Chapter 13 The New Information

"Barnes! Come here!" Captain Butler called out from his office as soon as I walked into the station.

As I approached his office, I adjusted my bag on my shoulder. He sent me a grin when he saw me.

"What's up, Cap?" I asked.

"We got a call from a Jonathan Scott wanting to speak to Jones," Captain Butler said. "But he's not in yet. Does the name ring a bell?"

"I wonder if it's the Johnathan that Jones talked to yesterday about the Ambler case, the victims' grandson," I wondered.

"He said that he doesn't want to talk to his parents about it and wants to talk to Jones ASAP," Captain Butler said. He holds out an information card to me. "Here's the number. Have Jones call him when he gets in. That poor couple didn't deserve to go like that. Find out who did it to them."

"Got it Cap," I said.

I made my way to my desk. Once there, I put my bag down on the surface of my desk and took my things out. When I had everything situated, I sat down and began some paperwork.

"Hey, Barnes," Richmond said as he leaned up against my desk. "Heard a new body came up for you and Jones yesterday and you got no leads."

"It was actually two bodies, a burglary gone wrong. And no neighbors heard anything useful. And we're still trying to get a clear picture from the security camera from across the street," I said.

"These home invasions can be scary. This is why a beautiful young women needs a strong man in the home to protect them," Richmond said cockily.

"That's why I have a dog that barks at anyone who comes near my apartment," I said. "And a gun."

"Well if you ever get scared, you have my number. I'll come running if you need my help," Richmond said.

"Stick with the women you meet at bars, Richmond," I said as sassily as I could.

"Ouch. You wound me, Barnes," Richmond said as he held a hand to his heart.

"Be careful, Richmond, or your ego isn't going to be the only thing that's wounded," Sanchez said as he walked by to his desk with a laugh.

"Thank you, Sanchez," I said.

"Barnes doesn't bite," Richmond said to his partner. "Right, Barnes?"

"I'm not sure you really want to find out," I joked.

"Damn, Barnes. You don't seem like the kinky type," Sanchez joked.

I spun in my chair and hit him on the arm. He laughed at my offended face before he began working.

"I'm serious, though, Barnes. If you ever want to go out for a drink, or catch a movie, just call me," Richmond said.

"Sure, Richmond," I said and gave him a small smile. He walked over to his desk with sideways smile.

"What did Red want?" Jones asked as he walked up to his desk, directly across from me.

"Doesn't matter," I shrugged. "You got a message from Johnathan Scott. He wants to talk to you."

I threw the info card onto his desk. It landed close to the edge of his desk.

"I thought he would," Jones sighed.

"Was he that obvious?" I asked.

"Not everyone is an amazing actor," Jones said, picking up his phone and dialing the number.

"Hello, this is Detective Jones with Towson PD," Jones said. "Is this Johnathan Scott? . . . Okay, punk. . . . You needed to tell me somethin'? . . . Oh really? . . . And what are their names? . . . Right, and do you know if they were in Towson between eleven and midnight? . . . Alright, anything else, punk? . . . No, you're not goin' to be in trouble. And I won't tell your parents. . . . Right. Goodbye."

Jones hung up the phone and turned to me.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"Johnathan said that in class last week he talked about how his grandparents hid money like families did in the Great Depression," Jones said. "And some of the kids from that class joked about stealin' it. And he said those kids posted on their Snapchat story the entire night of the murder. They were in a car most of the night. Nate said that the posts nearly stopped after midnight. But they're from Portland. And Portland is far out of our jurisdiction."

"So what do we do when a suspect is out of our jurisdiction?" I asked.

"We ask nicely to continue our investigation there and we'll have to ask extra nicely since we're suspecting juveniles," Jones said. "So it's probably best if you talk to 'em. But first we need to tell Butler."

"Sometimes his positivity gets on my nerves," I said.

"Now you know how I feel about you everyday," Jones said.

"Right. Let's go talk to the Captain," I said.

///

I groaned and threw my bag onto the kitchen counter. I threw the top of my body onto the counter in exhaustion. Tomorrow was supposed to be my day off. But instead of getting to enjoy my day off, Jones and I have to go to Portland to question juveniles about a murder.

Murphy came up to me and jumped up on my leg. I peeled myself from my counter and picked him up to cuddle him to my chest.

"Unfortunately Murphy, I don't get to stay home tomorrow," I told him. "I have to talk to some dumb kids tomorrow, then depending on what happens I'll either have to stay in the office or I'll get to come home."

Murphy looked up at me with a blank look. I sighed and went over to the living room and turned on Netflix. I set Murphy on my lap and grabbed one of his toys for him to chew on while I watched TV.

Right as the episode began, my phone dinged with a text notification. I reached into my back pocket for my phone. I looked at the screen to see that the message was from Namjoon.

Tomorrow eleven o'clock. I'll pick you up. Dress casual.

I groaned. I'm going to have to post-pone my date with Namjoon. But who knows how he'll react. Hopefully he'll react well and we can have the date another day.

I'm sorry Namjoon. Something came up at work tomorrow. Wednesday for sure, though. I quickly texted him.

I watched as the text went from Delivered to Read. After a few minutes of waiting for a reply I realized he wasn't going to answer, and was probably throwing a tantrum. I rolled my eyes and threw my phone on the opposite side of the couch.

The first episode of my binge watching ended and I started the next one. A few minutes into the episode, Murphy propped his head up staring at the door.

"What is it, Murph?" A cooed.

