Chapter 8: Chapter 8

It was almost midnight when Kendall reached the headquarters. With a noticeable frown on her face, she dashed inside the office while holding Grayson’s binder in her arms. If the idiot just didn’t give her another one of his stupid tasks, she would probably be in her flat sleeping.

She saw one of her co-workers and approached him with urgency. “Is Inspector Green still here? Have you seen him? I need to ask something.”

“Oi, it’s you, Janice! Yeah, he’s at the ITMS,” the man replied while pointing upstairs.

Patting his shoulders, she replied, “Thanks, Seargent.”

Kendall quickly went up to the radio room to ask Noah about the binder. She didn’t have enough time to do Grayson’s childish tricks and entertain his imprudent profanities. This was the reason why she needed Noah’s assistance, knowing the young man was one of the best intelligence officers in their unit.

As soon as she arrived in the room, the bright, dapper face of Noah Green appeared in front of her. She walked towards him, asking him immediately with no opening greetings.

“I need your help, Inspector Green,” she uttered while pointing at the thick binder in her hand.

Noah, however, welcomed her with a captivating smile. “Eh, you’re here Inspector Whitlock. You didn’t inform me that you’ll be coming. Missed me again, already?”

Regrettably, Kendall ignored his subtle coquets as she tiredly asked, “Can you please help me with this?”

He stood up from his seat and took the blue binder that she was carrying.

“What the heck is this?” He chuckled, skimming through its contents while his other arms were propped up to his waist, showing the gun holster on his chest.

Noah was working with the FBI before he was dispensed to their headquarters last month. He was mainly assigned to the research and intelligence unit because of his intensive experience as a special intelligence officer in his previous job.

Chief Spencer also partnered him with Kendall to be her principal support regarding Grayson’s case. Knowing he preferred paperwork than being out in action, Kendall surmised that he was the best person to approach regarding Grayson’s relentless torture.

Kendall groaned. “Ugh, tell me about it. The fucking git gave me that to summarize for his report.”

She sat on the seat beside Noah and grabbed the sandwich from the desk. Kendall bit a large portion from it while leaning on the chair’s recliner. She felt so hungry from the events today.

Noah removed his slim-fitted black suit, placing it over the rotating chair. Rolling his sleeves upward, he sat on the swivel chair, throwing the binder on the table. When he realized that his sandwich was being devoured by Kendall, he seized it from her, biting the remaining portion of it.

Gulping, he replied, “Damn, take it easy. Have you had your dinner yet?”

He gave her a bottle of water beside the sandwich takeaway and offered it to Kendall. She didn’t even hesitate to grab it, swallowing the entire serving of the water.

After being replenished, she wiped the residual water from her mouth with her forearm. “Thanks. Anyway, can you help me with that horrendous thing? I barely understand it and my ordinary brain rucks up trying to comprehend those complicated economics theories.”

Noah chortled. “Why do you have this, anyway? Are you trying to be a serious college student? I can’t even imagine you with a book,” he retorted while reading the highlighted paragraphs on Grayson’s binder.

Kendall snorted, punching his buffed-up biceps. “Hey! I do read books.”

“You mean the cases? Fair enough.” He grinned crookedly and stated in-a-matter-of-fact tone, “But you haven't read anything downright educational.”

“Bleh, that’s boring.” She got another piece of sandwich from the corrugated box.

Kendall was about to eat it when suddenly, Noah leaned closer to her to take a bite from the club sandwich.

She was taken aback by Noah’s impulsive actions. Evidently, Kendall knew that Noah was handsome, smart, and single. The guy was already popular when he got designated from their district, which was rather rare for their department to have an eye candy to look forward to. However, just like Kendall, Noah was not interested in any short dalliances as he was much more interested in his work than anyone else.

“Hell, you’re eating up all my dinner, Whitlock!” he contested lightly as he licked his lips. Reclining away from her, Noah reposed his back on the seat.

Kendall then dropped the sandwich back into the box that was partially eaten by Noah. “Sorry, I was hungry,” she huffed with glumness and sighed, “—git stressed me out so much that he made me grumble with hunger.”

Noah just shook his head with disparagement. “When do you need it?” he asked in a serious tone.

She sheepishly smiled. “Err—tomorrow?”

His expression turned with utter disbelief. “You’re serious? This kid wants you to summarize an entire seven-hundred and fifty pages of the book for his benefit?”

Noah took the bottle of water and chugged it.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Kendall breathed out in acquiescence.

