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  “I’m not good at relaxing. You know what I’m good at? Silencing problems. Shooting things.”

  “Yes, I’m quite aware of your prowess with the firearms.”

  They continued talking as Jones did his work, him not even looking at Recker as he spoke. After a few more minutes, Recker was no longer responding to him. Jones stopped typing and looked over at him, ready to admonish him for ignoring him, but found that Recker had quickly fallen asleep. A small smile crept over Jones’ face as he looked at his partner passed out on the couch.

  “As I said, Mike, you’ve earned it,” Jones whispered.

  Jones kept on working for another couple of hours, trying to be as quiet as possible, though he wasn’t sure it actually made any difference. He suspected that Recker was so tired that a parade of elephants could’ve marched through the room and his sleeping friend wouldn’t have heard a peep. The silence was interrupted, however, at the sound of Recker’s phone going off. It was so quiet that Jones jumped a little in his seat at the sound of the ringer going off, breaking the silence. Recker groggily opened his eyes and instinctively reached into his pocket though he wasn’t fully awake.

  “Yeah?” Recker asked.

  “Do you always greet everyone that way?” Mia wondered. “Whatever happened to hi? Or hello?”

  “Oh, sorry. I didn’t uhh…I didn’t look at my phone before I answered.”

  “Did I wake you up? You sound like you were sleeping or something.”

  “Uhh, no, no, I was just uhh…doing something.”

  “I did wake you up, didn’t I? Don’t lie to me.”

  “Yeah, maybe, well, I had to get up anyway.”

  “I’m so sorry, Mike, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Mia told him. “I know you don’t sleep a lot.”

  “No, don’t worry about it. I had to get up anyway to do some things.”

  “Oh yeah? Like what?”

  “You know…some things,” Recker said, struggling to come up with a lie.

  “OK. Well I’ll let you get back to sleep. Call me later when you can.”

  “No, it’s OK. I’m up now. I’ve been sleeping all day actually, so I had to get up soon anyway,” Recker told her, getting a curious look from Jones who knew he hadn’t been sleeping all day. “What’s the matter? Everything OK?”

  “Yeah. Everything’s fine. I just got home from work and realized that we hadn’t talked in like two weeks,” Mia said.

  “Yeah, I know. Just been really busy.”

  “I know. That’s what I figured. But I haven’t seen you in like a month. I think the last time I saw you was when I dropped you off for your car.”

  “Sounds about right.”

  “Yeah, so I have the rest of the night to myself and I wasn’t really doing anything. And I know you’re probably working and all but I was just wondering if you could tear yourself away for an hour or so and have dinner…with me,” she sheepishly offered, like she was back in high school asking a boy out for the first time. She was trying not to get her hopes up too high so she wouldn’t get disappointed when he told her no since she figured that Recker would decline the invitation.

  “Dinner?”

  “Yeah. I mean, I know it’s last minute and all but I just thought I’d throw it out there in case you haven’t eaten yet or anything.”

  Recker just happened to look over at Jones who was nodding his head in approval. Recker scrunched his eyebrows together, thinking it was strange that the professor seemingly wanted him to go.

  “Tonight?” Recker asked.

  “Yeah, unless you already have plans. I mean, if you do, we could always make it another night.”

  Recker looked at Jones again, who was still nodding his head in approval of the idea. Recker was actually unnerved a little bit, wondering why Jones wanted him to go.

  “Uhh, dinner…could you hold on just a second?” Recker said, putting his hand over the phone to mute it and holding it away from his body.

  “Sure,” Mia responded.

  “What are you doing?” Recker whispered.

  “What?” Jones asked.

  “Why are you nodding your head?”

  “I take it that’s Mia asking you to dinner tonight?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I think you should go,” Jones said.

  “You do?” Recker asked, surprised.

  “Absolutely.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I think it’s a good idea. She’s a friend. You need to eat. That’s what people do at dinner,” Jones shrugged.

  “Weren’t you the one who told me to keep her at arms length before? To not let her get too close?”