Out of no where someone began banging on my door. Murphy let out a bark. I reached for the remote to pause the episode. I set Murphy on the couch, telling him to stay, and went to the door. Murphy climbed onto the back of the couch to watch as I answered the door. Whoever it was at the door continued banging.

I flung open the door to get whoever it was to stop. When I saw who it was, I nearly shut the door. But his angry look on his face made me freeze.

"Namjoon?" I whispered.

"What the hell do you mean 'something came up'?" he shouted. "It's your day off. You can't just tell me no."

Behind Namjoon, my neighbor opened his door with a confused look on his face. My neighbors across the hallway were in their early thirties with a three-year-old child. They always looked out for me.

"Sorry, Parker," I apologized automatically. "My friend's a bit upset."

"Okay, Anastasia," Parker nodded. "Janice and I are here if you need us."

He closed his door and I turned back to Namjoon who's angry look on his face only intensified.

"First off, come in," I snapped. I moved out of the way for him to enter. He stormed past me. I closed the door and turned around to face him. "Second off, it may be my day off, but I can't just stop working for two days when a killer needs to be caught. Do you take days off, Namjoon? Because I don't think you do."

"My job isn't something that I can just take a day off for, Ana," Namjoon snapped. "But I can give my duties to my associates if I choose to spend time with someone outside of work."

"I can't just give a case to someone else," I said. "I saw the scene firsthand. I've received all the evidence. I've sent up trust with the family, questioned them, they know who I am. And I can't just pull Jones away from the case either."

"Give me a minute," Namjoon growled as he pulled out his phone. He typed quickly into his phone before he put it up to his ear. "Richard Butler! How are you?" His tone changed from angry to confident, friendly, and assertive.

"My boss? Seriously? RM, hang up the phone," I snapped.

"I'm doing fine, thank you. Are you busy at the moment? Great! I need to talk to you about Anastasia Barnes," Namjoon said as he smirked down at me.

"RM, please hang up the phone," I begged.

"Yes, Detective Barnes. You see, I was planning a date for us tomorrow on her day off. . . . Yes it's an all day sort of thing. But she just told me that she and Jones have to work on a case. Is there any chance that Jones can go alone?"

"RM, seriously, hang up the phone," I demanded and reached for the device. Namjoon spun around, keeping my hands away from where he was holding the phone.

"Yes, I was just thinking the same thing," Namjoon laughed. "So are we good then? . . . Alright, let me know. . . . Talk to you soon, Richard."

"What did you do, Namjoon?" I asked after he hung up.

"Your Captain is going to call Jones and see if he would like to do the interviews by himself," Namjoon said.

"But procedure-"

"Procedure can change if someone like me is involved. So we're going on this date tomorrow," Namjoon demanded.

"Do I not get a say in this?" I asked.

"A say in going out with me or a say in going to do the interview?" Namjoon asked.

"Well I guess both," I shrugged before I crossed my arms.

"The date, you can say no, but tomorrow I'll get you out of this apartment whether you're in your pajamas or nude or fully dressed. And the interview? You don't get a say," Namjoon said.

"Namjoon, please. This is my job," I whined.

"And I like your job, I just don't like you taking your work home with you or working on your days off," Namjoon said.

"I like my job too. That's why I work so hard, even outside of work," I said.

"Is that what you were doing before I got here? Work?"

"No, I was watching Netflix and cuddling Murphy," I said.

"Well how about you watch Netflix and cuddle me instead?"

"I don't know, you don't seem as cuddly as Murphy."

"Well, why don't you see for yourself?"

I gestured him over to the couch. I watched as Namjoon walked over before I went into the kitchen to grab some snacks and drinks.

"Hey Namjoon, do you want anything to drink?" I asked.

"Do you have Coke?"

"Yup, also I was going to have left-over pizza for dinner. Do you want any?"

"Sure. As long as you get your pretty ass over here, soon."

I rolled my eyes, as I pulled out the left-over pizza from last night. I put the pizza in the microwave, heating up. Once the pizza was hot, I grabbed it, the drinks, and some snacks, and walked over into the living room.

As I walked in, I noticed Murphy was laying on his doggy bed, his eyes staring holes into Namjoon. I giggled as I placed the food and drinks on the coffee table. Once everything was out of my arms, I felt hands on my waist. I gasped as I was gently pulled back and onto Namjoon's lap.

He was in the corner of the sectional sofa with his legs resting on the sofa next to him. When I landed on his lap, he separated his legs to have me sit in between them. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin in my shoulder.

"This is nice," Namjoon whispered. He nuzzled my neck before reaching for some pretzels on the coffee table.

I leaned over to grab the remote to resume the episode I was watching before I was interrupted. As the show started, I watched a Murphy walked over to us. He stepped over Namjoon's legs to place himself in my lap. I giggled as Murphy nuzzled his face into stomach.

"Murphy is still a better cuddler," I said as I scratched behind the dog's ears.

"Stupid, ugly dog," Namjoon muttered.

"He's not ugly. He's adorable!"

"Beautiful is in the eye of the beholder."

"Is that why I'm beautiful in your eyes?"

"You are just down-right gorgeous. But it's not just your beauty that has me chasing you, it's your smarts, your personality, and the fact that you're playing hard-to-get. I like a bit of a challenge."

"Shut up, we're missing all the information."

I turned to the screen. I wanted to forget that Namjoon was holding me. But I had to admit to myself that it felt nice to be in someone's arms, someone who can protect me and someone who likes me.

Maybe not 'like' like. But maybe enthralled, or enamored, but I don't think he loves me. He may be falling for me, but I can't know for sure. And to be honest, I think that I may be falling as well.