He tapped his fingers at the moment, thinking about what to do with the binder. After a short pause, he then grabbed it on the desk and quickly scanned it to read the first page. When he was done, he replied to Kendall, “Okay, I'll do it. But if this kid does something ridiculous again, don’t hesitate to break his neck.”

Her gloomy expression suddenly lightened. “You don’t have to remind me about that, Inspector Green. You know me.” She crossed her arms to her chest and added, “I don’t beat around the bush.”

Noah craftily smirked while giving the leftover sandwich to Kendall. “Just tell me if you need anything. I’ll be glad to help you. I got your back.”

“Thanks! I’ll just call you tomorrow before class.” She cheerfully smiled. Meanwhile, she noticed again the sandwich left on the desk, which made him glance back at Noah. “You sure?”

“Yeah, eat it. I can’t stand looking at your famished face.”

“You’re the best, Inspector!” Kendall’s eyes shimmered with delight as she grabbed the remaining sandwich eaten by Noah. Willingly, she ate it with no contention.

Noah just smiled at her with beguilement.

...

After her conversation with Noah, Kendall was about to leave when Chief Spencer showed up. She stopped walking when he noticed him heading toward her.

“I heard you visited from Seargent Coleman. Anyway, how’s the case? So far, any progress?” Chief Spencer asked.

“So far, it’s getting well, chief. I’ve made progress with the subject and will immediately report to you as soon as I’ve gotten all the information filed,” Kendall reported in a professional tone.

“Great. Just keep it like that, Whitlock. Report to me when something suspicious happened,” he retorted.

Chief Spencer was about to leave when Kendall asked him another question. “By the way chief, do you have any lowdown on the Pirus case?”

Chief Spencer exhaled with chagrin. “Not yet, Whitlock. Although, I will call or email you the details the moment we have an inside report.”

“Got it, chief.” Sighing in defeat, Kendall nodded. She didn’t know how long she would do this covert operation, but it seemed like, from the Chief’s response, she might end up doing this undercover for a little longer.

Chief Spencer sauntered to his office, which made Kendall move to follow him. When he got inside his office, he questioned her again, “Oh, since you’re here, Whitlock. You don’t need to give me a documentation report about the progress of the case. Just tell me what you’ve gotten so far.”

He then leaned his back on the swivel chair and intertwined his fingers from the oak wood desk. Meanwhile, Kendall closed the door and sat on the vacant seat in front of him.

“I’ve already gotten inside his squad, chief…” she then continued to discuss the information she got while following the subject for the entire week.

...

It was already late in the morning when Kendall arrived at her flat. Beaten out from work and Grayson’s childish demands, she immediately dashed to her bed to sleep. Soon after, the slumber of exhaustion caved into her system that she barely remembered to change in her sleeping attire.

Kendall disturbingly woke up from her phone’s sudden alarm. Disgruntled, she fumbled through her bedside table, taking the ear-splitting sound of the phone. As soon as she unlocked it, she noticed Grayson was calling in the early morning.

'What does this pompous git want again?' She grumbled while rubbing her eyes.

“What is it, Grayson? It’s still so early,” she expressed with complete dissent.

She heard him snickering on the phone. “What? It’s already five in the morning, Hailey. You’re supposed to be awake by this time.”

'Seriously? I’m really gonna squash his head sooner the moment my patience runs out.' Discerning she couldn’t do anything about it right now, she inhaled deeply to calm her nerves.

“What do you want?” she reflexively grunted while still feeling the weight of weariness.

“Come here right away,” he ordered without explanation.

Kendall was soon alerted by his statement. She couldn’t help but wonder if the young man was in danger. It was too early in the morning for him to call, and if this was an emergency, she knew that she had to be there right away.

Standing up from her bed, she then asked him again. “Grayson? Where are you?”

“I’m at home, Hailey. Be here before five-thirty.”

“What happened? Are you okay?” Her brows crinkled while she hurriedly seized the things inside her desk, searching for her 0.45 Colt gun.

“Cook breakfast for me,” he said nonchalantly.

'What the fuck?' Kendall cursed internally as soon as she heard him. She dropped back the gun that was already in her hand and closed the compartment of her table.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Grayson? You got a lot of maids! Why should I be the one to cook your breakfast?” she chided, thinking that it was another of his immature pranks.

“I’m not joking. I need you to cook breakfast for me.”

“No,” Kendall firmly responded.

“Are you disobeying me? I’m going to report you to the group.”

Kendall’s eyes whirled. “Does it look like I give a shit?” she rebutted.