  “I did. But it’s just dinner right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then you should go and have a good time.”

  “I should?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Recker thought about if for a couple seconds and then took his hand off the phone, pressing it back against his ear.

  “Dinner tonight, huh?” Recker asked again.

  “Yep. Dinner tonight,” Mia replied.

  Recker hesitated, though he wasn’t quite sure why. He liked Mia and liked spending time with her, though he didn’t do it often. It was probably just a safety mechanism that kicked in inside him to prevent people from getting too close to him. Or him too close to them. But since Jones was giving him the seal of approval, he thought maybe it was best for him to accept this time.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I can make it tonight,” Recker told her.

  “Really?” Mia asked, almost not sure that she heard correctly.

  “Yeah. I actually just cleared a case I was working on so I should have the night free.”

  “That’s awesome,” she said, trying very hard not to sound too excited even though she was.

  She actually wanted to scream into the phone out of joy that she finally got him to accept an offer to hang out with her. She’d asked him several other times in the last couple weeks to meet her somewhere, but each time, Recker said he had work to do. Though she knew he was pretty busy, she couldn’t help but sometimes think that he just didn’t want to be around her very much. Mia wasn’t scared away by his work, or his past, not that she knew much of it. But the little that Recker did tell her, she wasn’t frightened to be near him. She liked him and wanted to get to know him even better. But up to this point it was always a one way street. It was always her calling him, her asking him to go out, the lone exception being when he called her to drop him off for his car. In the almost six months that they’d known each other, that was the only time he ever called her first. There was a piece of her that wondered why she kept trying so hard to be more of a part of his life when he kept resisting. She wasn’t ready to admit defeat yet and be complicit in staying inside the friend zone. She believed there was still more to their relationship, she just had to pull it out of him.

  Mia picked a restaurant and they agreed to meet there in an hour. Once they finished their conversation, Recker walked over to the desk and took a seat next to Jones and just stared at him for a minute. Jones, feeling the icy stare of his partner, cleared his throat and tried to keep on working like nothing was wrong. Finally, he slightly moved his head in Recker’s direction.

  “Yes?” Jones asked.

  “I can’t figure out what your motive is,” Recker replied.

  “My motive?”

  “Yeah. Your motive, your angle, however you want to put it. Whatever that reason is that’s floating around inside that head of yours as to why you want me to meet Mia for dinner.”

  “I assure you I have no motive,” Jones innocently said. “I just figured you’re exhausted, haven’t eaten much, been working almost around the clock, I just figured a nice dinner with a friend would be good for you.”

  Recker leaned his elbow on the desk, his hand covering his mouth and his fingers rubbing against his face as he contemplated the situation. He wasn’t sure that was the truthful reason that Jones was telling him, but maybe he was.
Maybe it was just Recker’s natural skepticism that made him think there was something else going on. Feeling Recker’s stare again, Jones turned to him once more to diffuse his concerns.

  “I assure you I have no other motivations or angles,” Jones said. “You’ve been working non-stop for a month. I’m concerned about burn out for you so I simply believe a night at dinner with a friend, even an hour or two, would be good for your health. That’s all there is to it.”

  “That’s all?”

  “That is all.”

  “So how long was I sleeping for?” Recker wondered.

  “About three hours.”

  Recker checked the time and it was just past nine o’clock. “Guess I need to clean up a little.”

  “Certainly wouldn’t hurt,” Jones teased, getting another look from Recker. “Well I was only agreeing.”

  Recker then washed up and went to the restaurant that Mia recommended, both of them getting there at the same time, meeting by the front door. Mia gave him a hug, happy that they were actually getting a chance to spend some time together. Once they separated from their hug, Recker looked at Mia up and down and couldn’t help but think how pretty she looked. She was in a nice dress that went down to her knees and was very flattering to her figure.

  “I feel kind of underdressed seeing you,” Recker said.

  “What? You look nice,” Mia replied, looking at him in his dress shirt. “Very handsome.”

