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“According to Wu, Karl Fallon is here attending a corporate meet and greet,” Hank said as they entered the restaurant. “As long as we’re subtle we should be able to question him in front of everyone so he can’t run.”
“When are we not subtle?” Nick asks, already scanning the room.
“Well I suppose it does depend on whether they woge or not,” Hank contemplates.
“That does kinda send subtlety out the window,” Nick grins and then points to a sectioned off area. “That the event you think?”
“Let’s check it out.”
They head over to the roped section where people are milling about holding drinks. A waiter tries to stop them but Hank quickly flashes his badge before tucking it away. They both move slowly but confidently, taking in everything around them whilst looking for their witness.
Karl Fallon was the alibi for their current suspect but he’d been dodging them all over town today. Wu had finally broken through to his secretary who told them he was attending this event. If they could talk to him and get the alibi details then they could either write off their suspect or double down on him. They knew exactly what Karl Fallon looked like and had the details of what their suspect said was his alibi, so if they could find Fallon and get him to say the same thing then they could move on. But Nick had a haunch that it wouldn’t be that simple, because his gut was telling him that the suspect they had was the right guy.
“Hey,” Hank said slowly and Nick turned to look at his partner at the weird tone in his voice. “Is that Adalind over there?”
Nick swivelled sharply and saw the blonde Hank was motioning to and it was indeed Adalind.
“She said she had some work function,” he murmured.
“Could she know Fallon?”
“I don’t know,” Nick answered, frowning as he watched two guys swarm around her.
“Should we go ask?” Hank looked at him. “If she does know him that would help us actually get to talk to him. She could lure him out.”
“That could put her in an awkward position at work,” Mick mutters, frowning as he watches another guy come and seek Adalind’s attention.
“Won’t know unless we ask,” Hank says before he almost sing-songs. “Although what I think you want to ask, is that those guys back off.”
“What?” Nick glances at him in surprise.
“You’re glaring.”
“I’m observing.”
“You’re totally glaring at those guys with Adalind.”
Nick shook his head rather than reply but found he couldn’t look away from Adalind and those guys. They were all wearing suits and holding pretentious cocktail glasses, gesturing and laughing around her. She was smiling back at them but it was small and didn’t reach her eyes. Nick knew it wasn’t her real smile, so she was enduring their company rather than enjoying it.
“Yeah,” Nick said suddenly making his mind up. “Let’s go rescue her.”
“Uh-huh,” Hank mutters and follows as Nick moves off. “That’s what I said we should do.”
The guys don’t notice their approach, too busy laughing amongst themselves, but Adalind does, her eyes flicking around her surroundings and then widening when she sees him. He smiles slightly to reassure and sees her cock her head in question.
“Good evening gentlemen,” Hank says smoothly as they join the little circle.
“Good evening?” One of the three blinks slowly at them, a sign of the drinking he’d obviously been participating in.
“Have the goodwill lawyers sent their representatives?” The tallest of the trio sneered. “Not representing the side well are they?” His gaze flicks over Nick’s clothes quickly before he smirks.
Nick met his cocky gaze head on and watched as the younger man shrank back when his words and presence seemed to have no effect on either himself or Hank.
“That’s not fair or kind Eustace,” Adalind chided, looking uncomfortable.
“Perhaps they can expound on their opinions to my friend here whilst I get you another drink?” Nick asked her, sweeping his arm out to direct her away from the trio.
She moves where he points, throwing a last smile back at the other men and Nick hears as Hank engages them in conversation.
He guides her to the edge of the area then skirts along the wall until they can duck round a corner and step behind a decorative curtain.
“Is everything okay? What are you doing here?” She whispers.
“We have a suspect in a murder investigation,” Nick answers quietly. “But he gave an alibi. The guy who is supposedly the alibi is here, according to his secretary. We’ve been looking for him all day. We need to talk to him to get him to confirm or deny the alibi.”
“What’s his name?”
“Karl Fallon.”
“I’ve heard of him,” Adalind says, brushing her hair back over her shoulder. “He’s a networker, links cases between different law firms. Usually once a law firm gets a case they’ll want to keep it to themselves but he has a way of making it advantageous for everyone. He’s made a lot of people a lot of money over the years.”
“So he’s well connected?”
“Yes.”
“But he’s not a lawyer?”
“No, I think he studied law, but never sat the bar so he doesn’t practice,” Adalind looks shiftily around. “He has quite a magnetic personality, from what I hear.”
“Normally? Or helped by… extra means?”