“Okay, then you’re not allowed to hang out with us anymore. Bye, Hai—”

He was about to end the call when Kendall quickly answered, “Fine! Alright, I’ll be there in a minute or so.”

“Geez, what got your knickers in a twist?” he derided.

She dropped the call out of irritation, ignoring his mockery as she had no time to entertain his childish acts.

...

By the time she got to his place, Kendall rushed to the kitchen and cooked whatever was available there. To be honest, she wasn’t a good cook—no; she was utterly terrible at it. Ever since she was a kid, she had no interest in cooking or in anything related to culinary cuisine. Yes, she was a food lover, but that didn’t mean that her eagerness in eating was also the same in cooking.

In the end, she served a meal based on the limits and knowledge of her cooking skills. Placing the charcoal-smoky fried eggs on the table, she sat with a sigh. Hell, she never felt so tired just from cooking breakfast, as though this was even harder than getting in action on raids.

At the same time, Grayson was already there at the dining table, waiting for his scrumptious meal. When he saw the platter of God-forbidden yet slightly edible eggs, his jaw dropped with astonishment.

“What the hell is this, Hailey? Is this even food?” He disgustingly gripped the burnt edges of the fried egg, hanging it in mid-air.

Kendall shrugged. “What? You said breakfast, right? I gave you sunny-side eggs. Fresh from the skillet pan.”

“Are you trying to kill me with this?” He looked at her with discombobulation.

'Yes.'

“No. What’s wrong with the eggs? Haven’t tried burnt, smokey eggs before?” she pressed on.

Grayson threw the egg back onto the plate. “No, I won’t eat this.” He then pushed it away from him and grabbed the small bell beside him. “Esther, would you cook some breakfast right away? I’m hungry!” he called out while clanking the small bell.

Kendall’s fury started to rise. Out of the blue, she slumped her palms onto the table with sudden force, which caused the young man to be in shock.

She then leaned forward, giving him a spiteful stare. “Look, Hoffman! I woke up early in the morning, even if I don’t want to, just to entertain your childish antics of cooking your damn fucking eggs! Now, eat this whether you like it or not before I shove this to your ass and cut your fucking balls as a replacement for these eggs!”

Taken aback by her monstrous warning, Grayson felt the chills run down his spine. Involuntarily, he found himself obeying her command as he briskly grabbed the eggs from the plate and roughly swallowed them.

Calming herself down, she sat in front of him while watching him endure the unpalatable breakfast. “Good boy! Eat up and don’t leave any leftovers.” Kendall wolfishly grinned, feeling rather victorious.

After their eventful breakfast, both of them went to school together with Kendall driving his car. Grayson demanded her again to carry all his things while walking to the corridor. She didn’t have the energy to contest him, as she just took it from him.

Later on, they got to the class in no time with Kendall sitting next to him. When the professor arrived, Grayson immediately told her to take notes for him while listening to the lesson.

“Take notes for me, Hailey.”

She hurled the notebook from him and scribbled down some hefty notes.

Nancy quickly noticed their sudden familiarity with each other. “It seems like the two of you are getting along.”

Kendall just nodded automatically while her eyes were still transfixed on the board. “Hmm, yes. I guess so. We’ve become closer when I came to the same event he attended.”

Biting her lip, Nancy reluctantly replied, “Do you want me to help you with that? I can take notes for him.”

“Really! That would be awe—”

Grayson cut her off as soon as he heard it. “No! That’s your job, Hailey! Don’t pass your responsibility on someone.”

Kendall made a face, deriding him with contempt. Luckily, Grayson didn’t see it, as he was so focused on whatever the professor was saying. With this, she went back to writing notes, scribbling everything that their professor said.

After a minute of writing, Kendall suddenly felt her eyes getting dozy. Since she didn’t have any interest in what the professor was discussing and since she got little to no sleep, she quickly fell asleep out of boredom.

Inopportunely, the professor and the entire class heard her exigent, rowdy snores.

“Miss Madison, if you’re just going to sleep in my class, better yet, go out!” The professor reproached with his arms on his waist.

Kendall remained to be in slumber as she didn’t notice the professor’s warning. Meanwhile, Grayson was having fun as he sat beside her, who looked like he had just won the jackpot prize.

“Miss Madison!” the professor shouted again.

This time, his warning awakened every bit of her lethargic energy. She jerked off from her seat, looking disheveled and oblivious. When she met the professor’s glare, her eyes gaped open.

'Oh, shit!' She mumbled inwardly.

