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Will took his hand and stood. “Okay.”
"Good." Robert placed a hand on Will's hip. "Because you've been tempting me with those fucking sweats you're wearing. Damn, boy." The groaned hitch in his voice made Will shiver.
“You can flip your switch way too easily,” he murmured.
“Because, I trust you implicitly, Will. You’re mine and I’m yours. Period. This case has nothing to do with our lives. The only connector is your ex and at that, we’re not even sure if he’s connected—yet.” He brushed his lips across Will’s. “So, turn off your brain for a little while and come play with me.”
Will’s eyes fluttered shut. “You’re temptation on a fucking stick, Robert.”
The agent laughed. “I know. It’s why you keepcomingback for more.”
13
Robert’s phone had been ringing non-stop since he walked into the office that morning. They had a suspect, now to find him, and anyone else who could be considered an accomplice. But, where did they start? The information, though completely thorough, turned up nothing. ‘Tristan’ was an alias. So everything he told Will about his life was also a lie. But, Robert had a sneaky suspicion the minutest of details were the truth.
After Will fell asleep, he'd go through the information Tristan left behind. Technically, it was Will's information. A calendar with all the dates Tristan was supposed to be out of town making deliveries along with a few yellow copies from the transport company, which coincidentally didn't have sign-off signatures from the receiver or the sender. It wouldn't have been a big deal, in Robert's opinion, if there'd been a signature from a security guard or someone who might be at the site at night, but without them, it threw up a bunch of red flags.
The other thing bothering Robert was the fact Tristan stole Will's passport and money. If the guy was as sly as he suspected, they'd have to act quickly to catch their perp. He had a sneaky suspicion Tristan would use Will's passport to leave the country and doing so would open a whole other can of worms he didn't want to think about. But, it was the only plausible explanation he had for why Tristan would take the passport.
He stared at the documents on his desk and blew out a breath of frustration. Everything he needed was right in front of him and yet, he still didn’t have enough information. Just because someone was a douche bag and used an alias, didn’t automatically make them a suspect. There were still pieces of this vast puzzle strewn about and until they—he, more specifically, received a positive ID on Tristan being the culprit, he’d been right back to square one, only this time he had more information to work with.
“Hey,” Benjamin said, offering him a cup of coffee from the cafe down the street from their office. “You look like you could use this.”
“Thanks.” He took a sip and sighed, oh yeah, the caffeine hit the spot.
“We’re still running down a few more leads. I should have information for you tonight, but I’ve got to ask you, is?—”
“No,” Robert answered. “No, Will isn’t a suspect. He had shit stolen from him and from the looks of it, Tristan did a number on him psychologically too.”
“He might be an unknowing accomplice though,” Benjamin hedged. “He did work for the museum that got hit and he did know the codes...”
Robert grunted. “We both know it wasn’t Will’s keycode used the night of the heist.”
“So,” his partner plopped down in the chair beside Robert, “he’s the one then? You know this could get messy.”
Robert knew, but he also didn't shirk his duty, and right now, finding the theft ring was his priority. He hated to say it, but his relationship with Will would have to take a backseat until he had something concrete to go on. "He is, and I know. Which is why I have to do this by the books. I can't go accusing people of a crime without all the evidence to back it up."
Benjamin nodded. “I do.” He frowned. “You know, the one thing I have been stuck on through this whole case is how. How did they get in undetected? How did the alarms not go off? How did they erase the timestamps on the log for each of the security system without leaving a footprint or signature or something?”
Robert asked himself the same questions. “I have a working theory. Someone had to have hacked the mainframe where the data was collected and left no footprint on the way out. I might have someone who can take a look at our available data and find out.”
“It would be worth it,” Benjamin said. “If we can figure out which master keys were used and at what time, it would add to our evidence and explain how the artwork was stolen without alerting anyone.”
Robert slipped his phone out of his pocket and shot a quick text to Duncan. With his connections, he'd be able to contact their hacker friend to read over the data. The girl, AJ, and her partner, Scotty were CIA agents who'd taken on a new role for the government and were currently out in California working another job according to Duncan. It might take them a little bit to help him out, but they could be the ones who unlock the last part of the conundrum. With the text sent, he finished up the cup of coffee. "We should probably?—"
His phone rang at the same second his desk phone did the same. He glanced at Benjamin who’d placed his phone to his ear at the same time he did. “Famosa here.”
“Agent Famosa, this is Detective Ramos of the Orlando police department. I believe I have a case for you.”
“Go ahead, I’m listening,” he said while sliding his gaze to Benjamin.
“Well, it appears the Orlando Museum of Natural History has been hit. Since this is your area of expertise, I was informed to call you for your assistance.”
Benjamin nodded. “I see. We’ll be there in twenty, Agent.”
“We’ll be there in twenty,” Famosa said, copying Benjamin’s answer.
“Thanks. I’ll let the officers standing guard know to grant you access to the area when you arrive,” Detective Ramos said.
