Hurry Up And Wait (Owens Protective Services #24)

19. Fox

19

FOX

“You didn’t need to come with me,” Cash muttered as we strolled through the front doors of the police department.

“Au contraire, mon frère. This is a job that requires a personal touch.”

He stopped suddenly and crowded me against the wall.

I chuckled like a girl. “Boss, I had no idea you felt that way.”

“Let’s get something straight. You are not to touch Shawn. This is a discussion with his boss and nothing more. We have no evidence that Shawn set that bomb, and until we do, we can’t touch him.”

“Boss,” I snorted. “There are plenty of ways to get my point across without touching the man.”

“Nothing,” he emphasized. “You do not touch a single hair on his head.”

“Scouts honor,” I grinned, holding up my hand.

He shook his head. “What the fuck is that?”

I glanced at my hand, then back at him. “Oh, I don’t actually know what it means to be a scout or what their secret handshake is. But I read somewhere that they do some kind of hand signal. Am I close?”

“Not even a little. ”

I frowned at that. I really thought I could pull this off. “Would it help if I distracted you with…” I pulled a bag of Funyuns out from behind my back, waggling my eyebrows at him. “Huh? Did this do it? Tell me it did it for you. I’ve thoroughly distracted you and you’ve forgotten about my lack of knowledge about hand signals of scouts.”

“Fox.”

“Yeah, boss?”

He opened his mouth, but then turned and walked away. That seemed a little unfair. It was only right that I be in on whatever he was about to tell me. I chased after him, ready to pepper him with more questions, but I was interrupted when a portly man with a rather unsightly mustache stepped out of the captain’s office and headed right for us. I tried to hold back my grimace, but the man looked like he was wearing a caterpillar on his face.

Cash nudged me and I quickly schooled my features, though it was really fucking hard to do. “Captain Morris, thank you for meeting with me.”

“Yes, well…let’s get this over with,” he grumbled, turning and waddling into his office.

I grabbed Cash and stared at him with horror before putting my finger horizontally above my lip and wiggling it.

“Stop it!” he hissed, smacking me on the arm.

How could he walk in there and not stare at the atrocious thing? Who actually thought something like that was a good look? But I was outnumbered since Cash’s vote counted for double. So, I followed him into the office and took a seat, looking anywhere but at the gigantic worm on the captain’s face.

“So, you said you have a complaint to file against one of my detectives,” the man said.

“Are you aware that Shawn Yates’s wife filed for divorce?”

The captain glanced between the two of us, shifting uncomfortably. “I’m aware.”

“And did you know that he delivered a box with the shredded divorce papers to her door?”

“That’s not a crime. The man is upset that his wife left him. ”

Cash leaned forward. “There was no postmark. It was hand-delivered.”

That got the captain’s attention, and I could see the underlying tension in his shoulders. He had other issues with Shawn.

“Has Detective Yates missed any work recently?”

The captain stiffened in his chair. “I don’t like the way this meeting is going. I don’t like what you’re accusing the detective of.”

I couldn’t stop staring at the man’s face. No matter how hard I tried, all I could see was a caterpillar that would sprout wings and fly off his face. Nothing helped distract me, so I did the only thing I could and pulled out the bag of Funyuns, opening it as quietly as possible.

“I’m not accusing him of anything. Yet,” Cash said, his voice full of an underlying threat. “However, this is more serious than a man angry that his wife is divorcing him.”

I grabbed a Funyun and popped it in my mouth, nearly choking when the explosive flavor hit my tongue. I looked at the bag, cursing myself for grabbing the wrong one. Flamin’ Hot Funyuns were amazing, but this wasn’t the occasion for them.

“His wife was recently attacked in her home. An explosive was set to go off when she opened her fridge, and had it not been for the door blocking her, she would most likely be dead right now.”

I nodded along, trying to chew only on the sides of my mouth without letting the Funyuns hit my tongue. It resulted in a loud crunch filling the silence after the bombshell Cash just dropped.

He slowly turned to me, narrowing his eyes when he saw the bag in my hands. “Funyun?” I asked, stretching it out to him. When he didn’t answer, I held it out to the captain. “You want one?”

His brows furrowed as he stared at the proffered gift.

I cleared my throat and explained. “They’re the Flamin’ Hot Funyuns. I wouldn’t let them hit your tongue if I were you.”

When he didn’t take any, I slowly retracted my arm and smiled at him slightly.

“As I was saying,” Cash continued, “Isla just barely survived the attack.”

“But you have no proof that Shawn was involved,” the captain suggested. “Otherwise, I would have officers from your department banging down my door right now.”

“We don’t. We’re not here to lay charges against your detective.”

“Then what do you want?”

“For you to keep an eye on him. For you to be aware of what’s happening and ensure that he stays on the straight and narrow. It would be a massive hit to the department if one of your own was charged with the attempted murder of his own wife.”

The bite in Cash’s tone was enough to do the job. Now was the perfect time to relieve myself of the situation and seek out…a more colorful brand of justice. “Whew! These Funyuns are burning my mouth,” I chuckled. “I’m just gonna—” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “I’ll just grab some water.”

