Chapter 5: Blame it on Leo - The Lion's Share
Mitch discovers something interesting about the bacteria in the wolf's brain while Jamie discovers something else entirely.
"The website says first bell is at 8:30," Jamie looked up at Mitch. "You sure you can get in and out in time?"
"Yeah," Mitch had limited himself to one word answers ever since they'd arrived in Atmore, Alabama. They'd driven up 65 in near silence, save for Jackson's musings on why Evan Lee Hartley was in a photo with his father. Chloe and Abe had tried to get more information out of him, but Mitch had adamantly avoided every question. Jamie's reporter senses were telling her there was a story here - one he didn't want to see the light of day. Shoving her curiosity to the side for a moment, she decided to give him some breathing room.
"Alright," she turned to Chloe, "we are running woefully short on clean clothes and food. Mitch and I can handle the lab, why don't the three of you gather supplies and find a laundromat?" It was unlike Jamie to take charge so suddenly, and Chloe raised one delicate eyebrow. Her eyes shifted between reporter and scientist, her mouth opening to make some comment.
"I can do laundry," Abraham offered quickly. "I dislike shopping."
"Okay," Chloe finally agreed, "Jackson and I will resupply while the two of you test the blood and Abraham washes the clothes." She shot the larger man a teasing smile which he returned easily. "We will pick the two of you up at the school at 8:30 and meet Abraham at the restaurant on the corner by 9 to go over the results?" Everyone nodded in agreement or at least didn't argue, so Chloe bid them goodnight and retreated to the room across the hall. Mitch stood as well, having once again snagged a solo room. Jamie followed him into the hall and shut the door to Jackson and Abe's room before reaching for his sleeve.
"Hey, you alright?" He stopped and turned, his eyes darting around in an effort to keep from looking her in the eye. Jamie guessed he really didn't want to talk about it. "I just thought, maybe…"
"It's alright," Mitch ran a hand down his face, then back up through his hair. "I just didn't think I'd ever come back here."
Jamie had guessed Mitch had some sort of history with the town. "You grew up here?"
"No," Mitch shook his head. "After my parents divorced, my mom and I landed here. She knew a guy who knew a guy who got her a job at the high school."
Jamie smiled at this piece of the puzzle that made up Mitch Morgan. "Your mom was a teacher," she didn't sound surprised. For all he touted being a creature of solitude and staunchly against people as a whole, he seemed to really enjoy teaching. It stood to reason that one of his parents did as well.
He relaxed a little, his stance a little less defensive as he answered her non-question. "Chemistry."
"Is that where you got the science bug from?"
His entire demeanor shifted then and his eyes clouded over. "I'm really tired. I'll see you in the morning." He turned to escape to his room, and Jamie felt guilty for bringing up what was obviously a bad memory.
"I'm sorry," she blurted out. He paused at his door and Jamie saw his shoulders rise and fall with a sigh.
"Me, too," he glanced at her. "Do you, uh...want a drink?" He nodded his head sideways in invitation, and Jamie jumped at it.
"Yeah," she propelled herself forward and through the door as he opened it a held for her. His messenger bag was tossed onto the single bed, and he cleared it out of the way and gestured for her to sit. This hotel wasn't nearly as fancy as the one in Biloxi, and the small room barely had room for the bed, the chest of drawers, and the small mini fridge. Mitch opened it and pulled out two beers from the six pack he'd bought earlier when they'd stopped for gas. He twisted the top off of the first and handed it to Jamie before opening his own. He turned and leaned back against the dresser, taking long drinks as they sat in a heavy silence.
"Is your mom still alive?" Jamie asked finally. "I didn't think before…"
"What?" Mitch's brow wrinkled in confusion, then flattened as he shook his head. "Yeah, she's still alive. She lives in California now. It's one of the reasons I took the job at the L.A. Zoo, so I could be near her."
"That's nice," Jamie smiled. Then, because she couldn't handle the tension that had settled between them, she continued. "I was afraid...I mean, because of the way you reacted...I thought maybe she wasn't and I had brought it up -"
"No, she's good," Mitch interrupted her rambling. "My father is a scientist - of sorts," he added under his breath. "I used to want to be just like him, until I found out he had been cheating on my mom with just about every co-ed he could lay his hands on." He took another drink. "And her best friend."
