His Hart's Command (Nothing Special 6)

“Not possible. You know we’re cool.” Free smiled. He dropped into one of the interview chairs Mason had beside his desk, and peered over at his monitor. “If you need me, you just keep hollering.”

Mason nodded. The mechanical grimace he’d been wearing a moment before was replaced with a crooked smirk. “Okay. Well thank you, Freeman. You keep saving me from the ridicule. When I ask my annoying partner for help, he always wants to give me his two cents first. Computers don’t come easy to everyone, man.”

“True. Now, what’s going on here?” Free asked. He already had control of Mason’s mouse and was opening his file explorer, because nine times out of ten, he was sure that Mason thought he’d lost another file.

“I saved all the client’s notes from the Silvia case in one file and the interrogator’s notes in a separate folder, and now both of them are gone.” Mason repeatedly jammed his finger at the ESC button, growling at the monitor as if it were his enemy.

Free gently placed his hand over the officer’s and stilled his tantrum. “Easy. Doing that won’t help. Remember what I said last time? If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, just take a deep breath and send me a memo.”

Mason laughed. “You’ll get sick of those messages popping up on your screen every hour like an annoying-ass Messenger junkie. And besides, I don’t think God would like it if I was constantly pulling you away from his department.”

“I have plenty of time when I’m not needed at my desk, so don’t worry about that. Just send the message with what you’re having a problem with and I can remote access your terminal and take care of your issue without getting up.”

“Seriously?” Mason grinned.

He’s too damn cute. Free found technically challenged men adorable for some reason.

“Yeah, sure. If Cox Cable can do it then why can’t I?” Free laughed, all while recovering the file that Mason had dumped into another folder just beneath the one he’d intended to place it in. “But, don’t ever tell anyone. I’ll just do that for you, so you won’t think you’re constantly pulling me away.”

“You are one cool cat.” Mason slapped Free’s shoulder then held his hand out for a pound as if they had a secret deal.

Free chuckled, tapping his knuckles with his, “Um, you’re a cool cat, too, Mason.” Who says stuff like that? “Now open up the Silvia file and all the notes and subfolders should be there.”

“Yes.” Mason whooped. His megawatt smile returning. “You just saved me two days of unnecessary work, Free.”

“Oh no. Freeman, you had to actually stop and help this idiot again. Somebody get Mason Windows for the dumbest of the dumb!” Mason’s partner yelled across the bullpen, nudging him when he walked by.

Free shook his head, as Mason flipped his partner off. “So you’re good?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Free. Saved me a ton of time.”

Free was already moving through the throng of desks, waving goodbye to Mason and his partner. He went into the break room in search of a quick snack before getting back to his station. He was excited to tinker with a new gadget he’d been working on. Once the four enforcers for the narcotics team returned, they’d be in the interrogation rooms for hours, so he didn’t have anything pressing to do. He loved that time to himself with nothing but the system he’d customized to meet his specific needs, and uninterrupted silence.

Free smiled to himself as he popped a few bucks into the vending machine for a meatball sub. Not many people in the station knew what Free’s computer system was capable of— basically, any and everything his lieutenants needed of him. Of course, most things they asked of him were within the scope of the law, and that was why Free loved his job. A man with his talents could’ve worked for anyone from NASA to the Pentagon, but he wouldn’t. Ever. Because the moment he did, it wouldn’t have been long before his job duties changed and bordered on immoral, and he was finished with being bullied.

That was another reason he hadn’t hesitated to take the job when his best friend from college, Tech, had called him. He’d known Tech had been training for years to become a detective. As soon as he’d been promoted and granted field access, he’d asked Free to come to Atlanta and fill his current position as their technology specialist. It’d been comical when he’d first made his debut to God and Day. It hadn’t exactly been a conventional meeting. He’d hacked their system from the airport as if it were nothing and snooped on a case they were investigating. It may have ticked God off a bit, but the big guy had quickly come to rely on him over the two months he’d been there.