“Hardy-har-har.” He narrows his eyes at me across the desk. “So what brings you here today? I assumed, since you blew off my Fourth of July cookout, you were already on your way back to France.”
“Switzerland.”
“Not my point, Valentine.”
“Sorry.” I blow out a breath. “I sort of… need a favor.”
“Let me guess. You want my help getting out of a speeding ticket.”
“Not exactly.”
“Parking violation?”
“Nope.”
“Jaywalking fine?”
“No.”
“Then what the hell do you need help with? If you couldn’t tell by this whole secretary-duty thing, I don’t have an excessive amount of pull on the force yet. There’s only so much I can do. My powers are limited.”
“This favor is not crime related, Chris. Relax.”
“Oh.” His brows pull together. “Then what is it about?”
I murmur a single word.
“What was that?” Chris asks. “You mumbled.”
“Archer,” I repeat, marginally louder.
“Still couldn’t quite make out—”
“Oh for the love of God,” I hiss. “Archer!Archer Reyes. My old friend, your former teammate. Don’t make me say it a third time.”
“All right, all right. No need to yell at me.” He holds his hands up in surrender. “I’m not messing with you. I’m just surprised to hear you asking about Archer when, the last time I saw you, you were pretty adamant about forgetting his general existence.”
“That was before I bumped into him.”
Chris’s face pales. “Shit. When?”
I give him a brief summary of my Fourth of July, skimming over all but the most vital details — the sudden storm, the boat sinking, the eventual rescue. His brows pinch tighter and tighter together as I talk.
“I guess I’ll give you a pass on missing my barbecue,” he says when I finally trail off into silence. “Nearly drowning is a pretty good excuse.”
I choke out a hoarse laugh. “Thanks.”
“So I’m guessing, when you saw Archer, it wasn’t a reunion of hugs and happy memories…?”
“Definitely not.” I heave a sigh. “It was pretty much the opposite in every way imaginable.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Well, I hate to be obtuse, Valentine, I’m just still not exactly sure how this all concerns me. I don’t have insight when it comes to you and Reyes and your strange relationship.”
“There is norelationship!”