Chapter Seventeen.
Sapphire
“Saph, sorry to wake you, but you need to hear this.” Sparrow banged on my front door. I frowned and glanced at my phone blearily. Two a.m. in the morning. Seriously?
“What?” I demanded, climbing out of bed and answering her incessant knocks by flinging the door open and glowering.
“Maverick’s been busted for prostitution. He used his one call to contact me, and I’ve got a lawyer on the way to him.”
“Maverick’s been arrested for what?” I exclaimed as I rubbed my eyes.
“He was leaving the club, and two uniformed officers grabbed him and took him into custody. Some bitch claimed he offered her sex for cash.”
“Yeah, like fuck. I’ll head to the station,” I said, turning back to my apartment.
“I’ll come with you, don’t wake Vengeance, Dagger, or Blade up.”
“No. While this shit is happening, one of us needs to be here,” I rejected Sparrow’s offer.
“Hey, I’ll go. Maverick’s a favourite,” Nun stated, appearing behind Sparrow.
I grinned at her attire; the precinct wouldn’t know what had hit them.
“Five minutes, I’ll meet you downstairs,” I grouched and headed back inside.
I yanked on jeans, a tee, my cut and boots, and met Nun in the rec room.
“Let’s go get our boy,” I murmured, and Nun nodded.
◆◆◆
I could just about hide my grin at the glare the uniformed officer, Parker, behind the desk was giving Nun.
I had to admit, she’d outdone herself. She wore a bustier with the sides removed and showing a hell of a lot of cleavage.
Her skirt was the shortest I’d ever seen, and her whip and handcuffs attached to it kept getting serious glances.
Nun wore knee-high white boots and a garter belt on one thigh. A throat collar was the final touch, with white lacy gloves adorning her hands.
“Don’t know why you’re here,” Parker muttered.
“No? False arrest is a good reason to be here. Did our lawyer arrive? Ramona Sydney?”
“Yes.”
“Is she in with Maverick?”
“Look, I don’t know what you expect, but your boy will be charged,” the fat prick sneered. “And false arrest, lady? Stop drinking the Kool-Aid.”
“Think again, asshole. No way did Maverick offer a woman sex for money, but you stick to your story. We’ll let the truth come out.
Jeez, your station really enjoys being sued.
Hey, Nun, what’s the betting they didn’t get the woman’s statement down on paper and even worse?
I bet the address she gave turns out to be fake. ”
“Yeah, that’s what you think. We know this woman is reliable,” Parker sneered.
“Great! I hope she’s got money,” Nun said.
“Huh?”
“Well, when we sue for slander and making a false declaration… she might end up on her back to pay for it,” Nun stated with a giggle.
“I doubt that will happen,” Parker retorted.
“Knowing what your department is like, I bet it does. In fact, I’ll lay you a deal right now, for a night with me, that within an hour Maverick walks through that door a free man.”
Parker sneered. “You bitches think so much of yourselves, you’re gonna fall on your faces one day. I’ll be here to see it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Nun replied, waving her hand. She sat down and crossed her legs. “Ah, ah. No looking for dirty old men!” she waggled her fingers at him.
I snorted in amusement as Parker sent her daggers.
“Slut,” he accused.
“Damn right!” Nun agreed.
◆◆◆
It took Ramona forty-five minutes to spring Maverick. I couldn’t help but send Officer Douchebag a smug glance. He glowered as we rose to meet Maverick.
“You okay? Did they hurt you?” I snapped.
“No, tried scaring the crap out of me and blackmailing me, but they failed.”
“Blackmail?” I repeated.
“Yeah. If I gave them some shit on you, then they’d drop the charges.”
“On me or the club?”
Maverick smiled grimly. “Both, they weren’t fussed.”
“They try anything else?” Nun demanded, staring at Parker, who was watching us.
“Intimidation until Ramona arrived. I kept my mouth shut until then. Gotta say, those cops were weak on the insults,” Maverick said, smirking.
“Are they charging you?”
“No, Ramona blew their case apart. As if I’d trawl the club for sex. Stupid assholes.” Maverick smirked.
“Not when you can get your hands on some of the hottest babes around,” Nun quipped. “Who would want some skank when you’ve got us?” Nun finished her statement by running her hands over her body.
Maverick winked at her as Parker bristled, and I spotted three more watching, all with sour looks on their faces. Ramona appeared, striding down the hallway and through the door separating us.
“All charges have been dropped, and I’ll be issuing paperwork for a complaint tomorrow. It appears the woman who made the initial claim has disappeared. What a damn surprise!”
