Coleson |Book 3|

29

Key quickly ushered me through the door and into his suite. I laid out the files onto the small corner desk and pointed at my discovery. "Those are tire tracks, Miller." He sounded discouraged as he ran his hand over his face.

"Great observation, Key. Now, look at this." I pulled out the other file, presenting the matching pair of tire tracks. His eyes widened as he took in my revelation. "These same tire tracks are at both sites. I know it isn't big-,"

"Are you kidding? This is huge," He picked up my papers and examined them closer.

"That's what I was thinking. I've at least narrowed down the search by a few million, right? I love this case," I sigh to myself before looking over Key's shoulder at the files. "All we need to do is figure out what kind of tire that is and what kind of vehicles have that same tire. I'm not good with cars, are you?" Key shook his head no and groaned to himself.

"I know about cars," My eyes snapped up to a very drowsy Cole in the doorway of Key's room. He yawned and ran his fingers through his unruly hair. I had to pry my eyes away in fear that I would melt into a puddle of hormones.

"I should've thought of that. You have a whole collection in your garage," I pulled the papers out of Key's grasp, much to his disappointment, and handed them to Cole. "We need to know that specific tire track and what kind of cars have that tire." Cole studied them for a second before answering,

"This definitely isn't a car or a truck, for that matter. It's a van of some sort, the tire marks are too big for anything smaller. An RV, maybe."

"Okay, okay. That's good. What else?" I ask eagerly, basically bouncing on the balls of my feet. Cole cracks a smile before inspecting the pictures again. His brow furrows as he tries to concentrate.

"I can't really place a brand or van model on it. The tracks are blurry and I can't tell. It's a big vehicle for sure. Sorry,"

"No need to be sorry," I say and collect the papers from him. "Thank you," I send him a smile before turning back to Key. "That narrows it down even more. Perhaps we can get into the surveillance that they have on the roads and see if there are any vans or RV's there." I pull out my phone but Cole and Key are quick to stop me.

"It's almost 3 in the morning, Rach. Do it tomorrow, I'm sure Melvin is tired as well." I look to Key to see him nod his head. I sigh dejectedly before gathering my files and making a neat stack of them.

"You're right. I am a little tired anyway. Good night, Key."

"Good night, Miller. I'll see you both tomorrow," I nod before following Cole out into the hallway. His fingers wrap around mine immediately as he walks me to our room. I smile contently before bringing his hand up and pressing a gentle kiss to his knuckles. It was times like these when I really like the alone time that we got. I was about to show him so appreciation before the outside world ruined it.

We reached our room and Cole made me stow away my files. He tucked my into bed before getting into his own. Disappointed that he didn't stay with me, I tossed and turned. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't tell if it was the case keeping me awake or if it was the fact that the man I love is laying in the other bed, away from me. I puff out a breath of air before untangling myself from the sheets and crawling into his bed.

"I was wondering when you'd come crawling over," He smiles and pulls me flush against his front. I sigh and snuggle closer to him, instantly falling asleep. Even though I had stayed up way passed midnight, I still woke up at 6. I was eager and excited to start the day and especially to work on the case. I don't think I've had such an interesting and involving case.

I pressed a gentle kiss to Cole's nose before flipping my legs over the bed and getting up. He stirred in the bed, his hand reaching out to the now vacant spot that I used to occupy but found nothing. I smiled to myself before going to our shower.