Jamie grimaced. "Ouch. I'm sorry." Her mind recalled a conversation they'd had back at Poor Boy Lloyd's and she canted her head. "That's what you meant about having the market cornered on horrible fathers."
"Yeah, he's a peach." Mitch finished his beer and went for another. Jamie shook her head as he offered her a second; she was only halfway through her first. "I've pretty much cut off all contact with him. Haven't spoken to him in...eleven years?"
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Jamie tried to remember that last time she'd spoken to her dad. He'd left just before her mother had died, and no one had been able to find him to tell him that Nancy had passed or that his daughter needed him. Jamie wondered if he was even still alive.
"This is fun," Mitch drawled. "Here I have a beautiful woman in my hotel room and I'm depressing the both of us by digging up ancient history."
Jamie blushed at his compliment. "You're not depressing me," she told him. "It's nice to know there's more to you than science and snark."
His self-deprecating laugh filled the space, and he toasted her with his drink. "I hate to disappoint you, but that is pretty much all there is."
She stood then, hitching her hip against the dresser next to him as he turned toward her. "No it isn't." His eyes followed her movement as she set her bottle down on the cheap wood top. She'd promised herself on their flight to Tokyo that she wouldn't actively pursue anything more between them, but if things progressed naturally she wouldn't try to shy away. Seeing his hangdog expression and hearing his obviously low opinion of himself ignited something inside of her. Could he honestly not see how wonderful he'd been since the day they'd met? He'd pretty much put his life on hold to help a stranger, and then with very little convincing he'd flown halfway across the country and stood beside her as her world had come crashing down. Deciding that she'd had quite enough of his self-doubt, she forged ahead with the thoughts in her head. "And you couldn't disappoint me."
His eyes snapped up to hers, hesitant and searching. She let him look, resisting the urge to drop her gaze or step away. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he shuffled a step closer, and she pushed away from the dresser to meet him halfway. His hand was cool on her arm, damp from the condensation of the bottle he'd abandoned. His lips were different.
Jamie inhaled deeply as he kissed her, feeling his fingers slide through her hair to cradle her head. Her own hands settled on his waist, and just as he started to pull away she began kissing him back. Time fell away from them as they stood in the tiny hotel room, each learning the other as they molded their bodies together.
Only the late hour and the realization that Jackson and Abe were literally feet away through a very thin wall allowed Jamie to keep her head. She pulled away first, letting her head fall against his jaw as she leaned into him. His arms banded over her shoulders to pull her flush against him in an embrace that echoed that day in the graveyard.
"I should get back to my room," she muttered without making any real attempt to let him go. She had to admit - at least to herself - that it felt good to let him hold her.
He hummed in response and tightened his hold, causing them both to laugh quietly. She pushed back and slid her hands from his waist to his chest, letting one travel further to press against his cheek. His eyes looked better - brighter than they had before - and Jamie felt giddy at the prospect of being responsible for it.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Her hand fell away as she stepped back. He followed her to the door and opened it for her, standing in the doorway as she walked across the hallway to her own room. She slid the plastic key card into the slot and waited for the beep. As she turned the handle, Jamie glanced back over her shoulder and smiled at Mitch. He answered it with one of his own and waved as she stepped into her room and closed the door.
Escambia County High School was located in the southeast corner of town, just off of Presley Street. Chloe dropped Jamie and Mitch off on Lindberg with a promise to return at 8:30 to get them.
"We'll be here," Jamie promised. She closed the door and turned to Mitch, who was staring at the building with a grimace on his face. He wasn't happy to be back. "Let's go," she urged him forward with a nod of her head, leading him across the street and through the open fence line to a back entrance. Just as Mitch had said, the doors were open.
"They offer breakfast to low-income students, so the doors open at 7:30," he'd said. Jamie checked her watch. It was twenty minutes to eight.
"Where to?" she asked.
"Science labs are up on the second floor in the east wing." He started off, leaving Jamie to trail behind him a few steps. "Or at least they used to be," he added over his shoulder.
There was no one around, but Mitch had her stand guard anyway. "I'll put my phone on speaker so we can talk, but the test should take about twenty minutes if everything goes right."