“I don’t know,” she answers. “I haven’t heard of him using any extra resources from… my kind of specialty… but I also haven’t heard of him being or not being his own speciality, if you catch my meaning.”
“So he could be normal or he could be other.”
“That’s not a helpful answer, sorry, but I’ve only heard of him, I’ve never worked with him.”
“Would you be able to talk to him? I have a feeling he’ll make me and Hank on sight.”
“I can try,” she offers with a smile.
“Thanks.” He reaches out a hand and gently squeezes hers.
She smiles up at him and Nick can’t help but look down at her, taking in her subtle make-up, her curled hair and the blue dress that hugs her neck and then sculpts downward leading to a flare just before her knees.
“You look great,” he murmurs.
She looks down and then smiles up at him bashfully. “You think so?”
“I can see so,” he answers then sighs. “And so did all those other guys.”
“They’re just young guns from the office,” she says, looking down. “It’s almost a rite of passage for them to hit on a senior female lawyer. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Hey,” he steps forward and cups her shoulders gently. “That doesn’t sound okay.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It should be,” he says darkly.
She takes a deep breath. “So I can help you? Find and talk to this guy?”
“Find him,” Nick corrects. “And then get me and Hank talking to him. That way he won’t be spooked and we can question him.”
“Okay, I can do that.” She nods.
“And it’ll keep you away from those jerks,” he mutters.
“I can handle them Nick.”
“You shouldn’t have to.”
“But I can,” she counters then frowns. “Or don’t you trust me?”
“I trust you,” he says simply. “It’s the idiot in them that worries me.” He strokes her shoulders, fingers running over the skin exposed by her dress. “And you look really great tonight.”
She smiles again then bites down on her lip to dampen it but all that does is draw his attention to her lips. And he can’t help but follow through, raising a hand to cup her cheek and then leaning forward to kiss her. She meets his kiss softly and for a moment they just stand and kiss, lips moving languidly against each other.
He pulls back to look down at her, and her luminous dazed expression and slightly swollen lips cause heat to bolt through him and he moves without thinking, stepping fully into her. She gasps as she’s pushed back against the wall and he catches her lips open and sweeps his tongue inside, kissing her hungrily. Her hands fly up to grip at his shoulder and he wraps his around her hips, pulling her further into him even as he presses his body into hers against the wall.
She moans slightly and he clutches harder at her, deepening their kiss. Her hands dig into his shoulders and she starts to move against him. He groans against her as the friction excites him further and a small voice in the back of his head whispers how insane this is, he’s here on an investigation for god’s sake, but that doesn’t stop him as he pushes back into her.
The fact that he can do this, he can take her behind a curtain and kiss her, hold her exactly as he wants, excites him as well. She’s with him and no-one else.
“Nick,” she gasps as she pulls back slightly. “We either need to stop or go somewhere much more private.”
“I know what I vote for,” he murmurs.
She giggles slightly and flexes her hands into his shoulders. “And I’m not opposed to that,” she answers, voice low and just a little flirty. “But what about Hank? The guy you’re looking for?”
“Dammit.”
She leans into him as he takes some long deep breaths. “We can finish this later at home.”
“Oh you can count on that.”
“Should I give you a minute alone?”
He huffs out an exasperated breath and manages to step back. “No. I don’t think calming myself down and then walking out to see you surrounded by a pack of those idiots again will help my mood.”
“They’re just young hotshots mouthing off,” she reassures. “I stand there and smile and wait for them to move on.”
“Doesn’t sound like fun.”
She shrugs, trying for a casual look but he can see the small frown lines by her eyes. “It’s not. But sometimes you have to put up with a few hours of uncomfortableness to gain some advantages at work so that’s what you have to do.” She tilts her head up at him as she continues. “But considering that you can get shot at, at your work, I think I shouldn’t complain.”
“But I can shoot back.”
“You think I can’t defend myself?”
“I think you shouldn’t have to.”
“Aww, my hero in dark denim.”
Nick snorts and steps back from her fully. “Okay. Let’s go find Hank and get a talk with our guy. Then we can go home.”
“And finish what you started,” Adalind adds and stares up at him from under her lashes.
Nick rolls his eyes and then cocks an ear, listening for if anyone was out there but it sounded like the coast was clear so her motioned for her to go first.
He follows Adalind back round to where the event was being hosted and they saw Hank mingling with several ladies whilst scanning the room. He makes an excuse which causes the ladies to titter and give him flirty looks as he moves away from them. He raises an eyebrow as Nick and Adalind approach.
