Arresting Eyes (On Hiatus)

Chapter 3

            Shutting the car door, Casey ran her hands over the skirt of the dress, checking to make sure it was still covering her. The breeze around her thighs constantly making her think that she was exposed. She’d barely taken one step away from the vehicle when Frost’s voice called out, “Stop.”

            She did, turning to face him, frowning. “What? I wasn’t going to leave you behind.”

            He ignored her words, walking over until he stood only inches from her. “Don’t move,” he said.

            Casey’s eyebrows rose above the mirrored lenses of her sunglasses, but she stayed still. Right up until Frost’s hands went to her hair. “What are you doing?” she squawked, ducking her head. She instantly regretted it, wincing as the hand her supervisor had in her hair yanked.

            Frost waited for her to straighten. “Your usual ponytail isn’t going to work in a place like this. Not when you’re in a dress and we’re trying to pretend to be a couple out for a special trip. Now hold still while I get this tie of yours out of your hair.”

            “You couldn’t have told me?” Casey asked, feeling his hands smoothing her hair down as he tried to tug her hair tie out. “I could have gotten it out myself.”

            “Then you can take off your watch. A giant metal watch that’s all scratched up doesn’t work with the kind of character you should be portraying.”

            She clamped a hand over the watch, lips pursing for a second. While she understood that it didn’t fit with the dress and persona, she still didn’t want to take her watch off. She’d used it to deflect one too many blows to feel comfortable with it off. Still, she thought as she unclasped it. She did at least get to keep her knives.

            With the watch tossed onto the passenger seat of the car, her hair tie with no few strands of her hair still attached with it, Casey turned to look at Frost. Her arms crossed over her chest, she nodded. “Now what, Phillip?”

            “You can start by giving me your hand,” he replied, holding his out.

            Her mouth thinning, Casey still grabbed his hand. She was half surprised to find it warm, expecting Frost’s skin to be like his namesake’s. He closed his fingers around hers and strode off without another word to her.

            She was forced to run a couple of steps before she caught on to his stride, cursing her choice to wear sandals today. Of course, given his attitude so far, Casey would have bet good money that Frost would have made her change shoes too, if she’d come in her usual boots or runners. Glancing at him, she could see the dark brown stubble that always seemed to darken his cheeks. With a suit on instead of his usual t-shirt and jeans, it made him seem more…mature, as opposed to the borderline hobo he normally looked like.

            Frost caught her gaze and just looked down at her, his eyebrows up. Casey wrinkled her nose, not about to let him know she’d been studying him. He’d only make some kind of snide comment. “What’s Touch look like?”

            “Asian. Round face, black hair. Around your age. I’ll-” he broke off as they stopped at the crosswalk to let a red Bug scoot by. Casey followed the direction of his eyes and found him staring at the patio of the restaurant attached to the hotel. Or rather, staring at one table in particular.

            He took off again, half dragging her behind him for a second until she was able to hop twice and start walking again. Frost didn’t slow, glancing at her only for a second, before returning his gaze to the one table. As they got closer, Casey could see that it was occupied by an Asian man reading a newspaper. At least, he had a newspaper in front of him, though his eyes weren’t moving.

            Frost brought them into the patio, only releasing Casey to pull out a chair for her at the man’s table. Flushing slightly, no one ever pulled chairs out for her, she sat, fussing with her dress to make sure it covered her thighs and the knives strapped there. Frost dropped into the seat beside her as the stranger looked them both over.

            “You’re the two from Missing?” he asked, lips twisting into a frown.

            “Gorgon,” Casey said, offering him her hand.

            He shook it as her supervisor said, “Frost,” and nodded.

            The man leaned back into his chair, folding his hands on the table that was empty except for the paper, coffee mug, and half eaten piece of cake. “I’m Touch,” he said, voice soft. “I’m sorry for calling you in but… I didn’t know what to do when he went inside. I’m not really… I’m no good at fighting.”

            Frost shrugged. “Not many outside of Combat are. Now, what can you tell us about this guy? Do you know where he is?”

            Touch nodded. “He’s in room three eighteen. I checked as I could, and I know he did bring some of his guns with him. I couldn’t get an exact number, but there are more than two for sure. I was going to just follow for a while longer, but Mustache said we should take him before he does anything else, and she said she was calling in back-up. Will…will you need my help in there? I’ll help as much as I can.”

            “No,” Frost said, eyes already on the hotel. “We can take it from here.”

            Casey smiled at Touch, who she was beginning to suspect might be younger than her from his attitude, and said, “Thanks. We’ll need you once we’ve got him. You know better than us where to find the info we need.”

            “I can do that. Should I just wait here until then?”

            She nodded. “Yeah. We’ll call you when we’re done. Thanks,” she said as her supervisor stood. She followed suit, taking his hand when he held it out. With a single nod at Touch, Frost led the way off the patio and towards the hotel’s front doors.