"So thirty to forty minutes," Jamie joked. "Got it."
He smiled flatly. "Be careful." He left her on a walkway over the atrium after indicating which direction the students would be coming from. She dialed his number and listened as he snuck into one of the labs. She could hear him tinkering with equipment and resisted the urge to ask him how it was going. He muttered something, but she was pretty sure he was talking to himself rather than to her.
She glanced around at the school, amused to see this one looked like hers. Oh, the layout was different (hers had been only one story), but some things seemed to be universal where secondary schools were concerned. She could see the hallways dotted with flyers for an upcoming play, as well as posters for Student Council candidates. A large banner hung on the walkway opposite her, and she smiled at the clever slogan the author had devised for their Friday night matchup.
"Maul the Tigers?" she read aloud.
"Huh?"
"The sign out here reads 'Maul the Tigers,'" she explained.
"Thomasville Tigers," Mitch explained. "Football rival."
"Ah," Jamie spun in a circle aimlessly. She knew that the quieter she was, the faster Mitch could work. Fifteen minutes later, she couldn't stand it anymore. "Anything yet?"
"Nope," he answered absently. "Prep takes a while, Jamie. I'm just getting to the microscope."
"Okay," she glanced around nervously. Sneaking into places she didn't belong was almost a prerequisite skill for a reporter, but this wasn't just some story for the paper. This was quite literally her life's work, and that set her nerves on edge. She paced two circuits of the walkway, checking her watch at each end. It was getting dangerously close to 8:30.
"Anything yet?"
"You know what's guaranteed to make this go faster, Jamie? You saying 'anything yet' every 25 seconds."
"Okay, I know," she huffed. "I know, but we're -"
"Running out of time," he said with her. "I know." There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Hey, now."
"What?" she kept her eyes glancing around as she tried to focus on his words. "What is it?"
"Looks like a kind of Alcanivorax bacteria. The kind they use to clean up oil spills - eats hydrocarbons."
That was odd. "Okay, well how did it wind up in the blood of a wolf?"
"The usual way," he answered, his voice dipping into that teacher tone he used sometimes. "It went from a primary consumer all the way to a tertiary consumer."
She understood the words he used, but their meaning went over her head. "Professor, remember your audience," she teased. "I spent every one of my science classes thinking about my English homework."
"The food web," he went on, "chain reaction." Then a sound came over the line she hadn't expected. He started singing. "There was an old lady who swallowed a cat…" She listened anxiously as he finished the silly children's song, torn between wanting to tell him to be quiet so he wouldn't get caught and letting him enjoy his moment. He almost made it through when the bell rang.
She jumped at the sound. "Mitch, did you hear that? Let's go."
"Hang on a second," he said quietly. "I think I've got something."
Jamie could hear the faint footsteps and the susurrus that heralded a mob of teenagers on the other side of the double doors. "Mitch, we really gotta go."
"Yup, on my way." She heard him shuffling things around, hopefully packing his stuff away. When she didn't hear the slam of a door she got worried.
"Mitch, we are going to get caught!" she whispered harshly. The doors at the end of the hall opened, admitting the throng of students. Jamie turned away from them and began walking away quickly. "We have to get out of here right now!" He didn't answer. "Mitch! Move!" She made her way back through the halls to the door they'd come in, pressing herself against the wall in an effort to avoid being seen by any teachers or students that were milling about at the other end of the hall. Mitch rounded an intersection halfway up and she breathed a sigh of relief. He grabbed her hand as they bolted through the door and out into the courtyard. A glance back over her shoulder reassured her that no one had seen them, and that Mitch was grinning like a fool.
A black sedan was waiting for them, and Jamie let go of Mitch's hand as they raced through the fence line and toward the car. As she slid into the seat behind Chloe she heard Mitch's smug voice. "Slipping out without getting caught by the teacher. Takes me back."
"Skip a lot of classes, professor?" she teased as Jackson drove them away from the school.
"Only my English classes," he fired back, earning him a bright smile.
"What did you find?" Chloe asked, turning in her seat to look at Mitch.
"The bacteria is one of the types they use to clean up oil spills. Specifically, this one is designed to eat hydrocarbons."
