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"I wish I could, but we're pretty busy with a case right now," Sylvie responded with an apologetic smile as she continued to balance the items in her hands. Chet hadn't even bothered to offer his help, but instead held the elevator door open so that he and his friend wouldn't have to wait for another ride. "Maybe sometime next week."
"Sounds good," Chet replied as he flashed her a smile. "Don't work too hard."
Since the other man had already gotten onto the elevator, all Chet had to do was release his hand from the side and step back.
"What a dick," Bit muttered to himself.
He pressed the button that would mute the sound, watching as Sylvie activated the biometric scanner. She had the most beautiful blue eyes that he'd ever seen, and he was in awe of her strength. How could her father have roped her into his crimes without a single feeling of remorse? He'd almost ruined her life, but she hadn't let his sickening actions stop her from carrying on with her life.
She was tough.
It was why Bit had labeled her Little T.
Well, that and her addiction to tea.
He reached up and made sure that the grey knit hat that his sister had made him while she'd been receiving chemo treatments was secure on his head. He then blew into his hand to see if he needed a stick of gum. He always carried some in his backpack, but Sylvie was already through the double entrance and making her way down the hallway. He wouldn't have had time to grab any, let alone unwrap a stick.
"Hey," Sylvie said a little breathlessly as she came walking into his office. He usually left the door open. There was too much foot traffic, otherwise. Truthfully, he liked that they all valued his abilities and talent with electronics. Just the other day, Big T had been about to throw the printer out the window. "I was hoping that you would still be here. I need help looking through these photographs. Mrs. Snyder helped me sort through them, and I only brought with me the ones that will need to be run through facial recognition."
Speaking of facial recognition, the display on one of the monitors was blinking that he'd gotten a hit on the man who had been with Chet.
"Is that that the guy who was with Chet?" Sylvie asked, though it didn't sound as if she was censoring him. "I thought he looked a bit sketchy."
"Paul Matesky. Forty-two years old. Arrested for drunken disorderly back in 2017." Bit scrolled down the page, but there wasn't anything else of interest. "He has a pretty hefty-sized retirement account."
"Enough to be considered a high net-worth individual," Sylvie murmured as she set down the drink carrier in the designated space. He was very mindful of where food and drinks were placed in his domain. Nothing was worse than spilt liquid inside a keyboard or crumbs that were impossible to blow out. "No wonder Chet was being overly zealous today. Hey, I bought you a tea. Now, before you say that you don't drink the stuff, I want you to try it. I actually had to turn around and go through the drive-through twice after I tasted it."
Bit would have downed a bottle of bleach for her, not that she'd ever notice him in the way she did Chet. That was fine, though. They worked together, and it was doubtful that the boss would be okay with a sordid love affair in the workplace anyway.
"What is it?" Bit asked warily as she took off her dress coat. Her scarf had been tucked underneath the lapels, and she tossed both garments on the back table that he'd set up to organize some cables. "I know it's tea, but what flavor?"
"Heaven is what it is," Sylvie replied, picking back up the shoebox before sitting in one of the other chairs that rolled seamlessly on the mat. She used her heels to bring herself closer to the long desk. She pulled one of the to-go cups out of its holder before removing the white plastic lid. "Dunk the teabag a few times before taking a sip. I already had them put a little bit of sugar in it, so it shouldn't be too bitter."
Bit wasn't sure how he managed not to make a face of distaste. He somehow succeeded in swallowing the nasty stuff without throwing up.
"Well?" Sylvie asked as she lifted the lid of the shoebox. She then adjusted her glasses to get a better a look at him. "Isn't it amazing?"
"Yeah," Bit said with as much gusto as he could without coming across as an idiot. The aftertaste was exceedingly horrid. "I think it has cinnamon in it."
"That's exactly what I thought." Sylvie picked up her own her tea, but from how far she'd tilted the cup back, hers was already half gone. "Okay. Now that we have some fuel in us, let me go over what Mrs. Snyder had to say today before we start going through these pictures. I found out that Lori had been given a polaroid camera as a gag gift, and..."
Bit somehow managed another swallow of the rancid tea before setting it aside in what he hoped appeared to be a natural action. He then gratefully took a handful of photographs, hoping that at some point, he'd be able to dump the contents of the cup without her knowledge. Too bad he didn't keep some mouthwash on hand, but he would get a stick of gum out of his bag shortly.
"...so I got to thinking that maybe she caught the unsub in the background." Sylvie stopped talking to finish off the rest of that godawful tea. "Oh, and I was also hoping that you could search for any connection between Archie Keyes and the names of those injured during Project Grey Skies. From what Mrs. Snyder said today, Archie was the one who actually took a lot of these photographs."
"That's a great idea, and sorting through these pictures will give us something productive to do while we're waiting for Boss and Big T to get back to the office."
"Any word from them?" Sylvie pushed on the mat with her heels so that she could reach inside her purse. She pulled out her cell phone. "The last thing that Theo texted me was that they might have a lead concerning a military lawyer. I mean, that would certainly explain a lot of our theories, with the exception of..."
"Exactly." Bit motioned toward the farthest monitor that had Nick Dorn's information on it. "Boss' profile specifically states that the unsub was denied from joining the military. Nick Dorn served five years in the Navy before completing his law degree. Also, there was another detail in the profile that didn't quite fit."
"What was it?" Sylvie asked as she picked out a picture of Lori Snyder holding up a drink up to the camera. "Please tell me he has alibis for the murders in question. It feels as if we're just running in circles."
"I don't know about that yet, as I'm still running a check on Dorn's financials. Boss and Big T will probably find out way before I do, but I'm referring to any type of connection to the victims in the not-to-be named project we shouldn't know anything about. You really shouldn't say it aloud. I mean, we're clean, but you should still be careful."
"Clean?"
"Yeah, clean." It took a moment for Bit to realize that Sylvie wasn't sure what he meant, so he clarified his previous statement. "I check for bugs every morning."
