Javi nodded and circled back to the board where Joel’s half-assembled sandwich had been left.He leaned the heels of his hands on the edge of the counter as he looked over the space.
“So something came up that made her leave under her own steam, but she didn’t take her car or her phone, so it wouldn’t be on record…” he trailed off and shook his head.“It doesn’t make any sense.Joel’s a workhorse.She isn't impulsive, and she doesn’t take chances.When I worked with her in Phoenix, I don’t remember her even having a hunch, never mind following up on one.She’s the last person I’d expect to go off-book.”
“People change,” Cloister said.He reached out to touch Javi’s wrist in a discreet caress, his fingers tracing the knob of bone.“You did.”
Javi glanced down to watch Cloister’s finger trail down the back of his hand.The corner of his mouth quirked in a wry smile.
“Maybe,” he acknowledged.“But I didn’t have a choice.Joel had nothing to gain from changing, so why bother?”
Cloister didn’t have an answer to that one.The only thing he’d ever changed was his address, and it turned out that didn’t help.It turned out that wherever he went, there he was.
The lack of a comeback made Javi nod in satisfaction at being proven right.
“Exactly,” Javi said as he pushed himself off the counter, casually moving his hand away at the same time.
Cloister’s hand hung in the air for a beat, until he recovered and took it back.He shoved it out of the way in his pocket, as if that was the only way to keep it out of trouble, and fiddled with the handful of dog treats already in there as he tried to work out how he felt about that.
The answer was not obvious.
They might have been dating officially for a while—since they’d signed all the disclosure forms after the Morrow case—but Cloister had spent most of that time on medical leave.This was the first time they’d had to try and navigate how they’d behave in the field.
For now, he didn’t know if Javi pulling away was professional distance, emotional distance, or if the sun had been in Javi’s eyes where he’d been standing.Cloister didn’t know if it was something he needed to file away to chew over later with Bourneville or not.
Javi was no help.He’d already moved on.
“I’m going to chase up the husband, see if he can tell us anything.”He paused as he went to check his watch and frowned at his bare, tanned arm.“Get a shirt on.”
“I kinda like the polo,” Cloister remarked.
He did.It was partially how annoyed he knew Javi was with it, and partly the glimpse of sharp, angled collarbones that he usually only got to appreciate at home.
His.Or Javi’s.Whichever they were at.
“Then you can wear it,” Javi said coolly.It backfired, though.Cloister saw his dark brown eyes warm with interest, the pupils expanding, as the remark sank in.Heat burnished Javi’s cheekbones as he swallowed and cleared his throat.His voice roughened slightly as he added a low, “Later.”
The murk of paranoia receded as Cloister grinned.
“Just don’t think wearing the FBI logo means you get to tell me what to do,” he said.
Javi raised one eyebrow a twitch as he looked Cloister over.
“That’s not why you do what I tell you,” he said confidently.He was right, and that sent heat snaking down Cloister’s spine from the nape of his neck to the crack of his ass.It was his turn to flush, and he knew it looked a lot more raw on him than it did on Javi.Before he could recover enough to scrabble together a retort, Javi shifted his tone back to brisk and businesslike.He raised the other eyebrow to match the first.“But speaking of who’s in charge, you technically aren’t on duty right now.So if you had anything else to do…”
“Like what?”Cloister asked.He quirked the corner of his mouth in a wry smile.“Sleep?I’ll take Bon and see if there’s a secondary trail from the garage.Joel had to leave the house somehow, even if she didn’t take her car.”
Javi gave him a grateful nod.
“I appreciate that,” he said.“If you find anything, let me know.Once I talk to the husband, I’ll need to loop Kincaid in.He’ll want the full picture.”
The mention of Kincaid’s name put Cloister’s hackles up.He’d never been a jealous man, so he wasn't sure why.Maybe he could work it out later.
“I’ll do that,” he said.“Bourneville?”
She made a muffled “oof” through the T-chew and scrambled up off the tiles, briefly awkward and lanky as she righted herself and sorted out four legs and a tail.The sodden chew toy came with her as she padded over to Cloister’s side.She shoved it into his hand, sodden and distressingly warm, for safekeeping.
“Be careful,” Cloister said.
Javi’s gaze flicked over Cloister’s shoulder to the garden outside where Gardner bantered with Boyd and a handful of other deputies.The thumb-wide span of skin between Javi’s eyebrows tensed in a not-quite-a-frown.