“You two were gone awhile…”
“Coming up with a plan,” Nick says quickly as Adalind bites her lip and looks back at him. “Adalind’s going to find our guy, he’s more likely to talk to her than us and he could make us as cops, then we’ll get a meeting with him, finally.”
“Sounds good.”
“So if I find him shall I bring him to you?” Adalind asks as she looks around nervously.
“No,” Nick answers. “Just get him to one side and keep him talking and then we’ll approach you.” He looks to Hank. “We’ll keep circling and when we see him talk to her we move in.”
Adalind nods and then walks away and Nick trails her with his eyes.
“I can keep circulating alright,” Hank said with a smirk as he moved to go back to the group of ladies.
“Hey,” Nick snaps. “Make sure you watch Adalind, not get distracted.”
“She’ll be fine Nick,” Hank reassures. “And don’t worry, I will.”
Hank moves off and Nick takes a deep breath, willing himself to calm down. He’d been annoyed after a day of chasing their target and then wasn’t expecting to see Adalind here, and definitely wasn’t expecting to have such a reaction to seeing her surrounded by slick suited idiots. But then he couldn’t regret what that had led to, behind the curtain. Although he did regret they couldn’t finish what they’d started.
But that just made him want to find this guy, finish this interview and get Adalind home. As soon as possible.
He scanned the room as he moved to the side, watching as people mingled together. Although there were lots of drinks held in hands he noticed there wasn’t actually much drinking going on; it seemed people wanted the appearance of drinking without being inhibited by it. Which would make sense as this was a bunch of high flying lawyers and their networkers. They all wanted to look the part but without having any weakness.
Everyone was dressed in suits or fancy dresses and he realised he and Hank definitely stood out, him more than his partner as at least Hank was wearing a shirt whereas Nick was wearing his usual dark Henley and jeans. He grabbed a drink from the edge of the bar, at least trying to blend in that way.
He watched as people moved around him, though always keeping Adalind at the edge of his gaze. There was definitely a pattern to the movements, with people gathering together then splitting to go to others before circling back to their original groups. It was definitely all about social networking, this evening.
Nick straightens as a man with long light brown hair approaches Adalind. He’s wearing a light blue suit with an open shirt and there’s something about him that’s just a bit too slick. He catches Adalind’s hand and lifts it to his lips to kiss it and whilst she pulls back as quickly as she can Nick can’t help but both cringe and scowl at the actions. Adalind shifts slightly and Nick gets a straight look at the guy and recognises him as Karl Fallon.
Stepping back, Adalind gestures behind her and Karl smiles and moves with her as she starts to walk away, leading him towards the side of the room where it was less busy. Another man starts to walk with them but Fallon shakes his head slightly and when Adalind turns away to keep moving forward, Fallon makes big eyes at her back before smirking at the other man.
Nick feels annoyance and anger course through him at the suggestive leer in Fallon’s gaze, and how it had been directed at Adalind without her knowledge. She was a gorgeous woman but that didn’t mean it was okay for guys to objectify her. And Nick knew he believed that argument for feminism but he also really disliked another guy looking at her, the mother of his child, his partner, that way.
Adalind keeps leading Fallon away, smiling back at him occasionally and waving off anyone who looks to intercept them. Nick follows stealthily and sees Hank make slow movements after them as well. She keeps walking until she’s at the same area she was with Nick just a little while ago and Fallon stops right at the edge, making some motion back to the event.
“As much as I’d delight in some private time with you my dear, we’ll have to schedule that for later,” he says with a smirk. “I can't not be mingling at my own event.”
“But what if I'm busy later?” Adalind says with a coy smile but Nick doesn’t miss the flick of her eyes as she sees him coming up behind Fallon.
“I’m sure you’d want to keep yourself free for me,” he answers. “It’ll be more than worth your time.”
“Time is precious though, isn't it Fallon?” Nick asks as he approaches and sees the other man whip around in surprise before he blanks his face. “At least that’s been your message all day. You’ve always been somewhere else every time we’ve gone to meet you.”
“You’re such a busy guy,” Hank says as he steps up behind Nick.
“Who are you two? How did you get an invite into my event?” Fallon snaps, before quickly looking at Adalind. “Do you know these men?”
“That’s not important,” Nick says quickly. “Miss, you are free to go back to the party.” He quickly makes eyes at Adalind and motions her away before turning his full focus on Fallon. “What is important is what you were doing the night before last, at about ten thirty.”
