CHAPTER TWO THREE RACCOONS IN A TRENCH COAT
CHAPTER TWO
THREE RACCOONS IN A TRENCH COAT
LUNA
I’d seen a lot of shit during my time on the force.
I’d heard even more my entire life.
Growing up in a family of law enforcement officers meant that holidays and family dinners always included reminiscing, ranting, and story-topping.
I’d heard more gory details than any kid probably should’ve as the men in my family recalled their most dangerous or rewarding cases, the details becoming more exaggerated each time they would try to be the badass of the night.
With all that experience, nothing should surprise me.
But that was exactly how I felt as I rushed forward.
With as calm as our tour guide had been, I hadn’t expected to find anything. Thank God I was damn good at my job.
Chaos erupted behind me as Matthews restrained Rhys Walker—at least that was the name listed for the owner of the bar—in the hallway, but my focus was on the panicked woman in the office.
A woman who was also restrained.
And nearly nude.
Standing in a tiny thong and a bra that showed more than it hid, she was zip-tied to a filing cabinet. Her wide eyes darted between the three of us.
I kept my voice low and soothing. “It’s okay.
You’re okay.” Grabbing the black apron from the pile of nearby clothes, I draped it over her front like a backward cape.
It was only the half kind that tied around the waist and there was something heavy in the pockets dragging it down, but it was better than nothing.
“Who are you?” she asked before looking behind me. “Sir, what is this?”
If it wasn’t the wrong time, I would’ve stormed back over to kick that man in the dick. Instead, I scanned around the messy desk. “Let me find some scissors to get you free.”
“What? No. No, no, no.”
“It’s okay. He can’t hurt you,” I whispered softly, trying to reassure the woman who’d gone from panicked to frantic.
“But I want him to!” She looked over my head again, and her eyes narrowed into a glare. “If this is gonna be a group thing, you should’ve given me a heads-up.”
What the hell…?
Chalking her reaction up to shock—or maybe a hefty dose of Stockholm syndrome—I started moving again and grabbed the scissors from the desk.
The woman’s gaze dropped to them before she slipped out of her bindings.
Easily slipped out.
She looked at the man in the hallway and gave a small shrug. “Sorry, I couldn’t get it tight on my own.”
“What’re you doing in here?” he rumbled back.
Her lips parted, and the pink tinge to her cheeks grew to a deeper red. Her nervous gaze darted between us before landing back on him as she stammered, “I… We… I thought…” Her brows and voice both lowered. “You texted me.”
“Got no fuckin’ idea what you’re talking about, Daisy.” His own voice was just as soft. Gentle, even—in the gravelly, gruff way.
That tone only seemed to set her off.
“You ordered me here,” she insisted, setting off flares and alarm bells in my head.
“I didn’t,” he said, still calm.
“You did!”
“Okay,” I started, before her gaze shot to me.
We might’ve exchanged a few words, but it was like she was truly seeing me for the first time. Her eyes landed on the badge clipped at my hip. I thought that would be reassuring and that she would feel safe.
I was wrong.
“You called the damn cops on me?” she hissed. “What? Did you decide you couldn’t handle me, so you took the coward’s way out? I’d heard you were a heartless asshole, but this is low.”
“Daisy—” he tried.
“It’s your loss.” She shook off the apron, letting it fall to the ground with a heavy thud. Unconcerned, she put her hands on her hips, standing tall and proud.
I didn’t blame her for the exhibitionist attitude. I wasn’t exactly short at five-five, but she had a good few inches on me thanks to her long legs. If I had them and her lean body, I wouldn’t ever put on clothes.
“Let’s take a deep breath and sort this out,” I said, glancing at Matthews for backup.
It was a lost cause. His attention was locked on the woman so intently, it was a wonder his eyes hadn’t bugged out of his head. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if steam came out of his ears while his tongue unfurled—completing the cartoon trifecta.
I expected the same distracted reaction from Walker, but when I looked his way, his focus was on me.
“Matthews,” I snapped. When he slowly dragged his gaze away from the stunner, I jerked my head. “Take Mr. Walker to the break room.”
My temporary partner opened his mouth like he was going to suggest we switch places. He smartly thought better of it and started down the hall.
Without Mr. Walker.
There’s green, and there’s Chicago-River-on-Saint-Patrick’s-Day green.
And then there’s Matthews, apparently.
No wonder Cap put me on babysitting duty.
I wanted to close my eyes as I searched for patience, but I was actually good at my job. Distractions were how shit went sideways.
Or worse.
I was about to order Mr. Walker away, but he went without prompting.
Once he was out of the doorway, the woman’s bravado crumbled. She muttered to herself as she snatched the clothes I offered. Her legs were as wobbly as a baby deer’s, and her hands shook as she redressed.
I gave her a minute before saying, “I need to ask you some questions.”
“Can’t we forget this ever happened?”
“Sorry, no.” I gestured to the lush couch against the far wall. “But we can take this slow.”
She plopped down with a sigh. “That’s worse. I just want to get this over with.”
Carefully sitting on the coffee table in front of her, I pulled out my notebook and pen. “Let’s start with your name.”
“Daisy Brak,” she muttered before spelling it.
“Date of birth?”
“Too old to be this stupid.” She cringed before giving me her birth date, phone number, and address.
Once I had those details, I prompted, “Tell me what happened tonight.”
