"Hello?" I answered, my stomach already doing flips. What could Hale possibly want with me at this time?

"I need your help getting some files boxed up so I can take them home tonight. Are you available to swing back by the office?" Hale asked.

There was something in his tone that took me by surprise. It was a gentleness, a genuine kindness like he knew asking me to come back to the office would be an inconvenience.

"I'll be there in about fifteen minutes," I told ...