“And before you think of lying,” Hank says and produces his badge whilst motioning to themselves. “Detectives Griffin and Burkhardt. Think long and hard about how that would go down with your crowd out there.”
“Well lying would probably impress them,” Nick adds. “But using one of his own events as cover for talking to cops? I don’t imagine that would go down too well.”
Fallon scowls and takes a step forward. “Listen you-”
“Threatening a police officer probably won’t go down too well either,” Nick says sharply. “Especially if charges are pressed.”
“How hard up for work will you look,” Hank says. “If the people you’re connecting are to represent you at trial.”
Fallon swallows but his face looks like he’s taken a lemon down. “Fine. How can I help the fine police force of Portland?”
“Where were you the night before last at ten thirty?”
“I was at La Sirene restaurant, dining with a private party in their back club room,” Fallon replies.
“And we’ll find video evidence of that when we check the surveillance?” Hank queries.
“You’ll see me arriving at eight when my driver dropped me off.”
“And you stay till?” Hank continues.
“Around eleven or so.”
“And we’ll see you leaving?” Nick asks. “With the same driver?”
“No,” Fallon says slowly. “I left a different way.”
“How?”
Fallon sighs loudly. “There’s a connecting door to the club next door. La Sirene and Coral have an arrangement. I stayed for pre-dinner drinks and then went to the club. I met another member of the dinner party after they had finished eating and we then met my driver at the end of the next block over.”
“Who was the other person?” Nick asked, feeling their case about to be lost and his gut instinct wrong.
“Suzanne Ephrams. She’s a realtor.”
“Just her?” Hank asks as Nick feels his dashed hopes pick themselves up. “No-one else?”
“Well there were plenty of people at the club,” Fallon snides. “But she was the only one I was with. We had an enjoyable ride in my limo before my driver dropped her off and then returned me home. You can check the security tapes at my residence, as well as any street cameras I'm sure. But that offer and my cooperation is only available if you two leave here right now and don’t let it get out that I had cops here.”
“We’ll go,” Nick said uneasily. “But if we need to see you again we better be able to find you at your offices, instead of having to track you down, wherever you may be.”
Fallon scowled again at the implied threat. “Fine. I’ll give your names to my secretary and IF you need to speak to me again she’ll arrange a meeting.”
“That sounds good,” Hank said with an over-the-top smile. “I guess my friend and I will be on our way then, thanks for your help directing us back to the main area. Enjoy your evening and event sir.”
Fallon nods imperiously and strides off.
“Bit much at the end there, don't you think?” Nick mutters.
“Hey, we may still need him,” Hank answers. “Might as well get him on side as much as we can.”
“Especially since he just destroyed our suspect’s alibi,” Nick continues. “He could have to testify to that if we can’t find any other evidence.”
“He did give us something else though,” Hank says. “La Sirene has another way in and out that we didn't know about.”
“Let’s go check it out,” Nick murmurs but whilst Hank starts to move away he just reaches for his phone.
“Now? Or not now?” Hank questions when Nick doesn’t move.
“I’m just telling Adalind to leave,” he mutters. “I don’t think that Fallon guy would suspect her of anything but why take the chance?”
“She did good, helping us like that.”
“Yeah, she was great.”
“And it’s not like you don’t want her here,” Hank continues. “Surrounded by all these young, handsome, wealthy lawyers looking to impress.”
Nick paused in his typing and looked up slowly at Hank, who was doing his best - yet failing - not to smirk.
“You got it bad man.”
Nick ignored him as he finished typing the message but then still didn’t move.
Hank raised an eyebrow at him.
“She didn’t drive here,” Nick muttered. “I want to make sure she’s got a way home.”
Hank chuckles and then throws the car keys at Nick. “I’m going to walk to the corner of Ambers,” he says as Nick catches the keys reflexively and looks back at him. “There’s always a patrol car there. They can give me a lift to La Sirene whilst I radio Wu to meet me there. You take Adalind home.”
“I’ll drop her off and then come meet you.”
Hank snorted and started to walk away. “Yeah right. You’ve got another thing coming on your mind.”
“Hey!” Nick called out at the lewd remark but all Hank did was chuckle and keep moving away.
Nick should go after him and make him take those words back. But as that would take him away from Adalind he decided he’d be the bigger man here and ignore his partner.
His phone vibrated with a message from her, saying she would get a taxi home straight away and he quickly replied with details of where to meet him so he could drive her. He didn’t wait for another response, just headed to the exit he’d mentioned, so he could wait for her without any of her colleagues or other event attendees seeing. He didn’t want to make any problems for her at work, especially not as she’d just helped massively with his.
