Sapphire

Chapter 28

The man they were tasked to follow was one Greg McAuley. He lived with his wife Barbara in a house in the suburbs of Westford, MA and Barbara's sister had hired them to investigate. She said that Greg was hitting his wife and kids, but she wanted proof before taking it to court.

"So we're like private investigators?" Shay clarified. After sending the others to talk to Eli about their upcoming mission, Shay and Noah had stayed behind to hear about theirs.

And Noah did not look pleased.

"Yes. Not every case we take on ends with a body bag." Val explained. Shay pursed her lips, surprised by this information.

"Shay can do this on her own. She doesn't need me." Noah argued.

"You're her mentor. I need someone to show her the ropes and you're it Noah, whether you like it or not." Val's voice was firm. "You will begin your recon today. Everything you need to know is in that folder."

Noah swiped the documents off of the table before Shay could thumb through it again. Annoyed, she followed him as he went back upstairs and stopped at his room. He had reached for the knob and was about to go inside when Shay spoke.

"Why are you so mad at me?"

"Take a guess." That was all he said before he opened his door and went inside. She heard the lock click and suddenly had an idea. Running into her room and then to the bathroom, she ran past the sink to his door, which was open. He had thought of the same thing and attempted to close it on her, but she wedged her body in between.

Instead of fighting her, he rolled his eyes and walked over to his dresser.

"Tell me what I did so I can fix it." Shay reasoned.

"How about you just go back to your apartment and leave me alone." Noah growled, taking off his sweatshirt to reveal his bare chest. He then grabbed a black t-shirt and threw it on, but not before she got a good look at him.

"I don't know what the hell is up with you." Shay muttered, still standing in the entrance to the bathroom. "Ever since you found out I've been with other guys, you can barely look me in the eye."

Noah grabbed a gun from his bedside table and stuffed it into his waistband before looking at her. "You're just different than I remember, that's all."

"How?"

"You're hiding something, number one. And two...." Noah trailed off and started grabbing other supplies from his room. "I don't know, you're just different."

"I'm not a kid anymore. I grew the hell up and that's not a bad thing." Shay snapped.

"I really hope fucking random guys isn't your definition of grown up."

"No, but you surely set a good example with all of your midnight disappearances. Or are you the only one that's allowed to have one night stands?"

Noah rolled his eyes as he gathered some other supplies from his room. He wasn't looking at her anymore as he concentrated on the task at hand, obviously done with the conversation. "Come on. We're leaving."

With a huff, Shay turned on her heel and grabbed a black sweatshirt from her closet. Not knowing what else to bring, she followed Noah downstairs and grabbed a snack. Then they were in his truck, on the road to do her very first stakeout.

She was supposed to have updated Alec. Of course she didn't remember until now, when she was sitting two feet away from someone who couldn't know her secret. Her phone buzzed in her pocket only seconds after they got on the road, just proof of how accurate the tracker in her arm was. If she ever doubted the seriousness of the situation she was in, she didn't anymore.