"What does that mean?" Jackson glanced in the rearview.
"Perhaps we should wait until we meet with Abraham," Chloe said before Mitch could launch into a lecture. Jamie laughed and patted his knee sympathetically as he sank back into his seat with a frown.
Abraham was already waiting at a table when they arrived at the restaurant. Mitch explained once more about the bacteria and what it was for. Then, because he couldn't resist a lecture, he added, "Once I increased the magnification I saw a chemical signature. A string of benign molecules that have no bearing on the bacteria whatsoever."
Jamie sighed and laid her hand on his forearm. "Audience, Mitch. Remember it."
He glared at her half-heartedly out of the corner of his eye and clarified. "It means the bacteria was man-made. And it was signed by the chemist who created it."
"Then we need to talk to this chemist," Abraham put in.
"Not that easy," Mitch sat back. "Think of the signature as a graffiti tag. I saw it, but I still have no idea who painted it on the wall."
"So we're at a dead end," Jamie frowned.
"Not yet," Mitch tapped the table with two fingers. "I forwarded the signature to a guy I know at MIT. He might be able to come up with an ID for us."
Off to the side, Chloe finished with her phone conversation and came striding over purposefully. "Pack your bags," she told them. "We're going to Rio."
"We" turned out to be Chloe, Mitch, and Abraham. Jamie packed her things quickly, thankful that Chloe was downstairs arranging everything and not present to hear her complaining about her assignment. A knock on her door interrupted her grumbling, and she yanked open the door a bit more forcefully than she intended. Mitch stood on the other side with a startled expression. She turned away and continued packing as he stepped inside and closed the door.
"You okay?"
"Great," she snapped. "I get to babysit Jackson while you three get to go to Rio."
"Jackson needs someone to help him track down Leo Butler. You're really the best person for the job."
She whirled around with her hairbrush in hand, jabbing it at him accusingly. "Don't you dare try to make me feel better with flattery and logic rationalizations. I'm ranting." He held up his hands in defeat and said nothing else as she finished throwing her things into her rolling suitcase. She struggled to zip it, growling in frustration as she could only close it halfway.
"You know," Mitch said as he came up behind her, "this would zip a lot easier if you folded everything." He reached around her and pushed the top down, allowing her to finish pulling the zipper all the way around the case. She glared at him, but he just smiled back at her and took her hand when she finished. "Listen, I know you want to come. I don't much like the idea of being a continent away while you and Jackson search for a phantom. But finding things that don't want to be found is something you're good at. Your skills are more useful here."
She slid the luggage from the bed to the floor, wincing at the loud thud that seemed to echo into the room beneath them. "I don't even know where to start."
"Start with Reiden," Mitch answered easily. "Leo Butler was a chemist that worked for them, then suddenly vanished. Start with his last project and work from there." She knew all of this already - she even had several ideas about how to get her hands on some internal documents. But pretending she didn't kept her from blurting out the one thing that had been on her mind since Chloe announced they would be splitting the team again. She didn't want to sound too...needy? Clingy? Whatever it was that had come over her last night and pushed her to kiss him had settled firmly in her gut and refused to leave. In the restaurant she had been overcome with an urge to demand she go to Rio and let Chloe stay with Jackson, but prudence and embarrassment at the way that demand could be received had kept her quiet.
She'd been quiet too long, she realized as Mitch shifted his weight to take a step back. "When does your flight leave?" she asked suddenly.
"Uh," Mitch glanced at the bedside clock, "Chloe said something about leaving for the airport at two." It was just a little before eleven now, leaving them almost two full hours with nothing to do. Thoughts of ways to fill that time entered her head, and she coughed to hide the hitch in her chest those mental images gave her. She waved off his look of concern and fished her water bottle from the bedside table. After a few drinks she screwed the top back on and shook off the last of the flustering thoughts.
"Wanna watch some tv?" Jamie offered lamely. She turned and switched her bottle for the remote. She aimed it around his body, jumping as a rather boisterous infomercial blared from the speaker. She jammed the volume down button and winced apologetically, but Mitch just laughed.
