“Yes and no,” he said. I waited patiently for him to continue. He was equally as well practiced at using silence as a tool, but it benefited him to talk this time. He knew that, so I waited until he decided to elaborate. “Very few people would have the access or availability to cover up evidence. I’m not ruling anything in or out.”
“Everything I found and analyzed, every person I interviewed, every lead I followed up on… it’s all there.”
“I know,” he said, offering me a sage nod. “Do you have that same faith in Monroe? In anyone else that handled the case?”
“Fuck no. The man showed his character, his loyalty, his integrity when he fucked my wife.” I held my hand up when Wes went to say something. He let me finish my thought without interrupting. “I know. There is a big leap from having an affair with your friend and partner’s wife to wrongful imprisonment, falsifying evidence, and letting a murdererwalk free. I know. But a man with no principles is capable of a lot.”
“That he is. So, are you willing to help me investigate? Be an inside source and report back to me?”
I could hear what Wes was saying. Whatever I found, he wanted first look before I reported it up the chain. If there was something to find, how far up did it go? I could break a police corruption case wide open, only to have it squashed immediately if it got to the wrong person first. I was a by-the-book kind of cop, kind of person. I followed the rules, obeyed the laws, held the chain of command with the respect and authority it deserved. But this was too big to risk it being covered up without anyone the wiser.
“Yes,” I said.
“Good. Get me what you can, but don’t be stupid about it.”
“I know how to investigate, Wes.”
“We’ll see,” he said, his lips pulling into a smirk.
Asshole.
12
Luke
The wheels of my office chair dragged across the floor, no longer spinning the way they should, as I pulled back from my desk. After a few days off, today was my first shift back after talking to Wes on Sunday evening. Thoughts of the case—and the implications it would mean for our department if Wes was right—rolled around in my head nonstop. I needed an inside man of my own to help me collect information since I was often on patrol duty or engaged in the community somewhere. Or an inside woman, as I decided.
I spun toward Scarlett’s desk, and all thoughts about the case, all thoughts at all, evaporated. Scarlett was bent over her desk, her painted-on jeans hugging her ass as it perched in the air. My mouth went dry at the sight of her. My feet took me over to her on their own accord.
“You okay over here?” My voice was rough, like it was the first time I had spoken out loud in a decade. Her gorgeous red curls were held back in a ponytail rather than the tight bun she usually wore it in at work. She flicked her hair to the side as she turned to look at me. Her bright blue eyes heldmine. She parted her lips as if to talk, and my gaze zeroed in on them before bouncing back up to her eyes.
“My monitor was flickering, so I went to unplug it and plug it back in, but I dropped the cord. Now I can’t reach it.” She grunted that last part as she stretched her body tighter to her desk to give her more reach.
Images of me behind her flashed through my head. Her ass pressed into my groin as I laid her out beneath me. Blood ran south, and I blinked the images away, swallowing them down before a situation could arise—or rise—in my uniformed pants.
“I got it.” I waited until she was upright again and had moved away before I stepped up to the desk. I found the cord and pulled it back to the monitor, replugging it into the port.
“Thanks.” Her smile was genuine and entirely friendly. Just friendly. I had no idea what had gotten into me lately where Scarlett was concerned. She and I were friends—just like we had been for years—but ever since the divorce process started, or maybe since Seb put the idea in my head that day at his shop, I could picture a very different type of relationship with her. One where clothes were optional. She didn’t seem to feel the same way based on the way she was looking at me, the way she always had—as friends.
Fuck off, Wilder. Get your head out of the gutter. There are more important things going on right now than your fantasies with one of your best friends.
I spun her chair around to her, inviting her to sit. “Question for you… Remember when Wes first started investigating, and you said you wanted to help?”
“Yeah. I remember.” She took her seat and spun herself back to face me. Her brow furrowed, creating a cute littlecrinkle in her forehead. It took everything I had to not reach out and smooth it away for her.
“I talked to Wes the other day, after dinner at my dad’s. Something doesn’t add up, Letty. I told Wes that I would get him as much info on the case as possible, without letting anyone else know, especially not Monroe,” I said, my eyes darting to his empty desk. Scarlett’s eyes held compassion, but a hint of disbelief was still evident. I rushed to add, “Not because of everything with Jules. Well, not entirely. But he did show his true character, and it isn’t pretty. And no one else knows this case, is as close to this case as he is, except for me. And I know I handled everything by the book.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “What do you need from me?”
“I can’t get what I need while everyone is still around the station. I’m already late getting out to my patrol now.” I looked around again at the four other people milling about. Captain Langston was in his office with his door open. Amy Lingard’s office was on the other side of the space, where she was sitting at her desk, ready and available if anyone needed HR assistance. Lieutenant Pete Rebello and Officer Leanne Shapiro were chatting by the front desk.
“I’ll get it. No one pays attention to what I’m doing anyway. I’m not an officer or a lieutenant. I’m just the dispatcher.”
“You’re notjustanything.” My voice came out harsher than I expected. I cleared my throat before continuing. “If you think you can make a copy of the case file without anyone seeing you… we have to keep this under wraps.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get it.”
“You’re the best, Letty.” My cheek pulled up in a grin. My gaze caught on her returning smile, on her pretty lips, a peek of her tongue darting out to wet them. I shifted my eyes awaybefore she could notice.
