He went to his desk, intending on filing the paperwork for a warrant like Jensen had suggested, but before he could get started, he was all but tackled by Tessa.

Micah was deeply impressed by the fact that even though it looked like she’d somehow stuffed two basketballs up under her shirt, she was somehow able to squeeze both her arms completely around his middle. “I heard the news,” she mumbled into his chest. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

Tessa had assisted him with Nico’s case over the past week, helping him comb through the nineteen-year-old’s social media profiles and just generally acting as a sounding board for Micah’s theories about where he had gone.

Micah returned her embrace, but he was surprised that when he went to speak, his throat felt too tight for words, so he simply nodded before gently prying her off him. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, it… it sucks.”

It somehow described the situation completely, yet didn’t touch the awfulness of it at all.

“Anyway,” Micah said, sliding into his desk chair and powering on his computer, “I have to get a warrant from the judge so I can track Nico’s cellphone data.”

Better to be doing something useful than just sitting there and dwelling on the misery of it all.

Tessa frowned over his shoulder, but he paid her no mind. “Okay,” she said, “but you know it usually takes a couple hours for low-priority warrants to get approved. So file for it, but afterwards, I’m taking you out for lunch.”

Micah’s stomach twisted in protest. “I’m not really hungry-”

“Nope,” Tessa asserted before he could shrug her off. “You look like a stiff breeze could take you in a fight right now – and you carry a Glock for fuck’s sake. You need to eat something.”

Micah sighed. “Jensen did say I look like shit,” he allowed.

“Well, loathe as I am to agree with him, he’s right. Finish filing for that warrant, then we’re out of here.”

That’s how, half an hour later, Micah found himself huddled in their usual booth at the sandwich shop a block from the station. It was where they usually wound up whenever Micah deigned to join Tessa and her husband for lunch.

Speaking of Tessa’s husband… “Where’s Jasper?” Micah asked as he picked at his turkey sub.

Tessa waved a hand as she dug into her own cheesesteak sandwich. “I told him to shove off today – that you and I needed to have some girl time to chat.”

Micah scowled at her over the table, but his heart wasn’t really in it. “Not sure how it’s escaped your notice this long, but I’m not a girl.”

Tessa huffed. “Yeah, yeah, you’re all man. It’s an expression, Micah. The point is that you need someone to talk to.”