Once again my hand is linked with Nash's discreetly as we sit at the back of the courtroom gallery waiting for the judge, prosecutor Huxley and W & W Pharmaceuticals to finish talking about our warrant. Jason is on the other side of Nash, his attention is torn between listening to the three up front, looking at his phone and giving the two of us warning glares because even though he can't see he definitely knows we're holding hands.  It's not like anyone is looking over here Jason.

"I wonder how much longer we'll have to wait," I comment quietly to Nash as we listen in.

"It's a losing battle, even if they try to drag it out it's inevitable that things are going to go in our favour," he replies as he tightens his grip on mine. 

"Jason, there's people on standby at their main office right?" I ask as I lean forward to look at him.

"There is so we can do the search as soon as the warrant has gone through," he answers. "But that's if they haven't already destroyed any evidence."

"They probably did and also deleted files from computers, isn't that the norm with these types of things? But that's where Felix and I come into play," I say to him as I sit back on the bench. The judge hitting the gavel turns my focus back up front and we're met with the sight of the defendants looking frustrated while the prosecutor looks victorious. 

We watch her walk up to the judge saying a few words to her and we don't miss how the defendants stare angrily at us, already on the phone with their bosses telling them how they lost. There's a childish part of me that wants to stick out my tongue at them but sadly I'm still on the job. 

"Time to move in," I hear Nash say aloud, Jason is already on the phone with the team on standby. "And don't think I missed that look on your face right now," he says as he looks down at me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I reply petulantly as the prosecutor walks towards us. 

"Here's the warrant you all wanted, I hope you find what you need so I can start my job in all of this," she says as she hands me some papers. Thankfully she had the hindsight to make more than one copy. "They're also under strict orders not to shred any documentation now that the warrant is in effect, their lawyers should be telling this to them right now. Of course if you happen to find anyone there that's trying to get rid of the evidence, make sure to take them into questioning."

"Don't worry Prosecutor Huxley, it's not the first time we're doing a search and seizure and it won't be the last," Nash says to her as she laughs.

"We'll see you soon," I tell her before following Nash out of the courtroom. 

"You two head over there now, make sure to find everything so we can shut this down," Jason orders as we reach the courthouse entrance. "I'll be meeting with the other group at their compounding plant."

"Got it Chief," Nash replies and I wave my hand before following him outside into the cold. It's just our luck that it's the coldest day of the year and we're out here working. You can't underestimate January. At least Jade and the kids are off today after they closed the schools because of how cold it is and on top of that it's supposed to start snowing tonight and it'll probably turn into a snowstorm which means another day at home for them.

Nash dropped her off at Charlotte's while I was still getting ready for work and reading the few messages in our group chat, Victoria is going over there with Oli and Camryn might swing by later if she has the energy to go out in this weather. I'm brought out of my thoughts when the hood of my jacket is tugged over my head, the fur on the side brushing my cheeks. 

"It's almost minus thirty and you forgot your hat at home, you easily get cold compared to me," Nash murmurs, his hands on my cheeks tilting my head to look up at him. "Should probably let you borrow mine," he adds and I shake my head.

"I only realized after I couldn't find it in my bag and I don't want to take yours, I'd feel bad and I'll just give it back to you anyways. C'mon, we don't have time to stand out here" I answer as my gloved hand holds onto his. 

"Alright but first," he says before leaning down and his lips meet mine as he kisses me languidly and I feel myself getting warmer with emotion as I kiss him back. I swear he literally makes my heart skip a beat as corny as that sounds. I pull back from him, I'm pretty sure my cheeks are flushed under his gloved hands as I give him a sweet smile. 

"As much as I'd love to continue, we have somewhere to be but maybe later tonight we can," my words trail off but Nash knows how to put two and two together as his eyes darken. 

"Definitely," he replies in a rough voice before pulling back from me. I go around to the passenger side and get in, the heat from the car already warming me up. Nash pulls out of the courthouse lot and I take my phone out of my jacket before dialling Jax.

"Did you two already leave?" I ask him when he picks up.

"We're roughly thirty minutes away from there, might even be less since there's hardly anyone on the road," he answers and I let out a chuckle as Nash merges into traffic. 

"Sadly we don't have a choice in being out here while most people get to stay home. In any case, we'll meet you two at the main office, I think Jason mentioned he was going with the other group going to their compounding plant," I hear Felix respond in the background.

"He did but I personally think he's tired of paperwork and what's to do some fieldwork though I can't blame him for that," I reply while snickering. "But yeah, we'll see you two soon," I tell them before cutting the call. I pocket back my phone but I can feel Nash's gaze weighing me down and I turn to look at him, my face full of questions.

"Did I ever tell you how fucking sexy you are when you take charge of things?" he casually asks before focusing back on the road while my mouth falls in surprise. He may be asking this lightly but I know full well he's just teasing me. I reach over lightly hitting him on the arm as I pointedly look out the window.

"Do you just want to see me get flustered?" I ask as his hand darts out to grab mine and I feel his lips on the back of it as he kisses it. I peer over at him and he has a wolfish grin on his face and I turn away from him again. "Stop, I already said later didn't I?"

