Blackbourne Investigations 01 - Introductions

Chapter 16 - Lunch

I put the last of the papers into the correct order. It had taken longer than I had thought, they had been haphazardly shoved together with no sequential order. I had only the highlighting to do now.

I turned to Silas who was lazily flicking through the transcripts. He worked at highlighting different lines of text while keeping an eye on the screens. Occasionally he stopped to zoom in on a camera and note things down.

I gathered up my courage and asked what had been playing on my mind. 'So that was Luke? As in the Luke who works here?'

Silas grinned, 'You're finally going to ask? Yes, that would be Luke. He and North had been tracking a skip, they should be back later today. Luke's a bit of a joker.'

I thought back to the phone call with a smile. He had been teasing me before he even knew me. It made me feel more accepted and included.

'And North, Gabriel said you and North are close?'

'Best mates, always have been, always will be.'

I thought of Luke, obviously a renowned joker and Silas, with his love of corny jokes. I imagined North, being brother and best friend, would fit right in with them.

'What bought you to Charleston? Do you have friends or family down here?'

I froze at his question. I had been asking him questions but hadn't expected him to return the favour. I had been the most honest with Kota and Gabriel than I had been in a long time. Maybe it was time to be a little more open, with carefully worded answers to not seem too evasive. Silas's quiet nature and steadiness seemed to erode my decision to distance them all over again. Like he would accept whatever I threw at him and remain the same.

'No friends, no family. Just was time to move on,' I gave him a half smile and studiously returned to my work, hoping he would read my unspoken cues.

'You ever need anything, you just give me a call.' He jotted down his number on a Post-it note and leaned over to me, pressing the sticky spot onto the back of my hand. His fingers rubbed backwards and forwards over the top to ensure it was stuck down before releasing my hand.

I stared down at his number, scrawled onto the paper. His handwriting was barely legible, the numbers short with no flourish, using an economy of ink. He just handed over his number to me, saying I could call him with no qualms. Didn't he know what people could do once they had your number? I carefully peeled the note off the back of my hand. This little piece of paper meant a lot to me. I folded it and when his attention was diverted back to the screens, carefully tucked it into the cup of my bra.

Picking up my highlighter again, I bent my head and concentrated, determined to not let them all down.

I finished the last one and capped the highlighter. Placing them onto the desk I straightened the pile. 'All done.'

'Thanks again for your help Aggele.' He plucked up the phone beside him and punched into some buttons. 'She's ready.'

The phone settled back into the receiver with a crash. What was that about? Did someone else need me now? I perked up in my seat, ready to go.

'What can I do now? Is there anything else in here or did someone else need me?'

Silas nodded to the screen showing the area outside the door. Nathan walked up to the door, knocking randomly then leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. Gabriel stepped into view with his phone in his hand, focused on it.

'They need you now. Be good and I'll be out of here later. Victor's taking over soon.'

I gave him an appreciative smile. 'Glad I could help Silas. I'll see you later.'