7 Chapter 6

"You were with her for almost three hours and all you found out what was that he takes his dog the park at night!" Rupert exclaimed

Mitch was sitting on the couch looking through Shaikh's file for his home address while Rupert was pacing around the living room, trying to make sense of everything Mitch was saying.

"Hey I also got us an interview with Shaikh tomorrow" Mitch said with a smug

"Well you didn't have to spend three hours with her to get an interview with Shaikh. What I am concluding from all this is that you went on a date with her afterall" said an annoyed Rupert

"Correction, two and a half hours. Also your conclusions are wrong, I can't just come straight at her and tell her to get me an interview with Shaikh. I had to spend some time with her you know, make her believe that I am genuinely desperate for information on all of that CSI stuff" Mitch explained but Rupert couldn't help but feel as if Mitch was trying to convince that to himself more than him.

Rupert took a deep breath and sat down on the couch next to Mitch and said "Okay so he takes his dog to the park at night, lets follow him and see whom he meets and what he does"

Mitch found what he was looking for in the file and held the paper out to Rupert saying "Or I say lets just break in the bastard's house, steal his laptop and scavenge his papers and files. That will get us a real clue instead of following him and his stupid dog"

Rupert looked at him in surprise "Dude—" Mitch raised an eyebrow at him and interrupted "Dude?"

"Yeah dude" Rupert replied with a glare and continued, "Did you not hear what Stansfield and Hurley said? This mission is purely observation. We cannot just break into the" Rupert air quoted "bastard's" before continuing "house, steal his laptop and go through his files okay. No damage."

Mitch was starting to get pissed now "Ugh then what do you want us to do, follow him and his stupid dog?" He asked rhetorically.

"Yes and we go talk to him properly tomorrow in the so-called interview which you got us" Rupert replied

Mitch tried to convince him as well as keep his temper at check "Grant, how are we going to be subtle and ask Shaikh whether he's involved with a terrorist organization or not? When we start interviewing him, we have to ask about all the science stuff and I seriously cannot waste any more of my time researching and trying to come up with intelligent questions about that science crap anymore"

"You know you are not the only smart agent here Rapp. You've done enough talking. Tomorrow I will do all the talking" Rupert said with a smug

Three hours later, both the agents were in bed, in their respective bedrooms.

They followed Shaikh to the park but it turned out to be completely useless as they spent 3 hours watching him talk to his dog and other dog lovers who Mitch was sure had nothing to do with terrorists at all.

Rupert had fallen asleep as soon as he crashed the bed. Mitch knew that because he could hear Rupert's loud snores all the way to his bedroom.

Mitch was wide-awake but not because of Rupert's snores, but because of a certain brunette.

He couldn't stop thinking about her. The way she smiled, the way she laughed. How her eyes would light up and how passionately she would talk about certain things.

Thinking about her caused Mitch to unknowingly twitch a smile. The thought of seeing her tomorrow made him smile even more. An hour later, he drifted off to sleep as he gave one last thought to Aayat.

Both agents woke up next morning and the first thing they did was get a large cup of coffee. Today they were going to be talking to Shaikh, they needed to be as fresh, awake and energetic as possible.

They entered the Istanbul Police Department and were greeted by Aayat.

"Good morning!" Mitch said, a little excitedly which did not go unnoticed by Rupert who raised his eyebrow at him, just as, Mitch did to him last night. Mitch just rolled his eyes and followed Aayat to Shaikh's office.

They were now sitting in front of Asad Shaikh, with Aayat and Shaikh's dog on the couch.

"So gentlemen, what can I do for you?" Shaikh said with a polite smile

Mitch replied and offered a polite smile in return "Mr. Shaikh as you know, we are here to write an article about the differences in methods and tactics of Forensic Scientists from different countries"

"But Mr. Williams, Aayat has already given you enough information about the various ways and methods we use to solve a case. What more can I tell you? All CSI's are almost the same no matter which country they are from" Shaikh explained

Rupert interrupted Mitch and said, "We aren't just writing about the CSI strategy, we're also writing about the CSI itself"

Mitch now turned his head to look at Rupert and was silently praying he won't screw this up with whatever he was about to say.

Shaikh curiously asked, "Okay so what am I suppose to do in this?"

What Rupert said next was a confirmation that he now just blabbering which was probably out of nervousness, "Nothing much, you just have to let us find out about you and that can be done if we follow you wherever you go, your home, your office, your investigation. When do you eat, when do you sleep, how do you solve your investigations. You know just be around you all the time"

The room was silent for a few seconds until the dog barked and Aayat was trying suppressing her laughter as she petted the dog to calm him down. Shaikh looked at Rupert wide eyed while Mitch closed his eyes in frustration and internally face palmed himself and cursed his fate for getting him stuck with a partner for this mission.

Shaikh finally spoke with an amused smile "Son, are you here to write an article about me or are you here to become my bodyguard?"

Rupert's face turned red with embarrassment and Mitch heard a few giggles from Aayat as she was trying to cover it up with cough.

"Look son, I am a man who has an ordinary life. There is nothing special about me. You're just going to be boring your readers by writing an article on me. And if you really want to write an article on me then whatever information you need about me, you can get it from Ms. Sadik here. She has been my intern for over a year now so she knows a lot about me and my work, maybe even more than I know myself"

Mitch replied quickly before Rupert can cause further embarrassment "Yes of course Mr. Shaikh, thank you for your cooperation. We will leave now"

Rupert and Mitch both stood up, Mitch gave Aayat an appreciative smile and they left the building.