(Author's POV)
"I'll check my schedule." She said it the way people said it when they meant no. She was already turning toward the exit.
She didn't look back.
Behind her, Gavin stood alone at the table for two, staring at the empty chair. He let out a slow breath and allowed himself one short, humorless laugh.
He'd handled hostile witnesses with more success than this.
He pulled out his phone and called Phineas.
"Come have a drink with me," he said. "I need to decompress."
"Some of us have wives to go home to," Phineas said.
Gavin rolled his eyes so hard it was almost audible. This man, two months ago, had been the most ruthlessly efficient person he knew. Now he was using the word *wives* like it was a personality trait.
There was a brief murmur in the background - a woman's voic