The professor then pointed at the door with anger. “Get out of the class now! I don’t want to see any students sleeping in my class!”

“Sorry, sir—”

“Get out, Miss Madison, before my patience runs out!” His face was entirely beaten with red from aggravation.

Hopeless, Kendall stood from her seat while carrying her bag. However, before she could even go out of the room, she eyed Grayson with a scowl. As soon as she was out of the room, she slumped her back on the wall and fell asleep on one of the hallway benches.

...

After a minute, Grayson’s class ended. While walking along the corridor, he saw Kendall's mouth open, sleeping on the bench in the Alaric building. Surprising her with mockery, he kicked her feet to wake her up.

“Hey, Hailey, wake up! I can see a fly in your mouth.” He chuckled.

Immediately, Kendall woke up, scratching her head unconsciously. As soon as her eyes glanced at Grayson, she jabbed him in his arms with every intention of hurting him.

“This is your fault, Hoffman! I will not forgive you if I failed in this class,” she reprimanded while following him.

Grayson mocked, “You wouldn’t, anyway, because you’re stupid.”

“Hey! I’m not stupid! Economics doesn’t really interest me.” She huffed.

Frowning, Grayson queried, “Then why the fuck did you get it? You realize that we will be having a lot of economics courses.”

Kendall paused for a moment, thinking about how to respond. “I-I, well, I thought it was fun,” she stuttered.

“It is enjoyable if you understand it. But it looks like your small brain couldn’t comprehend any of it, even the basics.”

She agreed, knowing that she was really not that smart to grasp such complicated theories and ideas. Nonetheless, her pride took over her emotion as she would never let him know that he was right.

“Yeah, well, my brain is too special to even bother learning those kinds of things.”

“See? I don’t know how you even passed the UMET with that dull brain of yours, Hailey.” He stated out of fact and bewilderment.

She couldn’t answer his question, as even she was rendered speechless.

...

Later that day, after all their classes, they went to the nearest flower shop. As they went inside the store, Grayson looked through the set of flowers displayed for the day.

“What are we doing here?” Kendall asked while scanning inside the room, looking for any possibility of suspecting danger.

Grayson took the sunflower and smelled it. “I wanted to buy flowers for Abigail.” Then, he asked the clerk, “How much is this, miss?”

“It’s thirty dollars, sir. Would you want it in a bouquet?” The lady beside the counter quickly replied.

Grayson was about to answer when Kendall shot another question. “Why? Did you do anything bad?”

He sniggered at her question while he forgot to answer the lady. “No, Hailey. That’s just what you do in a relationship. Don’t tell me you haven’t been in one?”

Kendall didn't answer, which piqued his interest in the type of people Kendall had been going out with, or if she ever did.

Grinning haughtily, he began to question her. “Do you like flowers, Hailey?”

“Flowers are fine. It’s nice to have it on the first day, but a waste when it gets wilted.” She raised her shoulders quickly, as if she wasn’t interested.

Grayson then noticed her reaction. He then surmised that she didn’t care about anything, which got him more curious about her preference.

“What do you think about these carnations? Are they better than red roses?” He asked again while gesturing his hand to the flowers inside a rectangular pot.

“It’s nice. Both are pretty.” Kendall gave him a dead face.

He pursed his lips. “What about these pink tulips?”

“It’s alright. Either way, any flowers will do, Grayson.”

Sighing from discontentment with her answer, Grayson tried asking her again. “How about this Hibiscus or Bluebell? I think this suit Abigail’s personality.”

"I don’t know, Grayson. I guess anything will do. As long as it's not flowers meant for death,” she replied with utter indifference.

Grayson then stopped asking her questions, as reading Kendall was a hopeless case. He thought he could get an interesting fact about her, but was left with nothing but disappointment. It was clear to him that if he couldn’t get anything by simply prying, then he just had to use other means to determine the truth about Kendall. With that in mind, he just got a bouquet of pink roses from one of the compartments and went straight ahead to the counter to pay.

While the lady packed the flowers Grayson had chosen, he saw another customer arriving. He then heard a sudden gasp from Kendall that made his gaze veer towards her. Weirdly, he noticed Kendall friskily hiding behind his back.

“Damn it...” Kendall whispered while cloaking her body behind Grayson.

Her reaction made him more curious, from which he formed an idea that the woman was one of Kendall’s exes. Smiling with curiosity, he moved away from Kendall, letting her be out in the open to be noticed by the lady who was walking toward them.

“Kendall?”