“I was working out front when I got a text.”
“Wait, you work here?”
“I did. Not anymore.”
More flares shot off in my head next to a red-flag confetti cannon. “You think he’ll fire you because you didn’t sleep with him?”
“Trust me, I would’ve slept with him. He’s the one who clearly changed his mind if he called you.” She scoffed. “I’ve seen security kick other girls out. I guess I should be flattered he felt I was worth the extra effort of a cop escort.”
“He didn’t call us,” I corrected. “A woman in distress did, saying she was being held hostage in the back.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. I’m not in distress.” She paused before gesturing out. “Well, I wasn’t before all this.”
“And you weren’t being forced to stay back here?”
“No. I got a text from Rhys saying to strip, zip-tie myself to the filing cabinet, and wait.” She stood suddenly, and I stiffened, but she just went to get her discarded apron.
Crumpled bills fell from the pocket as she fished her phone out, but she didn’t seem to notice.
She tapped the screen a few times before handing it to me. “See?”
The text said exactly as she claimed. No more, no less.
I jotted down the number that wasn’t saved in her contacts. “And you didn’t find this odd?”
“I mean… Kind of? He, uh, doesn’t use his office for that kind of thing. Only the back room. And he always says he never mixes payroll with pillow talk, but I thought…” Another blush hit her cheeks as she rushed out, “I thought I was different.”
“But the zip-tie part?”
“That wasn’t odd. Everyone knows how he is.
Bossy and stuff, ya know?” Her mouth curved in a small smile that was downright wistful before it fell just as fast. She glanced at my notes before earnestly coming to his defense as the reality of the situation seemed to set in.
“But I knew what I was getting myself into. Or I thought I did. I wanted it. No distress. I wasn’t being held hostage. You saw, I could’ve left at any point.”
That was true. Physically, at least.
I kept my tone gentle. “But did you feel pressured to—”
She vehemently shook her head, and there wasn’t a shadow of fear or doubt in her expression.
“No. No, nope, not at all. Rhys isn’t like that.
I’m the one who’s been kind of pursuing him.
Flirting a little. Making sure I pop my ass out when I bend down.
That kind of thing. He hasn’t really noticed, but I’ve been hoping he would break his rule since the first time I saw him. ”
I asked her more questions before offering her my card and the number to a resource center in case she thought of anything else. I’d been at it long enough to know she wouldn’t be using either, but at least she had them.
“Wait here, okay?” I asked, though it wasn’t really a request.
She checked her phone. “How long is this going to take? I have a kid to get home to, a sitter I can no longer afford to pay since I’m unemployed, and I’d rather slink out while everyone is still occupied out front.”
“Just a few more minutes.” With one last sweep of her to make sure she was okay, I stood and headed for the break room. I’d been half-expecting to find Matthews alone, but he sat at a table with Mr. Walker on the other side.
At my approach, Matthews handed me an unlocked phone. “He offered it up himself. No evidence of a sent text.”
I checked his phone, including the message’s trash folder that was nothing but the same BS spam that I got. His number didn’t match up with the one that’d sent the text, either.
That wasn’t a shocker. Sure, there was a chance that he’d used a different phone, but my instincts were telling me that wasn’t the case.
He’d seemed genuinely surprised by her simply being there, and he had no reason to lie about the rest. Even if he had sent the text, she was very obviously into it.
It wasn’t a police matter.
But something still poked at me beyond my annoyance of being sent on a wild-goose chase.
Apparently, I was the only one because Matthews didn’t have a notebook out. I hadn’t interrupted any of his questions. He’d been smart enough to get the cell phone, though, so I’d call that a small victory.
I brought out my own notebook and ignored Matthews as he messed around on his phone. “I need to get some info.”
“I already got it,” Matthews said as he showed me his screen.
I skimmed it before fighting the urge to roll my eyes. “The peanut butter cup candy owns a bar named Why, and a woman named Lazy works for him?”
Matthews turned his phone again. “Sorry.”
Did he hire someone else to take the detective’s exam for him?
I think three raccoons in a trench coat could’ve scored higher than him.
“Shortcuts are how cases get tossed. Not to mention, if you take notes on your phone, the defense can subpoena it. And they’ll have access to everything on it. Did no one teach you that?”
His face blanched as he stammered, “Not… I… I just thought they—”
I cut him off since it wasn’t the time and tilted my head toward the door. “Go check on Daisy.”
I expected an argument at the order, but I should’ve known better. For the first time all shift, Matthews showed some hustle as he practically ran from the room.
It was to see a gorgeous knockout of a woman, but again, small victories.
The abandoned chair across from Mr. Walker was already left pushed away from the table, but he used his foot to shove it farther back… an invitation to sit that I ignored. I’d long ago learned that because I was a female—and a short one at that—I needed to use any advantage I had.
And I got the distinct impression Mr. Walker easily read my power play. His mouth curved up on one side, highlighting the already deep dimple on his cheek beneath his trimmed beard. To his credit, he didn’t challenge me with his own. He stayed sitting, letting me tower over him.
Okay, tower was probably too strong of a word since, even with him slouched back in the metal chair, we were only a few inches apart in height.
I launched into the questions and hoped something clicked into place to explain what else was happening there. “Name?”
“I think you called me Sir last time we met, if you want to stick with that.”