124 Treat Him Poorly (2/2)

He nodded.

”You may leave now.”

I stood up and guided them out. As they left, I heard McCain hiss angrily towards his lawyer. The conversation went on as they disappeared. Not one word was said about his son who was found at the crime scene beside his dying mother.

How typical.

An officer who was standing towards the end of the room came towards me with a gossipy look.

”Miss Lewis, did you go hard on the suspect because of Collins?” the younger man asked as he cradled his cup of coffee.

”No, I was really nice. Why?” I asked curiously.

”Mr. McCain kept mentioning that Collins' presence was making him look guilty.” The boy laughed.

”Thanks for telling me,” I patted the boy's shoulder. I saw someone approaching me from the corner of my eyes and stilled.

I saw his hand touch mine before he took it into his. ”Let's not touch others so easily,” Sebastian said blandly. I snickered as I turned to look at him.

”Dr. Butler!” the boy shouted, starry-eyed. ”I heard about the recent cold-cases you handled,” he said.

”Right. If my assistant wasn't busy furthering her career, I would have asked you to talk to her for details.” He shot me a glance.

”Oh, Miss Lewis, you were Dr. Butler's assistant! I just remembered. You're so good at your job that it's a shame you worked for him.”

I broke into giggles. ”I only got into this industry because he practically coerced me into it. You need to thank him for my services,” I taunted.

”Services…” Sebastian trailed off. ”I see little of you at home, Evie. Let's talk before I die from silence.” He grumbled. ”I'll take her with me now,” he claimed as he spoke to the starry-eyed boy.

The other was wide-eyed and wordless at this development.

”You two…” he trailed off.

”Exactly. So, don't be so tactless and stop us, okay?” Who would have thought Sebastian to be so assertive in romance? It was amusing, to say the least.

”Yes!” the boy exclaimed and scurried away.

I clucked my tongue. ”Look at what you did,” I teased. ”Scared him away.” I snickered.

”For all the good that therapy did you, I never thought I would be bothered by you touching others so freely,” he said. I laced my finger through his and we walked down the hallway towards the office I now shared with Nash. Perks of being on the ace team, I guessed.

I saw the looks and didn't say much.

”I would have thought the whole station knew by now because of Nash, but they still remain clueless,” Sebastian said as we stopped in front of the coffee maker. He grabbed a cup for me and passed it along.

”Nash isn't a gossip like you believe,” I told him calmly as I cupped the mug and took a sip from it. I hissed as the too hot liquid hit my tongue. ”It's too hot,” I complained.

”Yes, the sleepless nights and mediocre quality of coffee is hurting your intelligence,” he stated plainly. ”I was depending on Nash to tell everyone he saw that we were involved with one another.”

I rolled my eyes. ”Like he would do that without me confirming anything.” I shrugged.

”Yes, the lack of confirmation. It hurts me still.” He shook his head, acting offended.

”You've basically told the world that we're an item. I don't have enough time to contradict you. So, you're safe.” I patted his back. ”Also, I was thanking the boy for giving me crucial information,” I clued him in.

”What information did he give you?” he asked, dumbfounded.

”Collins came in with McCain and well…”

”Ah, McCain. Singer and suspected of murder. Did you treat him poorly?” he asked.

I shook my head. ”Why would I do that? I need to keep up my rapport with him until I get a confession out of him. We don't have enough evidence to lock him away.”