But I don't even want to do that.

"Why are you even here?!" Louis shouted, probably getting just as frustrated as I am. I mean, if they were going to take all the time to interrogate us, couldn't they just wait until afternoon? Or, at least noon? Marlee suddenly focused back on her laptop, typing a few things into what appeared to be a secure database. Within about a minute, she had a familiar data spreadsheet on the screen. It had only been a day since we'd last checked Mallory's credit card activity, and so that just made the data all that more significant. If Marlee or Niall had anything more to joke about, that idea was gone now.

"Nice job, baby." Niall spoke up, setting his arm around Marlee's backside and leaning into her. It was kind of cute, so I let them have their moment. Louis took a breath like he was going to saw something, opening his mouth, but before he could mutter any insults I jabbed my elbow into his gut, sending him into a groan instead. Niall looked over for a minute, but I sent him a wink and all worry for Louis was lost. I understood them wanting to have a little intimacy, even if it did contradict everything Marlee had said when she walked in.