The Panic Pure

Chapter Four

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

"So what's got you glowing like a schoolgirl with a crush?"

Marshal jumped a little, then hunched his shoulders over his desk. He'd been pretending to work for the last hour, though he figured his goofy grin and squirming had given his daydreaming away.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, finally giving up on pretending. One look at her across from him made him a hundred percent sure that she hadn't believed for a second that he was actually working.

"Come on, are you stupid or something? You've been grinning like an idiot all morning and there's a definite 'I've got a new girlfriend' vibe hanging around you," Joanna said. "So why don't you just spill before I end up having to beat it out of you?"

"You know, they say it's highly unethical to use the threat of violence to get information out of a suspect." Marshal wriggled a little on his chair. "Besides, there's nothing to tell. Really."

She crossed her arms and gave him a look of such disbelief that it almost burned his skin. "You are the worst liar I've ever met. One look at your face and I can almost see the name of whoever you're jonesing over. So just spill the beans so I can live through your smoochies vicariously."

Marshal glanced around, but as usual none of the other agents were paying their corner any attention. "Don't you ever worry that one day we're going to get in trouble for how much time we spend gossiping and just basically not working?"

"Don't try to change the subject," she growled. "Tell me what's going on with you or things are going to get pretty hardcore in here."

Marshal sighed heavily. He could tell by the look on her face that there was no way she was going to buy his "Nothing's going on" story. "Fine," he said, rubbing his hand across his face. "I went out last night and had a really wonderful time, and we're going out again tonight."

"Ooh, that sounds sexy," she cooed. "Tell me all about her. How did you meet? Where does she live? What does she look like? How fabulous is she and when are you getting married?"

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, we just went on our first date last night. There's no way either one of us is thinking about getting married. And if we did think about it, that would be completely crazy considering we just met."

"What kind of romantic guy are you?" she asked, shaking her head. "Sometimes I have to wonder what goes on in your head."

"And I wonder what's going on in yours," he said. "You've been single for how long, and you want to tell me to just rush out there and buy an engagement ring? Pft."

"Don't 'pft' me," she snapped. "And I've been single of my own free will."

"Sure," he said. "Why don't we get back to work before the Director comes around and we end up on shit duty for the rest of our natural lives?"

"Fine, whatever." Joanna went back to researching on her computer.

Marshal secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that she was going to let things go without him having to tell her anything.

"And don't think I'm going to just let this go," she said, not looking up from her screen. "I'm going to give you time to think on what you're going to tell me, but I want to know everything about this girl. If she's going to end up marrying my partner someday, then I want to make sure she's completely on the up and up. That means full background checks and I want a meet and greet with her before you get too invested in a relationship with her."