"Whoever was in here before you must have been a deaf spinster." He reached down and moved her suitcase to the far wall before coming back and settling on the bed. He adjusted the pillows to rest comfortably against the headboard, charmingly bolted into the wall to prevent theft (or possibly ruining the paint job from any vigorous activities). With that thought once more planted in her head, Jamie kicked off her shoes and sat next to him. Their shoulders brushed as he made room, and she felt his eyes on her as she flipped through the channels for anything to watch.
She settled on an old black and white - a favorite of her aunt's - and tried not to think about the warmth he radiated or the smell of his sandalwood deodorant that mingled with the soap from the hotel bathroom. She tried to focus on her upcoming task, to plan her moves and be ready when Jackson inevitably turned to her to find Butler. But she couldn't seem to focus on anything but Mitch's steady, even breaths next to her or the rustle of his clothing as he shifted to a more comfortable position. Her mind jumped to his part of the mission - bats in Rio - and she frowned at the memory of Jackson and Abe's near miss in Japan.
"What?"
She turned her head at the sound of his voice. He looked as surprised as she did that he'd spoken; obviously he'd been staring at her and had seen the change on her face. He seemed embarrassed for having been caught out but his question was out there. He continued to look at her, obviously waiting a response.
"What, what?" she asked.
"You looked upset for a moment," he clarified.
"Oh, I was just thinking about -" She cut herself off, unsure if she should admit how concerned she was. Knowing he wouldn't let up until she said something, she went ahead. "I was thinking about Jackson and Abe's plane crash," she told him. "They were lucky."
"They were also a lot lower to the ground," Mitch explained. "Commercial planes fly at 35,000 feet. Bats can't get up that high."
"What about when you land?" Jamie rushed on. "If they swarm the plane -"
"Hey," he turned slightly on the bed, bending his left leg so he could face her, "nothing's going to happen. Jackson's plane was small, we're going on a jetliner. It would take a lot of bats to take out even one engine. And landing is pretty much just controlled gliding anyway, right?" She wasn't entirely convinced, but she didn't want him to worry about her too much so she dropped it. He turned back to rest against the headboard, this time a lot closer than he had been. Jamie leaned forward to let him slide an arm around her, tucking her against his side. "Besides," he added quietly, "you're not getting rid of me that easily." His voice in her ear made her shiver, and she delighted in the contented sigh he breathed against her cheek before she turned and laid it against his chest.
His fingers trailed up and down her arm lazily, lulling her into a sleepy haze as the movie droned on in the background. When her eyes snapped open again he was shifting to reach for the remote, and she glanced at the clock with a groan. She had fallen asleep and their two hours were up.
"Time to go," she slurred, pushing up to sit as he slid off the other side of the bed. She followed him to the door and tugged on his sleeve just as he reached for the knob. When he turned around she surprised them both by surging up on her toes and kissing him soundly. He hummed in approval against her lips, responding eagerly to her for a moment. When he broke the kiss they were breathing a little more heavily.
"Call me when you land," she breathed.
"Yeah," he agreed. He squeezed her arm once more before leaving her alone in the hotel room. Jamie shook off the lingering effects of his kiss and set to work tracking down Leo Butler. Maybe if they could find him quickly, they could join the others in Rio.
Mitch didn't call when they landed but he did text. Chloe had set them straight to work and he'd had no time to step away for even a quick phone call. Jamie had answered the text with one of her own, filling him in as quickly as possible about the developments on her end - including the addition of Agent Schaffer to their merry band. A few minutes later her phone pinged, and Jamie stifled a smile at his reply.
Chloe says there's something off about him and to be careful what you tell him. Don't go falling for tall, dumb, and handsome.
Jamie had felt it, too - the little niggling feeling at the base of her neck whenever Schaffer walked into the room. She'd often referred to it as her "reporter sense," and it had led her to quite a few amazing stories. Around Schaffer it was buzzing full blast. Even without Chloe's warning, Jamie was reluctant to let him in on everything.
That last part, though, had probably not come from Chloe. She could imagine Mitch scowling at his phone as he typed, mumbling to himself that he wasn't jealous he was just looking out for them. Jamie tucked her phone back into her pocket and smiled to herself as they made their way to where Schaffer said Butler lived. She had a feeling it was going to be a good day.