Open Case File [COMPLETED]

The Write Service (Part 2)

He looked at the briefcase packed with food for a long moment before turning his gaze on Cece. For the first time she caught a hint of some emotion on his face. She couldn't be one-hundred percent sure, but she thought it was amusement.

"Thank you," he said, "but I am fine."

"Okay," Cece shrugged, selecting a bag of chips and opening them.

The noise of the bag gained Carter's attention and her response to Cece's bag of snacks held no amusement at all.

"It's a very very long story," Carter said into her phone, looking sideways at Cece as she began to chomp on her chips.

Cece watched as Carter wrote something down on a slip of paper then handed it to Cece. It was an email address.

"I hope your person can be quick. We don't want to miss our deadline," Cece said as she sent the google doc to the email Carter had given her. Once complete, she looked up to find both agents staring at her. "What?"

"Mason, I'm going to have to call you back," Carter said, never taking her eyes off of Cece.

As Carter hung up the phone, Donovan leaned in closer.

"What deadline?" he asked. His closer proximity made it clear that not giving an answer wasn't an option.

"The Wainwrights are going to Tahiti for two weeks. They're leaving in the morning," Cece said. "Did you really not know?"

Carter looked ready to chew Cece's head off.

"How do you know?" Carter said through gritted teeth.

"I'm driving them to the airport," Cece said.

Donovan gently rested a hand on Carter's arm as if to restrain her. He tried to make the movement subtle but Cece didn't miss the implication.

"And you didn't think to mention this before now?" Donovan asked.

"I thought you knew!" Cece said, throwing her arms up in frustration. "Seriously, I'm doing your job for you. What do you guys even do?"

Carter lunged across the van at Cece. Cece screamed in surprise. In an attempt to runaway, she toppled off the seat into the floor, spilling her briefcase of snacks everywhere as Donovan wrapped his arms around Carter's waist.

"You little piece of..." Carter growled.

"Carter!" Donovan said.

Carter was terrifying as she tried to swipe at Cece but Carter was no match to Donovan's strength. He moved her to the back to the van and set her in front of a computer.

"If this is true, we don't have much time," he said in a low voice.

Cece had crawled into the furthest corner of the van she could find and had covered her head with her arms, but she could hear Donovan calming Carter down. His voice had somehow gotten even deeper and he was talking slower. By the time Donovan had managed to calm Carter down enough that he could let her go, Cece had pulled herself back into her seat.

"Carter, call Mason now. We need to move this up the chain of command fast if we want to move tonight," Donovan said.

Carter gave Cece a chilling glare before pulling out her phone. Cece just looked back defiantly. Yes, she was terrified of Carter but she also found it pathetic Carter couldn't take a jab. Cece wasn't even going her hardest and Carter was reacting like Cece had spat on the honor of her father. Carter wouldn't last a day in the Mackenzie house.

"Miss Mackenzie," Donovan said, turning his deep soothing voice on her.

Cece rolled her eyes. "You don't have to work you hypno-mumbo-jumbo on me," she said. "I'm not the one who violently attacked someone."