"Pops, you're not telling me everything that's going on here?" Raymond accused Damon, who sat looking at him calmly. He had rushed into his office without warning, throwing a file on the desk, agitated.
"Why don't you sit down first." Damon watched as he complied by slumping into a chair. "Now, what is going on that I'm supposed to know about?"
"This isn't a normal find the company issues and solves it kind of investigation! I've been looking all this time at all the wrong things, trying to find something that wasn't there!" He exclaimed in agitation.
"So does that mean the company has come up clean?" Damon asked mildly.
"Yes! It's as clean as a whistle!" He confirmed. "But that's not my issue though. If I'd been told that I was looking for something else, then I wouldn't have wasted so many weeks following up on false leads. "Are you testing me again Pops?" He sat up straighter. That could be the only reason he was left out of the loop.
"Calm down Ray." He quietly said. "Nobody is testing you. You got the same brief that I did. Something fishy was going on in the company and it involved a valuable asset that seemed to have disappeared." He frowned. "They didn't want the asset found, just the money trail of who it led to."
"And you didn't find that in the faintest odd?" He found it hard to believe that Damon would not ask more questions before taking on a job. "And anyway, how did not knowing what I was looking for help?" He was irritated. Information like this could have saved him weeks of work and playing nice.
"Not even I know what the asset is. They're being very tight lipped about it."
"And I suppose this friend wants to remain nameless?" He sarcastically retorted.
"It's a close friend Ray. You know what things are like in this business." He pacified Raymond.
"Now I wish I'd become a high school dropout." Damon wasn't helping his frustration much. "Okay, so far I know that Jackson was kidnapped at some point during his varsity studies. The family kept it all under wraps for some reason. Although, their ransom was weird. They asked for the usual bag of cash, but the kidnappers wanted a family jewel known as Heaven's Tear as well. A very well-known and rare gem."
"So, we're looking for the gem?" Damon looked up sharply.
"No, I'm going to have to get the story from the horse's mouth and decide what we're looking for." His eyes gleamed at the prospect of feeling like he was on the right track. He started feeling like a wound-up spring, ready to tackle the case.
"Well, you can't fool me." Damon smiled. "I can see how excited you're getting, so can you stop moaning about this job already? You sound worse than Eric when he has to wash his own overalls." Damon chuckled at the frown on Raymond's face.
"I'll stop moaning if you give me all the information I need." He countered.
"Look, Ray. It's for a friend who doesn't want to be known at the moment. There is no more information that I can get. I tried."
"Well, let me get digging, then." He sighed. "Can I stop working for Dealer now that I know the issue isn't with the company?" He asked getting up from his chair.
"I think we both know where the issue lies," Damon replied looking sharply at Raymond. "So unless you decide to date him, you will have to stay close to him in some other way."
"You're the worst boss ever!" Raymond moaned for the last time, before slouching his shoulders and dragging his feet in resignation.
"You always say that until you solve the puzzle. Now go and mope somewhere else! I swear you and Eric live to make my life hard." He grumbled, turning back to the documents on his desk.
--
After a week of trying to sift through Jackson's past, Raymond was no closer to finding any more information on the kidnapping. The cop he'd asked wanted nothing to do with him and refused to answer his calls, which spurred his curiosity further. If he couldn't get anything via the usual channels, then he'll have to bite the bullet and go straight to the horse itself.
"Hey, Cook." Jackson stood in front of Raymond's desk, flashing his irresistible smile. "What are you up to?" He leaned over slightly to look down at the desk.
"Only what you're paying me to do." He grinned back, wondering what Jackson wanted. He hadn't yet worked out how to breach the subject of Jackson's past, and time was running out.
"How would you like to do something this evening?" He asked hopefully.
"Skye's going to his grandparents, so we'll be busy with that. Maybe another time?" He asked looking at the disappointment cross Jackson's face.
"Why don't I join you?" His jaunty grin was back in place again.
"We're only going to see his grandparents. You won't find anything interesting there," He reasoned.
"That's not the point. The point is I want to do something with you this weekend and if we can include Skye, then even better." When it looked like Raymond wouldn't change his mind, Jackson continued.
"I know this is part of trying to date a dad gig and that sacrifices will have to be made. So what do you say? Let me tag along and spend some time with you?"
"I'm not looking to date at the moment Jackson and I can't introduce every stranger I meet to Skye." He reasoned.
"I've met the little guy a few times already and I won't be asking if I wasn't really interested. Let's hang out, is all I'm saying."
Jackson stepped closer to Raymond, who could only stare at his mouth and how it moved when he smiled. On impulse, he reached behind Jackson's head to pull him in for a slow kiss. It was soft and warm and comforting. Realizing what he'd done, he pushed Jackson away.
"I, I, That wasn't... That was..." He stuttered his way to a reasonable explanation for what he'd just done. His mouth looked so inviting, that it was impossible not to kiss.
"That was a mistake." He finally stumbled. "Can we maybe forget that happened?" A nervous laugh escaped his lips.
"You kiss me, then you tell me it was a mistake?" He asked perplexed.
"Yeah, sorry about that. You know, these things can happen." His embarrassment was clear on his face, which was flushed. Clearing his throat, he stepped past Jackson to grab some papers from his desk.
"These things happen?" Jackson asked in shock. "Are you going to stand there and tell me that kissing me was a mistake?"
"Yeah, we sort of just bumped into each other, see!" His face brightened hopefully. "I wanted to clear some lint off your collar and our lips bumped into each other." He turned, then realized he was facing the wall. Blushing furiously, he turned again to walk past Jackson.
"This is far from over Cook." Jackson grabbed his arm, speaking in a low voice, before watching him rush off.