He narrowed his eyes and scoffed. “I don’t have time for this bullshit—”
“Now, that’s not true,” Dom interrupted him. “You won’t be covering up any more of David’s crimes, so you’ve got plenty of time on your hands.”
He stiffened but tried to play it off as though he was relaxed and dismissive. His eyes even traveled over us and clearly found us lacking. Especially after lingering on our patches. “What are you talking about? That’s ridiculous, and it’s egregious slander. I’ll sue you if you make any allegations that I’ve been anything less than exemplary at my job.”
I rolled my eyes and spoke in a deadpan tone. “Gee, Dom. Those are some big words.”
Dom chuckled darkly. “Guess I need to get out my thee-sor-us. Except I’m pretty sure my fists are bigger than his smart-ass mouth.”
A little more color drained from John’s face, and I nearly grinned as I ambled over to him. I held out a file folder, and when he hesitated, I said, “You’re gonna want to take a look.”
He yanked the folder from my hand and opened it. His face turned ashen as he scanned the documents that contained the proof of his son’s crimes and that he’d covered them up.
He licked his lips and audibly swallowed. “You”—he cleared his throat and tried again—“you couldn’t have gotten this through legal means,” he rasped. “None of this is admissible in court.”
“Maybe not,” I drawled. “But if it gets leaked to the press, your career is over. And I’ll make damn sure the authorities decide to dig a little deeper into your dealings over the past decade.”
“Where’s David?” he asked suddenly.
’Bout time he got around to asking about his son. This fucker deserved to be rotting in the ground next to his psycho spawn. But we were already cleaning up one kill tonight and didn't need the heat that would come with two. Especially when one of them was a decorated police officer.
“Well, Johnny,” Dom sneered. “He’s burning in hell for his crimes. Pretty sure his charred body won’t ever be found.”
John’s eyes bounced back and forth between us for a minute as he contemplated what to do next. “If he’s not a problem anymore, then why are you here taking up my time?”
“I’ll just give you another minute to mourn the passing of your son,” I said, my tone slathered in disgust. He just stood there and waited. That. Was. Fucked. Up.
“We want your guarantee that you’ll leave Lucy Skye and Paisley Wessex, and other victims or witnesses to your son’s crimes, alone. Or this shit goes public.”
“Fine,” he agreed through clenched teeth. “You have my word.”
Dom outright laughed at that, but his tone held no humor. He snatched the file back and growled. “Your word doesn’t mean fuck all to us, asshole. That’s why we’ll be watching, and if you take one step out of line, we’ll take you down.”
He stopped for a minute and contemplated the slimy son of a bitch. “Oh, and one more thing. If, by some slim-to-none chance, your son’s carbonized corpse is happened upon, we expect you to do what you’ve proven to be so competent at effectuating.”
Despite the rage I was suppressing, one side of my mouth kicked up. Just because we were bikers didn’t mean we were uneducated buffoons. A lot of us had college degrees, and I’d even completed my doctorate while I was in the army. Though, I didn’t spread that shit around. Not because I wasn’t proud of my accomplishments, but because I knew I’d be the butt of endless jokes. I preferred to be the one dishing it out rather than taking it.
John was clearly seething with anger, his hands fisted at his sides, his shoulders tense, and his jaw locked, while his chest rose and fell rapidly.
“If you didn’t understand,” I drawled. “It means, cover it the fuck up.”
His head bobbed sharply before he spun around and marched back into the station.
Dom breathed a sigh of relief, but I didn’t think I’d be able to relax until I saw my girl again. We returned to the truck, and once we were on the road and headed to our hotel, I pulled out my laptop and used my fingerprint to open it before entering a secure password to access all the files and data. I wanted to do a little more digging on Paisley. Initially, I’d been mostly focused on what she’d witnessed and how to locate her. Now I wanted to learn everything there was to know about her.
She was still in school and on track to graduate with her associates in six months. I was about to check into the possibility of her finishing online when we pulled up in front of the hotel. I closed my computer and slid it into my bag. Dom put his hand on Lucy’s arm and whispered something to her. She nodded and stayed in her seat while Dom and I exited the truck. I’d gotten out on his side, and before I could walk toward the building, he grabbed my arm.