Page 15 of Flash and Bang
“Well, I can see how this is looking more and more like this crime might have a religious bent,” Thayne said, looking over at Ada. “Do you have a cult population here in San Diego?”
“This ain’t no homegrown Jihad, okay?” Jarrett spit out. “This is just some fuckin’ lunatic with a God complex.”
Thayne was taken aback. He’d never expected Jarrett to draw that conclusion from four little words. “Are those the findings of NCIS?” Thayne asked, gesturing to the file. Ada was silent as Jarrett thrust the file at Thayne. He stood up abruptly.
“I don’t need no NCIS to tell me we got a religious nut out there, not a group of freaks in purple robes wearin’ some damn shrouds or somethin’.” Jarrett stared at Thayne. “I’ll wait for ya in the car.” He spun on his heel and was out the door in a second, rattling the doorframe as he closed the door behind him with force.
Worst of all, he’d walked out without saying good-bye or thanking Ada. Thayne felt anger boil through him as embarrassment flooded his body. He could feel himself frowning as he stood up and glanced over at Ada who was still watching the closed door. When she turned back to him she was shaking her head.
“You need to take him home. I don’t know how good of an agent he usually is, but whatever got under his skin with this case… he’s not going to be any good to you, Thayne. I’ve seen those moods many times. He needs to shut down for a while and decompress. I hope it’s not at the expense of this case because I’d really love to be able to solve it.”
“You’re right,” Thayne said with a heavy sigh. “Would it be okay if I took the file?”
“I can’t let you take it off base but I can copy everything in it for you. I have some notes as well,” Ada said with the hint of a smile.
Thayne reached out and patted her shoulder, offering up a little smile. “Thank you, Ada. I can’t tell you how we’ve both appreciated your information and work on this. Jarrett has great instincts but you’re right, something got to him out there.”
“Just help us solve this, Thayne.” He handed her the file and then they turned to walk out of thedoor together.
Thayne waited while she copied the NCIS file and handed it to him. They shook hands and Thayne walked outside. The sun was setting and it had cooled down considerably by the time he climbed into the passenger seat of the Jeep. Jarrett had put the rag top up and he was reclining in the driver’s seat with his eyes closed. He opened them when Thayne got in, glancing over to him before sitting up straight. He rubbed his hand over his face and reached forward to turn the key and start the car.
“Get copies of everything?” he drawled.
“Yes. How’s your headache?” Thayne asked. He had the urge to reach out and cup Jarrett’s cheek but he knew the time and place were all wrong for that. Besides, he was still a little pissed at him and curious to ask him what had happened. For all of Jarrett’s lighthearted teasing banter, there was another side to him that Thayne had only glimpsed a few times. It was much darker and Thayne knew that it haunted Jarrett.
“Sucks, Thayne. I just want some food and I wanna find our hotel and I wanna sleep,” he said.
“Okay. Fair enough. I’m starving. Let’s get something,” Thayne said. He pulled out his phone and started looking for places to eat. “Hey, this mustbe beer country or something. There’s like five breweries around here with tasting rooms.”
Jarrett turned to look at him and Thayne could see the circles under his eyes which he hadn’t noticed until now. “A microbrew sounds awesome to be honest. Pick one close to the hotel.”
Thayne nodded and directed Jarrett to the AleSmith Brewing Company which was just down Miramar Road, a few blocks from the Holiday Inn the ATF was paying for. They drove up to a large building whose parking lot sported no less than three large food trucks promising the patrons of the brewery “perfect foods to match any palate”. There was a nice covered patio outside and waitresses from the brewing company were making the rounds taking orders. Thayne walked over to one of the gourmet food trucks and placed an order for enough food to choke a horse while Jarrett found a place to sit. Once Thayne brought their tray over and set it down, he noted no less than eight snifters on the table. He grinned and laughed at Jarrett.
“Eight? Seriously, dude?”
Jarrett sent him the first grin he’d seen in hours. “They had this great tasting menu of four four-ounce shots so I figured what the hell. I ordered four for you and four for me. Sixteen ounces of beerain’t gonna leave me with a hangover. You?”
Thayne shook his head. “No.” He paused and stared at Jarrett for a second. “You slay me, man,” he finally said. He passed out the burgers and chili cheese fries topped with jalapeno slices and drowned his burger in a side of ranch. Bacon was sticking out of the homemade bun and the whole thing looked amazing. He was rewarded with a burst of flavor when he bit into the burger but watching Jarrett’s face smear with sauce when he bit into his own burger was worth a million bucks.
Not for the first time, Thayne wished for things he probably couldn’t have with Jarrett. He’d asked him to move in with him and Jarrett had refused, choosing to stay at one of those extended stay hotels on the stupid premise that his weekly rent came with a cleaning service. The rejection had hurt at the time, but Thayne was coming to realize that his partner had been right. There was no way to explain Jarrett living with him to coworkers, especially Sarah Connor, who dropped by his one-bedroom apartment frequently. He’d have no choice but to come out to her and that wasn’t fair to either him or Jarrett. He suspected Jarrett probably wouldn’t care if she knew, but neither one of them could take the chance of anyone else in the office finding out. They’d be forced to split up as partnersand neither one of them wanted that.
“This is amazing,” Jarrett said around a bite of food.
“Right? For food truck fare, it’s pretty good,” Thayne said. They stuffed their faces in silence for a few minutes, washing the burgers and fries down with the delightful microbrews. Their pretty little blonde waitress kept returning, suggesting that they try other brews from the menu, but Thayne knew that he’d have to stop where they were if he didn’t want a headache in the morning and wanted to be able to drive the short distance to the hotel.
“When we get back to the hotel, I want to read through the witness statements and then decide who we should go out and follow up with tomorrow, Jarrett.”
Jarrett frowned, picking up his beer and pushing his empty plate away from him. He drank in silence for a minute and then leaned across the table toward Thayne. “Can we not? Can we just not think about this case tonight?” He waggled his eyebrows and sent Thayne a leer. “I have a better idea for what we should be doin’ tonight.”
Thayne grinned at him. “How many beers did you drink before I got back with the food, Jarrett?”
Jarrett smiled. “None. I just thought that it might be more productive to blow off a little steam than pick through NCIS’s file on the case.” He leaned back and picked up a pale ale, downing the whole four ounces in a few gulps. When he set the snifter down, he had a foam mustache above his lip.
Thayne laughed. “You know, on one level you’re right but then again, if we want to get everything done tomorrow, we need to go through that file.”
Jarrett lost his grin. “Fine. We’ll do that but first I want you naked.” He picked up the plastic check folder and pulled out cash to pay the pretty waitress before standing up.
Thayne got up from the table, feeling lethargic after the huge meal and the microbrews. He patted his belly as they got into the Jeep. “Maybe I could do with a little exercise.”