  “You didn’t have to get all dressed up or anything for me.”

  “I wanted to. It’s been a long time since I felt like dressing up for someone so don’t complain.”

  “I’m not complaining. Just didn’t want you to go through any trouble for me.”

  “It was no trouble. Unless you don’t like it?” Mia worried.

  “No, no. You look fine. Very pretty,” he smiled.

  “Thank you,” she said, returning the smile.

  They went inside and were quickly seated in the jam packed restaurant, getting the last remaining table that was available. While they were looking over the menus, Mia was actually getting nervous. She was hoping she wouldn’t seem boring or not have anything to say, or that they wouldn’t have any awkward silences. Even though this wasn’t technically a date, at least from Recker’s point of view, she wanted to impress him as much as possible and try to put some seeds in his mind about taking things further with her.

  “So you cleared all your cases, huh?” Mia asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Nothing on the horizon?”

  “Not as yet.”

  “That’s good.”

  Recker looked up from the menu and at Mia, realizing that she was just trying to make conversation and that he was probably making it difficult for her. “So how’s everything at work?” he asked.

  “Good. Kind of crazy with the amount of babies and pregnant women that we have right now.”

  Recker smiled, not really sure how to respond, and went back to the menu. The waitress came to take their order and once she was gone, they simply looked at each other for a few seconds, neither quite sure how to restart the conversation. Recker’s phone then started ringing, drawing a look from Mia, upset that their dinner was being interrupted as she had a feeling their night would be cut short.. Recker pulled his phone out and looked at the screen before answering, a quizzical look on his face.

  “Excuse me, I really should take this,” Recker said.

  “Of course,” Mia replied, growing more concerned by the second.

  “Hello?”

  “Mr. Recker,” Vincent greeted.

  “Can I help you with something?” Recker asked, still not quite sure the reason that he would be calling.

  “No. I’m the one who’s helping you. I made a promise to you some time ago and I’m now fulfilling that promise. I told you I would call you personally and I am.”

  “Does that mean what I think it does?” he asked, finally understanding the purpose of the call.

  “Well, I don’t like to discuss specifics over the phone. That’s why I prefer meetings. Phones are unreliable. Never know who might be listening,” Vincent said. “Let’s just say I think you’ll be very satisfied at what I have to offer you.”

  Recker looked away from the table for a moment, his phone still firmly pressed to his ear and cleared his throat. Mia could tell that whatever he was being told was having a profound impact on him. From the look on his face, she assumed that it was bad news.

  “Uhh,” Recker sighed, trying to think straight. “So, uhh, where and when?”

  “Right now works as good as any.”

  “Right now?”

  “Well, I’ve already taken the liberty of acquiring a secure establishment,” Vincent answered. “This isn’t something I prefer to keep lingering and have to waste further time and resources on.”

  “I understand.”

  “Any good reason why you can’t make it now?”

  Recker looked at Mia and knew he was gonna break her heart again if he left early. He knew she’d been looking forward to this dinner for a while and the thought of disappointing her again really upset him. But he also knew that Vincent wasn’t going to just hold on to Mancini indefinitely for him until the time suited him better. He’d have to do what he didn’t want to and let her down again.

  “No. No good reason. I’ll be there,” Recker told him.

  “Good,” Vincent replied.

  “Just name the place.”

  “I’ll text you the address. I’ll be waiting inside.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  As soon as the words left his lips, Mia closed her eyes, disappointed that he had to go. She tried to plaster a smile onto her face, but she wasn’t able to hide her disappointment behind it. Right after Recker confirmed he’d be there shortly, he was almost afraid to look at Mia’s face, knowing that it was sure to be a sad one.

  “You have to go,” Mia stated, not giving Recker the chance to say it first.

  “I’m sorry. It’s something that I have to do. It’s not something that can be put off for another time.”

  “I understand.”

  “I wish I could postpone it for another day but it’s just not possible,” Recker told her, seeing the pain on her face.

