An Offer You Can't Refuse by Sal Bianchi (best beach reads .txt) 📕

“Good,” he replied again. “See you soon.”

That was all he said before hanging up. Flint had always been a man of very few words, even when I was a kid, but I knew he was a good guy deep down. I stowed my phone back into my pocket and pondered over what I should do. I couldn’t abandon the case, but I was really curious as to what the SDCT case was about.

A moment later, though, my decision was made for me when I heard a loud scrape behind me as a chair was pushed roughly against the floor.

“You know what?” the woman snarled. “I don’t have time for this. I need to get back to work.”

She stormed out of the restaurant, her heels clicking against the tile floor as she went. I could hear the man sigh behind me before flagging down a server and asking for the check.

Now that the woman was gone, there wasn’t much I could do here since I knew he would just be heading back to work, so I gathered up my things and left as well. This meant that I would now have to work overtime to get this case solved within the allotted time frame that I’d given the client, but I didn’t feel dismayed. On the contrary, I was practically grinning with excitement at the prospect of getting to work on a real criminal case with the SDCT.

6

Nick

I knew exactly where the SDCT office was and how to get there. This wasn’t my first time consulting with them on a case, and even before then, I’d often met up with Jase here before heading out to go drinking. It was funny to look back now and think about how close I’d been to running into Officer Flint so many times. Though, I suppose it wasn’t officer anymore, since he was now the director of the SDCT.

The SDCT, or Special Domestic Crimes Taskforce, was a specialized agency that devoted itself to investigating crimes that posed a potential threat to public safety. Like Homeland Security on a smaller scale, they typically handled things like potential terrorist threats, trafficking, and, of course, organized crime. Their office was located in a business park, not unlike the one I currently worked and lived in, though this one was noticeably fancier. It was made up of tall, towering office buildings as opposed to the small single-level suites that made up the industrial park my office was in.

I pulled my car into the first open spot I found and got out. There were so many people employed by the various businesses and companies that used this industrial park that it was sometimes difficult to find good parking. I found it was easier to just leave my car somewhere near the entrance and just walk.

The building the SDCT office was located in was tall and intimidating. I remembered I’d felt extremely out of place the first time I’d visited. Even the ground floor lobby was tastefully decorated and looked like one of the swanky lobbies I might find in the expensive beachfront hotels owned by my family. SDCT’s office was on the seventh floor. The elevator opened to a narrow hallway that stretched both left and right. All along the hallway were doors that led into the main office area, but each required a passcode to get through.

Flint had given it to me the first time I’d come, much to the consternation of many of the agents. I knew a lot of them had a problem with me working so closely with them and having access to sensitive information. They knew I was ex mafia, and many of them were of the opinion that I couldn’t be trusted. Flint, in his typical fashion, had just shrugged his shoulders and told them that he wasn’t concerned.

I punched the code in and stepped inside. The main bullpen in the center of the office where all the field agents worked was bustling. I hadn’t been here often enough to know everyone’s names, but I was doing my best to become acquainted with everyone. Around the perimeter of the office were the smaller office rooms belonging to the director, the assistant director, the intelligence analyst, and the communications liaison. Of those, I only knew the director, Flint, and the intelligence analyst, Agent Marshall Stein.

Of course, there was also the lab on the other end of the office, but I’d never been there at all and actually had no idea who worked there.

I’d only taken a few steps toward Flint’s office when a familiar and unfriendly voice halted me in my tracks.

“You can’t be serious,” Agent Bette Owens scoffed derisively at me. “Flint really called you?”

I turned to look at her. Bette was one of the agents that didn’t think I should be allowed to work with SDCT. Out of all of them, she was probably the most outspoken about it, too.

“He did.” I smiled at her. “I’m excited for the opportunity to work with SDCT again.”

“Oh, shut up.” She rolled her eyes. “That ‘prince charming’ act isn’t going to work on me, DiFiore. I don’t know what the hell the director’s thinking.”

“You look pretty when you glare like that,” I replied. It was a terrible line, even for me, but I was really just trying to get a rise out of her now. It was immature, but being nice obviously wasn’t going to change her mind either way.

“Are you serious?” she snarled, her lip twitching with contempt. I’d said it just to annoy her, but Bette really was very pretty. Even when she was angry, there was a fire in her eyes that was actually really attractive.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Jase asked cheerfully as he tactfully positioned himself between us.

“Great, you’re here,” Bette huffed as she took a step back and turned to look at Jase. “Maybe you’ll have better luck reining in this idiot.”

She shot me one last glare before sauntering off.