Late in the evening, Rick and James headed to a donut shop after finishing up work for the day. Rick took some sips of Northern Night flavored black coffee, listening to the tunes playing on the stereo. James rested his elbows on the countertop, lost in thought.

Rick received the Mint and Grapefruit Bread he ordered and ripped it in two. “Do you want some?”

James shook his head. “No thanks, I’m not in the mood right now.”

“Oh, ok...” Rick lowered his head and muttered.

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Are you still bothered about that? I’m not mad at you anymore. If anything, I should apologize. I almost jeopardized our mission because of my outburst.”

“But our mission...”

“I’m sure things will work out once everything gets sorted out from headquarters.” He patted James on the back. “We’ll be back on the main case in no time.”

James smiled at him. “Thanks, Rick. I appreciate it, but I want some time to think.”

“Oh, if you say so.” Rick dunked the bread in his coffee before snacking on them.

After a while, Rick’s phone rang from inside his pockets. He peeked at the caller, only to find it was from his wife. He excused himself before leaving the shop to talk to her for a moment. James watched him go by with a small smile. He didn’t even realize it either, but it made the ambiance of the shop feel more lonely. Was Rick’s positive energy rubbing off on him?

Pretty soon, the phone in his pocket rang as well. He checked his caller, but he didn’t recognize the name. James answered the call and placed the phone close to his ear.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Hello?” James spoke up.

“Hey, it’s me,”

“Jim? What do you want?”

“Rude much? Anyway, I got in contact with my ‘friend’.”

“Really?” James’ eyes widened. Did he hear that right? “I thought you were using that as an excuse to get out of work!”

“Ha! Goes to show how much you know me!” Jim taunted him.

James’ blood boiled, but he tried to regain composure due to being in a public location that wasn’t the police station. He cleared his throat before speaking again.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, what if the chief doesn’t like your proposal?”

“Oh please, once the higher-ups realize the stakes, then the higher-ups will have no choice but to go along with my plan.” Jim pointed out. “And besides, would you rather have someone with higher authority handle this situation? Like, I don’t know, the FBI or CIA?”

James nearly dropped his phone in response. He had difficulty steadying his shaking hands. “You got a point. Alright, I’m in.”

“Great, I knew you would. You know where to find me tomorrow morning.”

“Why do they want to show up so early?”

“Not sure, but I think you’ll like them.”

“So, is that all?”

“Yep. Hope to see you then. Bye.”

“Bye.” James hung up and sighed. Once Rick came back, he broke the news to him, much to his dismay.

Morning came once more. Richard, now in his human form, headed to work first thing, where he found Mindy working near the computer station. She waved and motioned for him to come over.

“Hey Richard, impeccable timing.”

“Hey Mindy, were you able to figure out the meaning behind those capsules?”

“You know it. Thanks to you, reminding me about the binary codes, I figured out the passcode to some of these capsules.”

“So, you cracked the code? Impressive.”

Mindy also pointed out that she displayed and enabled footage on the screen. It should answer their questions little by little if they played it.