A Hot Mess - 9. Chapter 9 – Turning a corner

“I knew it was a mistake as soon as I said the words. I should’ve kept quiet.” Travis said ruefully.

“Don’t sweat over it man! I don’t think the SOB was going to give us anything anyway.” was what Mallory had to say.

Friday morning found Jason, Mallory and Travis discussing the knots in the case. It was turning out to be far more complicated than they had initially suspected. The particular mistake they were talking about was Travis’s attempt to put words into Mike’s mouth when he had looked vulnerable. The young officer had been berating himself ever since the interrogation. In anger he had spent the remaining part of the day and night, re-reading all the documents on the case to discover any new thread he could pursue. He had stayed back late after others had left, not even budging on Jason’s insistence to leave with him.

“It’s good you know you made a mistake.” Jason chimed in. “We all do. It’s part of learning. In the end it won’t make much of a difference, so don’t beat yourself up too much.”

Travis accepted the pep talk with good grace, still unhappy with himself but not as angry he was as before.

“So,” continued the Sergeant, “What else do we have? What course of action do you guys plan on taking now?”

“I’m going to question Mike’s friend Greg again and find out more about the conversation between Tiffany and Mike on the night of her death. See if he’s also in on whatever Mike’s hiding.” was Mallory’s response.

“And I want to find out more about Dayton Baker’s wife.”

Both Jason and Mallory looked at Travis to explain. He complied.

“I was going through Mike’s cell phone records and there’s a number he had calls with regularly. It’s Nina Baker’s number. While he spoke to his father only once a week. On the week on the incident, there were no conversations with that particular number of Nina’s, but someone from Milan called him many times. Even upto the day of the murder. Of course he dumped the phone after that. Nina was in Milan at the time. Now if she was so close to Mike, did she help him hide? Does she know more about this whole thing? Anyway, as part of the investigation she has only been spoken to once. In light of new findings we should question her, see if she knew about her husband and Tiffany’s relationship.”

“You know what? I don’t think Mike had a clue about his father and Tiffany.” Jason said thoughtfully. “At least, that’s the impression I got yesterday. I wrote it down in my notes.”

“I agree.” Mallory said, before adding, “But may be Mrs. Baker knows.”

Jason nodded, remaining distracted, “Remind me again, what’s Mike’s relationship with the person whose cottage he hid in?” He asked.

Mallory piped up, “Fuck. It’s Nina’s brother.”

“That’s what I thought.” Jason sat up with new vigor. “Mal, when you question Mike’s friend, don’t let him feel threatened at all. Just slip in Nina Baker’s name, see what he has to share.”

“Will do.”

“Oh and there’s one more person I’m interested in.” Travis added before Detective Smith left the room.

“Who?” Both Jason and Mallory asked together.

“Mike’s body guard. He ought to have an opinion about what happened. Since the agency was sacked, I would assume he’d be more than willing to share some dirt on the family.”

“That’s right.” Mallory agreed. “We spoke to the guy immediately after the murder. Maybe he’ll tell us more now.”

“Awesome, so we have multiple threads to go after now.” Jason said with excitement.

Mallory, unused to seeing him being that expressive about any case, raised an eyebrow before saying, “Sure we have.”

Jason picked up on the mockery and cleared his throat. “Okay, so you guys have enough to do in the coming days. Let me know where I can help out.” Travis followed Mallory out of the room with a little smile on his face.

Once again at lunch, Jason came and took his newest teammate away.

“Feel better now? You were freaking out last night.” They were having Pho in a small Vietnamese joint.

Travis ducked his head. “Sorry. I was being a Diva, wasn’t I?”

Jason laughed. “I just wanted you to take it easy. It had been a rough day for you.” Travis was finding it difficult to look away from the face of the man sitting in front of him. Jason was smiling at him; those deep brown eyes were gleaming for him. There had been no bigger thrill in life for Travis than what he was feeling right then.

Once they started working on their food, the two men stole frequent glances at each other and exchanged smiles when their eyes met. No words were said but the interaction ended up being more intimate than any of the previous ones.

Finally, while waiting for the check, Jason broached with certain amount of hesitation. “Ah Travis, do you have any plans on Sunday?”

“No?” Travis’s voice dropped in anticipation, eyes going big.

“So, I’m driving down to get Corey back tomorrow evening. I was wondering if you’d want to join us for an early dinner on Sunday.” Jason was speaking fast, “It won’t be anything fancy, just steaks and veggies -”

“Sure” Travis cut him off, face looking literally like the Fourth of July sky. Jason matched his companion’s grin. As they got up to leave, he put his hand on Travis’s back. It was the first contact between the two beyond formal handshakes and sent a chill up the younger man’s spine. During the walk back they brushed hands, not unintentionally, on more than one occasion. Their courtship was now ‘on’.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that day Jason scolded himself with a, ‘Get a grip’, after a good ten minutes of daydreaming on his desk. ‘You’re not a teenager for God’s sake!’ Travis was in much similar state. It was not easy for either man to concentrate on work when they got back.

Sergeant Scott’s reverie was broken by a single loud knock. The door opened to reveal Commander Henderson’s ample figure topped by his ever smiling face.

“I hear you’ve got a hot cookie in your hand, Sergeant!” Jason stood up with a jolt, making the older man quip, “Was I too literal there?”

The Sergeant got extremely embarrassed. “Tom?” He protested, forgetting for once his practice of addressing his superior only by rank while at work.

“You’re actually blushing! So it’s true.” Commander Henderson came in and made himself comfortable on the chair. “You’ve become human, not your usual Robocop routine anymore. Should I worry?”

“You seem to be following the gossip mill quite closely.”

“It’s called being a good boss.”

“I have to hand it to you then, as most of the talk makes its way to my home. That must make you the best boss ever.”

“Finally! You’ve figured out just how good I am.”

Jason laughed good-naturedly. Tom, setting aside his mocking tone, watched the man he liked to call his friend with an expression of fondness. “It’s good to see you laugh, Jason” said the Commander. “I haven’t seen you this relaxed in years. Not when Corey isn’t around.”

Jason simply smiled, not knowing how to respond to that. He eyed the man in front of him, “I know that the little squirt will tell you anyway, so here it goes. I’ve invited Travis home for dinner on Sunday.”

Tom expressed surprise.

“You did, did you? And here I thought I’ll have to throw a get together of some sort, the way Corey had been bugging me to see his father’s admirer. Are you serious about this one?”

“Well, that boy’ll make my life difficult otherwise. Better to attack than defend.” He avoided answering Tom’s real question.

“You know your son. Let me know how it goes. Your version I mean. Corey would provide a verbatim account of all he sees and hears.”

“I’m sure.” Jason said in mock exasperation. He did not grudge his son’s attachment with Tom and his family. They were an important fixture in both his and Corey’s lives. Tom’s wife had been Jason’s biggest advisor on child rearing. Anne’s babysitting was a more recent development. Earlier Hanna used to look after the kid when Jason had to work. Even to this day Corey treated Hendersons’ house as his second home. Fact was, without Tom and Hanna, Jason would have found it far more difficult to raise a child. He believed he would not have been able to do it at all. It was something he would be eternally grateful to them for.

Deciding to change the subject, Jason brought the conversation back to the actual agenda of their meeting.

“So, Captain” he said, “you want to get updates on the case?”