"Doesn't mean I can't flirt with you now," he answers and since I'm facing the window again he doesn't see the smile on my face. As much as I would love for Nash to continue, I need my head to be focused on the job ahead and not have my thoughts filled with him. But after I'll definitely let him flirt with me all he wants. 

✘✘

"Alright, here is how things are going to go down," I say aloud as I look at the group of officers standing in front of me. We're a couple of feet away from the building and thirty of us are here to take everything that's not been destroyed as of yet. "We'll be splitting into six groups of five. You four will take the first floor with Jax, you four will take the second floor with Felix, Nash's group will take the third and as for mine, we'll be taking the top floor. The remainder of you will stay here in the lobby keeping an eye out on things." 

The only thing I'm grateful for out of all of this is that the CEO decided to make headquarters here and not some highrise building. Sure they have other branch offices but with a small space like this to go through it'll make the job go much quicker.

"You've all been given an overview of what type of information we are looking for, if you see anyone trying to hide or destroy anything or even try to flee the building, arrest them," Nash tells them and they all nod their heads at the order. I give Nash and the other two their own copies of the warrant, I want this to go as smoothly as possible. 

"Alright, let's go," I tell them and I lead us to the front door. Anybody who's seen all the police cars coming here or is now seeing the uniformed officers going inside the pharmaceutical's headquarters will surely know something is going down; Jason will probably have to make a statement again and I definitely know he will not be looking forward to that. 

"Excuse me, is something going on here?" The receptionist looks at us wearily and I hold up the warrant paper in front of me.

"We have a warrant to search the building," I simply tell him as the rest pass me going towards the elevator.

"But I need to let-"

"If you mean to say you need to let your boss know, don't worry, they're already aware that we were coming," I reply with a razor-sharp smile. "And please don't be wary of the officers staying in the lobby, they're here as an added backup if needed," is all I say as I walk towards the elevator with my group. It's a short trip to the fourth floor, as soon as we get out of the elevator we can already see people poking their heads out of the cubicles in curiosity and see the doors of the occupied meeting rooms opened. 

"Do you have a warrant to be here?" a man in a suit asks me as he steps in front of me stopping me in my tracks, a haughty expression on his face. This is the CEO, I recognize him from the search online we did the other day to see who's running the company. 

"Tell your employees to not interfere with our work or else it will be seen as obstruction of justice. If you don't mind leading the way, I'll be starting with your office first," I tell him as I hold the warrant up. I can see him gritting his teeth in frustration before having a look of defeat as he leads me away from the group of people.

"We'll get started as well Natalia," a female officer tells me as the rest go past us. I follow the CEO to his office and the first thing I go to is his computer which he luckily left unlocked, don't need to waste time decoding the password. I start skimming through the files he has saved to see if anything concerning stands out but there isn't.

"Hey, Mr. CEO, I need to ask, have you noticed anyone acting suspiciously in the last couple of weeks?" I ask as my fingers fly across the keyboard.

"Not that I know of, everyone here has been acting normal as usual," he says after a moment of silence. "Oh, no, wait. There's one person that was acting unusual a couple of days earlier."

"A couple of days earlier?" I ask in curiosity as I look up at him. "Could you tell me what they were doing?"

"He was spending his breaks shredding up documents, typically we don't do any sort of clean-up until the end of the year but he explained that he didn't want to keep them just lying around. Of course, I gave him hell for that, I like to know what's being tossed out before it happens," he replies and just as I'm about to question him more I hear my name being called from outside the office. 

"Come step out with me, I don't want to leave you here while I'm still going through your computer," I tell the CEO leaving no room for negotiation. He follows me outside and I walk over to the officer that's waving me over. "What did you find?" I ask her.

"Check this out, the computer was unlocked but this is specifically what you were looking for right? It even has the location of that warehouse you were ambushed at and got shot at," she continues and I lean over her shoulder reading everything and it's everything we were looking for. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a male figure pausing a couple of feet away from us and as soon as I turn to look at him he freezes for a moment before pivoting on his foot to run. 

"Stop, apprehend him!" I shout and one officer stops what he's doing before tackling the suspect. "Cuff him and escort him downstairs," I order as I shoot a text to Nash, Felix, and Jax. "Leave the computer alone for now and go through any physical files he has here, I'll personally be looking through the computer," I tell the female officer. 

"I can't believe Oliver was doing all of this but since you found the suspect you were looking for, does that mean the search is over?" the CEO asks me and I can tell he really wants the police gone from here. This is just going to bring a scandal for the business.

"Not yet, we're going to make sure we fully check everything before we leave," I answer but just before I go back to the CEO's office, my gaze falls to the photos lined up on the man's, Oliver's, desk; one, in particular, catches my eye and I don't even bother hiding my loud sigh as I stare at the photo. Fuck. Things just got complicated again. 

✘✘

A/N Hello everyone! I swear it's been so long since I've updated, last I checked it was late last year. It feels like I'm writing T.E.C all over again and it took me roughly two years to write. But anyways, the first update of the year for the story is here! I hope you're all doing well and are all healthy. 

I couldn't help writing a cute moment between Natalia and Nash at the beginning of the chapter, like it just can't only be work between the two. And yes, I left the end of the chapter in a cliffhanger because who doesn't love a cliffhanger? Be sure to look forward to the next chapter and leave your thoughts of the chapter in the comments!