  “I get it. I do. You’re in demand and people need you,” she sighed. “It’s just that we never really get to spend any time together.”

  “I know. And I promise I’ll make it up to you somehow. Maybe we can reschedule dinner for another night.”

  “Maybe you could leave your phone at home whenever that happens.”

  “Well, I don’t know about that. But I’ll try to make it for a less busier time,” Recker said.

  “Is there ever such a thing?”

  Recker smirked, knowing that there probably wasn’t and never would be such a time. He got up and started to leave. As he walked past her he stopped and looked down at her, putting his hand on her shoulder, sorry that he had to go. Mia looked up at him with her sad eyes, which didn’t make him feel any better.

  “Just be careful, please,” Mia told him. “You know I worry about you.”

  “There’s no need. I’ll be fine.”

  “Don’t kill anyone if you don’t have to.”

  Recker took his eyes off her for a second, letting them dance around as he thought about her last words, before looking back to her. Knowing what he was leaving her to do, the words really hit home with him. He tried giving her a smile, but really couldn’t muster one up. He then get a text message alert and looked at it, seeing it was the address that Vincent was waiting at. Recker tapped Mia’s shoulder again before leaving. Mia just sighed as the waitress came over with their appetizer. Part of her felt like leaving, but she decided to just suck it up and eat there by herself since she was hungry.

  As soon as Recker got in his car, he plugged the address into his GPS that Vincent texted him. It was a place in South Philly that Recker wasn’t too familiar with. That had been the Italians
territory, but with them out of the picture now, he assumed that Vincent was already starting to flex his muscle in the area and claiming the area for himself. Recker got to the location in a little over twenty minutes. It appeared to be some kind of transportation business as he pulled up to the front gate, with several different sizes and types of trucks parked just inside. There was a man standing on the other side of the gate and Recker got out to identify himself. As soon as he exited his car, another man appeared from behind one of the trucks, walking toward the gate. Recker recognized that it was Jimmy Malloy. Since the two of them needed no introduction to each other, Malloy told the other man to open the gate for Recker to enter.

  “Drive up to the loading dock,” Malloy told him.

  Recker got back in his truck and did as Malloy suggested, driving up to the main loading area. Several trucks were already parked in their designated spots, but there was one open bay, letting Recker see that the lights were on inside. He saw a couple people moving around in there, but he couldn’t quite make out who it was yet. Expecting him to be coming, a side door opened up to the warehouse as soon as Recker stopped and exited his car. There was a man standing by the open door, waiting for Recker to approach.

  Even though he’d been anticipating this day, it didn’t seem as cut and dry as it once did. His mind was much cloudier than it had been. Maybe it was just Mia’s last words that she said to him before he left the restaurant, but he really wasn’t as eager to get this done with as he thought he would’ve been. Recker walked up the metal steps and stepped through the door opening, Vincent’s man closing it behind him. Only a couple seconds after entering, Vincent walked up to him, a smile on his face.

  “Glad you could make it,” Vincent said, shaking Recker’s hand.

  Recker nodded in return, not really having anything to say.

  “This way,” the boss said, stretching his arm out to indicate which direction they were heading.

  The two walked across the warehouse area to the far corner of a room, and then down a narrow hallway where another door was located. It was a small office space with a desk and chair in the middle of it. Sitting in the chair was Mario Mancini, tied up with a gag in his mouth. It looked like Mancini had been worked over a little bit, as he had some cuts and bruises on his face to indicate he’d received a bit of a beating. Recker expected to be angry when he saw him again. He expected rage to overtake his body and shoot the man in revenge for trying to take him out before. But he didn’t. He just didn’t have an emotional reaction to seeing Mancini. Recker didn’t really feel much of anything upon seeing him. He was so devoid of feeling, it was almost like he’d never even met the guy before. Hearing a noise behind him, Recker turned around and saw Malloy coming through the door. Vincent motioned to his lieutenant to go over to Mancini and remove the gag from his mouth.