“So much for being dependable.” I glanced at Parker, who looked like someone had pissed in his cereal. “Yet, Officer Parker was so sure she was reliable. Maybe check into who she is?”
“You believe this was a set-up?” Ramona demanded.
Nun spoke for me. “Yup.”
“Come on, Maverick, let’s go home,” I said with a nod at Ramona. She offered me a grim smile, and I guessed the station would face a mound of paperwork in the morning.
Hayden
It had been a week since I had last seen Sapphire, and I knew why.
A freaking idiot uniform had attempted to help Dix and Knowles, who the RHMC had complaints against, and had broken the rules.
He’d used his sister to claim one of the club’s men had propositioned her for sex.
Now she was facing charges, and he was also suspended, like Dix and Knowles.
Hatton had been hauled up in front of the chief and ordered to stand down where the RHMC was concerned. Personally, I thought Hatton had already done so, seeing a different side of them as I had. But even so, the ass-chewing he’d received had filtered down through the department.
Cassidy had been discharged before me, and I’d got out two days ago and was at home. I’d texted Sapphire, and while she’d returned my messages, there was a distance again. I wanted to kick Jones’s butt for his stupid gamble. Once more, I was on the outs with my girl.
Ten days had passed since I’d been badly wounded, and several issues were bothering me.
One was what Stitch had done. It defied logical explanation.
The second was who’d caught the gangbangers who’d shot Cassidy and me?
I had a feeling it was the RHMC because of the note left for Hatton.
I also wanted to know who was running this gang because they kept coming back, even after losing members.
Things seemed to be centred around the RHMC, but not obviously so.
The only person to get answers from was sitting in her clubhouse avoiding me. Well, not for much longer.
I strolled to the door and waited on my porch for the Uber I’d booked to arrive. I was going to tackle the shit between Sapphire and me face-to-face. Come hell or high water.
Sapphire
“Saph, Wylde is here,” Cyber said, sticking her head into my office.
“What?” I asked, surprised.
“Detective Wylde, he’s outside in the rec room?”
“What the hell? Is he supposed to be gallivanting about town?” I exclaimed.
“How the fuck would I know? Get out here and ask him,” Cyber retorted and disappeared again.
Shit. Wylde shouldn’t be here; I was almost positive he’d only been released a couple of days ago.
I climbed to my feet and walked to the rec room.
As expected, Wylde was there, being watched over by Blue and Chopper.
He had a glass of water next to where he sat, and his gaze focused on me as soon as I entered.
“Aren’t you meant to be resting?” I asked.
“Well, if my woman hadn’t gone cold on me, maybe I would be,” Wylde retorted.
His eyes were drinking me in, and I felt guilty. Wylde wasn’t wrong. After Maverick’s arrest, I had created a distance between us. It was further proof that we weren’t compatible. No matter what we did, the Harlots would always have eyes on us.
“Come with me; we’ll discuss this in private,” I said and reached out a hand to help him up.
Wylde winced a little as he got up, but refused to release my hand once he was standing.
Instead, we walked through the rec room holding hands, and I have to admit, I liked it.
His hand was warm and comforting. It wasn’t sweaty or clammy.
Wylde followed me to my apartment and looked around as I opened the door.
“I didn’t expect the apartments to be so big up here,” he said.
“No. We didn’t want bunks as rooms. This is our home, and we wanted space. Can you imagine a minimum of ten women all suffering PMS at the same time?”
Wylde blanched, and I knew my point had been made.
“That would be highly unpleasant,” he murmured, and I laughed. He entered and looked around.
I’d gone for comfort. The short hallway had a wooden floor and white walls with pictures of my sisters on. To the left was the first bedroom, followed by the kitchen and then a half bath. The hallway opened into a large living room. On the right were my bedroom, a guest bedroom and a full bathroom.
“I like it. It’s warm and homely,” Wylde approved as we entered the living area.
“Yeah, I prefer comfort over appearances. Can I get you a drink?”
“I’m good, Saph. That’s not why I came today,” Wylde said as he slowly lowered himself into one of my oversized armchairs.
“Why did you? I’m sure you’re meant to be resting at home.”
“Told you, you shut down on me again. Stop trying to run from me, Saph, because I enjoy a chase.”
“Wylde.”
“Hayden. Call me Hayden.”
“Hayden. This can’t continue. We’re too different. Look at what just happened. A uniform pulled in one of our stable to bring us down. If you and I got together, you’d be called a dirty cop and much worse,” I said softly as I sat opposite him.
I tried not to hunch up, but couldn’t help it. Other people’s opinions never bothered me, but Hayden’s did. There was no way I’d ever want him to think badly of me, and I knew in time he would. It was awful and sad, but the truth.