The Private Investigator

Chapter 1: Meet Your New Partner

"Cheyenne, please report to my office." Mr. Benson called on the intercom. Cheyenne got up from her desk and strolled casually and slightly annoyed into her bosses office. This marked four times she has been called to his office this week. It was always something dumb like, 'hey I need some more coffee,' or 'fax this for me would ya', she figured it was just another stupid errand for him. She pushed the door open and stood with one hand on the door knob and the other on her hip. She looked at him with annoyance written all over her face disregarding the man sitting in front of him at his desk. "You know you really should get a damn secretary or something, because I am not your personal slave." She said. "Well, I would but that means I would have to go through another hiring process and with the million secretaries I have already been through I highly doubt the board will let me have another. Besides, you are already on the payroll. Now come sit down we need to talk."

She closed the closed the door and sat down beside the man that was seated directly in front of Mr. Benson. "Yes, can I help you?" she said slyly looking at her boss and propping her chin on her fist. Mr. Benson watched her with squinted eyes as if to say 'calm your tits this is important'. "this is Jim Feltlinge, he is a new hire and has been assigned to be your new partner." Mr. Benson began. "Now I expect you to be on your best behavior and show him the ropes in a responsible and professional manner."

"Partner? Really? You think I need a partner?"

"No, and it was not my call to assign you a partner, it was the boards decision."

"I'm sorry, I can't work with a partner. You are going to have to get him to work with someone else."

"Cheyenne, the decision has already been made, they have already reviewed everyone here and thought that you would be the best fit."

"Well, they need to evaluate some more because they made a mistake."

"You do realize he is sitting right next to you and can hear everything you are saying right?"

"What's your point? It's not like I'm talking trash about him or anything."

Mr. Benson dropped his head, closed his eyes and began rubbing his temples with both hands. He was always overwhelmed talking to Cheyenne, yea she was a great detective, smart, headstrong, and could solve a case without leaving her desk, but that mouth over loaded the situation most of the time. She was dead set in her ways, no one and nothing could ever change that. Fact of the matter was he had to go along with what the board set in motion, otherwise he would lose his job. He knew it would be difficult to get her to agree to have a partner but duty called and he had to convince her to take the job. "Cheyenne, what can I do to get you to do this for me?" He asked still rubbing his temples. "Ah Ha! So this is another favor for you!" She snapped. "Yes, yes it is. It is for both of us, so we can both keep our jobs. Now what is it going to take?"

Cheyenne thought for a minute changing her sight between Jim and Mr. Benson. Jim was sitting quietly with a smile on his face like he was enjoying the show. Like he had his own personal Saturday Night Live sitcom right in front of him. He had dark brown hair slightly wavy with brown eyes, dressed in a dark blue button down shirt, overly starched dark blue jeans, and brown cowboy boots. Cheyenne thought he was kind of handsome, his smile is what convinced her to take the role as his mentor. "Fine, I will do it, but not for you." She finally said to her boss. "Great! That is fantastic! I will call the board and let them know you agree." Mr. Benson said practically leaping for his phone. "Wait, so I did have a choice."

"Yes, but that's not important now, to late!" Mr. Benson laughed waving them out of his office holding the phone firmly against his ear. Cheyenne's jaw dropped and she turned her head to look at Jim. Apparently, he already knew what was going on because he was doubled over in the chair laughing silently with his hands covering his mouth. Cheyenne stood and walked back to her office unaware that Jim was following close behind, his face was red from laughing so hard. She sat down at her desk and noticed Jim sitting across from her with his elbows propped up on her desk and his chin resting softly on his fists staring at her with that brilliant smile. "So what is in the agenda today boss?" Jim asked sarcastically. "You know what, with an attitude like that you are bound to get a fist in your mouth."

Jim sat quietly admiring his new boss, or 'mentor' as he should call her. Her blue eyes and shoulder length brown hair with natural blonde highlights was intoxicating to him. He slipped into a daydream not realizing he was still staring at her as she worked on finalizing information from her last case.

"Cheyenne, you are stunning, do you have a boyfriend? Husband? Fiancé? No? Great! Let's change that shall we?"

"Excuse me?" Cheyenne asked. Jim snapped back into reality, his smile fell flat, and he stared embarrassed into Cheyenne's intoxicating eyes that captivated his daydream. "What? I didn't say anything." He said not realizing he had spoke those words out loud. "Yes, you did. I think now would be a good time to go over a few rules." She said turning in her chair to face him completely with a serious look. "Rules?" He asked. "Yes, rules. Rule number 1. You will stay out of my way."

"Check. What is rule number two?"

"Keep your mouth shut."

"Hum. Ok, but I don't know how well I'm going to be able to handle that one." He said as his smile returned. He leaned back in his chair throwing his hands behind his head lacing his fingers together to hold his head up. Cheyenne scrunched her eyes at him and turned back to her computer.

"Cheyenne and Jim report to my office please." Mr. Benson called yet again on the intercom. They both stood and fought quietly at the door to see who was going to walk out first. Jim laughed and backed up bowing at the door signaling her to go first. "You just got here and you are already on thin ice." She said before walking out the door. "What is it now?" Cheyenne asked.

"Your first case together just came through. A Mr. Dan Crawlers is looking for his wife. She apparently died four years ago but he caught wind of her death being a fake and now he wants to find her." Mr. Benson explained. "Simple." Cheyenne said. "I'm afraid not, there is also word that this involves one of the most notorious mafia groups in town, I'd be careful if I was you." Mr. Benson finished handing Cheyenne the file folder.