Nick positioned himself a few feet away from the door he’d told her about and stood back against the wall, watching as people entered and exited the restaurant and walked by on the sidewalk. It didn’t take long for her to appear, but she wasn’t alone.
The tall cocky guy from earlier was following her, taking her arm, then wrapping his around her when she dropped his or tried to move away from him. She wasn’t smiling at him anymore, was talking seriously to him even as she continuously stepped back. The man was not taking the hint however.
Adalind frowned after one particular slinging of his arm caused her to stumble and then she flicked her hand out and he jolted back from her. He just grinned however and Nick watched as he woged, revealing a Lowen. Adalind didn’t look impressed and tensed to do something else but Nick was fed-up of watching.
He moved quickly and as the Lowen went to touch Adalind again, he grabbed the guy’s arm and spun him around. He was met by the start of a roar that turned into a squeak as the guy’s stare locked onto Nick’s.
“Walk away,” Nick commanded quietly but with intent. ”Now.”
The Lowen tensed.
“Listen to him Eustace,” Adalind added softly. “You can’t take him. He’s a Grimm. And he won’t need much of an excuse to take you.”
Nick happily agreed with that, as this was the douchebag who had annoyed Adalind earlier and had just seconds ago kept putting his hands all over her. He let that anger show in his face and watched as Eustace paled and then stumbled away.
“A bit over the top, don’t you think?” Adalind said softly as they were left standing alone on the sidewalk.
“Nope,” Nick answered honestly. “He needed to leave you alone and back off.”
“My hero.” She smiled up at him and Nick found himself hunching his shoulders bashfully.
“Let me take you home,” Nick mumbled and motioned to the street behind them, where the car was waiting.
Adalind started walking and he fell into step next to her. “So where’s Hank?”
“He’s following up a lead we got from Fallon,” he answered. “You did brilliantly, by the way. After talking to him, we know our suspect has given false information about his alibi so he’s back to being our main person of interest.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
“Did anyone from your work see you helping us? I don’t want to cause trouble for you.”
“I don’t think so,” she answers. “Everyone was moving around so much, talking to lots of different people. I don’t think anyone noticed what I was doing.”
“Those guys definitely did,” Nick muttered darkly.
“Are you really bothered by that?” Adalind asked quietly. “I don’t encourage them Nick. I wouldn’t do that now. I don’t-“
“I know,” Nick interrupted. “I know you wouldn’t Adalind, that you don’t. I guess it’s just that, well your work is normally an abstract concept for me. I know what you do, where and when you go but I don’t see it. Today I saw a part of it and it wasn’t what I was expecting.”
“That’s not my work though Nick. Not really. It’s certainly not why I got into law.”
“I know,” Nick repeated. “It just was a shock to the system I suppose. As bad as this is about to sound, I got used to you being at home with Kelly and only being around me and Rosalee, sometimes Monroe. You were always there when I wanted you to be. I’m glad you went back to work, because you wanted to, but I feel like I’ve only barely adjusted to that. To walk in and see all those guys around you, that kind of environment… I didn’t like it. But that’s not to say I don’t trust you in it or that I think you shouldn’t be doing it. It was just a... shock.”
“I’m sorry.”
Nick sighed and stopped them by reaching out to tug on her hand. “You don’t need to be. That’s not why I’m talking about this. In fact I should be saying sorry.”
“No, Nick-“
“We’ve made something together,” he continues softly. “And it was unexpected and has taken a lot of getting used to but it’s ours. I’m not really sure how other people factor into it.”
“They don’t,” she answers, moving closer to him. “No one else matters Nick.”
“Seeing all those guys around you in there made me have to think of it head-on.” He runs his hands up and down her arms. “And I felt a little… territorial, I guess you could say.”
“I’m sorry you felt that way and had those thoughts,” Adalind said quietly, before biting her lip. “But I really didn’t mind your reaction.”
Nick grinned down at her. “Yeah?”
She licked her lips and her eyes darkened as she stared up at him. “Yeah.”
Nick leant forward and kissed her softly, teasing little kisses he repeated as his hands delved into her hair and her hands reached up to grip at his upper arms. He deepened the kiss as he stepped further into her, his tongue pressing for entry to her mouth which she readily gave him. They kissed languidly at first but then deeper and harder.
Adalind broke off and gasped up at him. “Do we still need to talk about this? Or can we go home and finish what you started earlier?”
“Home,” he panted. “Definitely home.”
And he grabbed her hand and tugged her quickly to the car.
/