“Milk would be better,” the captain suggested.

“It would, but I didn’t bring a carton with me.” I frowned. “It’s a shame, really. FNG’s milk carton would have come in extremely handy right now.” I shrugged and headed for the door. “Anyway, I’ll catch up with you in a little bit.”

I ignored the look Cash shot me. There was nothing he could do about it, anyway. If he told the captain I was about to threaten one of his detectives, we’d be out on our asses without Cash getting to finish his conversation with the captain.

I slipped out of the room and headed down the hall, popping a few more of my tasty treats in my mouth. Yes, they really were hot, but I could handle it. After all, I was a man’s man, and Flamin’ Hot Funyuns didn’t scare me. I rounded the corner at the end of the hall and made my way to the locker room. Luck was on my side as I watched the detective stroll inside.

I shoved the door open and headed toward the sound of whistling. I bet he thought he was untouchable, that he could go after his wife and no one would realize it was him. Well, I had a leg up on him. I could tell by his shitty whistling that he didn’t really have what it took to fool everyone. I bet he couldn’t even tolerate my hot Funyuns.

I watched him primping in the mirror, taking his sweet time to check his reflection. The man wasn’t even that good-looking. He was a version of a handsome male, but that was it. Then again, knowing that he tried to blow up his wife did take some of the swagger out of his step.

His gaze caught mine in the mirror and he stilled, his eyes narrowing on me as I stepped out from behind the lockers. “Can I help you?” he asked, not bothering to turn around.

“I just came to see what the douchebag looked like.”

That made him turn around. “Excuse me?”

I smirked at him, shaking my head slightly. “I can’t understand why a man like you would throw away someone like her.”

He stiffened as I walked closer. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are?—”

He stopped when I widened my eyes at him. I had this terrifying psychopath look that I embraced. Only my friends could see through it to the heart of me, but based on the way his breath stuttered in his throat, I could practically feel the terror coming off him in waves, though he tried to hide it.

“You tried to blow up my friend, Shawn.”

“I didn’t?—”

“Don’t fucking lie to me,” I growled. “I know what you did. I see your little mind whirling. You’re wondering if I know about the explosives in your garage. You’re wondering if you can get rid of the evidence in time.” His eyes widened infinitesimally. “You’re thinking about what this will cost you, what you’ll do if you lose your job because you made a rash decision. And you’re wondering why you spent so much time thinking about getting your revenge when you should have been focusing on your job.”

I was now toe to toe with the man. He was backed into a corner with nowhere to go. I had him just where I wanted him, terrified and on edge. People did stupid things when they were cornered. They made mistakes and lost their cool, and that’s precisely what I was counting on.

“Do you know what you should have been thinking about?” I asked, my voice nothing more than a whisper.

He shook his head just enough for me to see.

“You should have been thinking about…” I snapped my fingers on ce. It echoed around the locker room like a shot. I heard him swallow a deep gulp as he tried not to piss himself. “When you’re a jet…”

He sucked in a ragged breath, and I chuckled, then continued the song, snapping my fingers and letting the words rush from my lips in a low hiss. Then I slid back with one leg, thrusting my hands out as I spun around, whirling from one foot to the other as I belted out the song. I sang loud, letting the song spill from my guts, all the while keeping an eye on my target.

He was staring at me like I was insane. Little did he know how true those thoughts were. I spun one last time and stopped in a low crouch, my head hung low as I started snapping again. The sound thundered around us, sending a terrifying chill that gave even me goosebumps. As I slowly raised my eyes to meet his, I pulled a snack pack of Funyuns from my pocket and widened my eyes at him. I yanked the bag open and held it in my outstretched hand.

“Take it.”

He shook his head slightly.

“If you want to live, you will take my peace offering and eat it in front of me.”

His eyes flicked to the bag, then back to me. “It’s poisoned.”

“In a sealed bag?” I said, a little shocked that he would think I would poison a bag of Funyuns. To prove my point, I slid my hand in and pulled out the Flamin’ Hot Funyuns, then shoved one in my mouth, never taking my eyes off his. “Now eat,” I commanded.

With a shaky hand, he grabbed one and stuffed it in his mouth. He chewed, his eyes watering as the heat hit him hard. Maybe it wasn’t a mistake to bring these.

“More.”

He stuffed his hand in, grabbing a handful and shoving them all in his mouth at once. He chewed with vigor, his gaze intent on mine as he finished every last bite. When he was done and his lips were covered in a red dust, I stalked close to him and lowered my voice.

“I don’t want to discuss this again.”

He shook his head as I slowly stepped away. I crumpled the bag and handed it to him. “Remember me,” I said before fleeing the room, trying my best not to laugh.

Cash was leaning against the wall as the door swung shut behind me. “Did you have your fun?”

“He’s alive. Relax.”

“Yes, but is he still sane?”

I shrugged, pulling out another snack-sized bag. “We’ll see.”