“Are you nervous?” he asked as he finalized the placement and the tape.
I shrugged. “I haven’t thought about it, really.”
“I’m sure you’ll do amazingly well,” he said.
I chuckled under my breath. “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”
“you’re welcome,” he said.
No sooner than we had called the placement good, did a loud knock happen on the door to my room.
“You remember the code?” he asked.
“Yes. Hello, Charlotte,” I said.
He nodded. “Good luck.”
I nodded and let out a nervous breath of air between my pursed lips then headed to the door and opened it. Standing in the hall were three cops and Charlotte.
“That’s her,” Charlotte said, faking a whine. “That’s the woman right there.”
“We need you to step out of the room, please ma’am,” one of the officers said.
I nodded and did so. Not saying a word. I glared at Charlotte as the men put the cuffs on me, pinning my arms behind my back. And as we started to walk away, the damn woman smiled at me.
28
DALLAS
A couple of hours had passed since I received word that Cassidy had been thrown in jail. Not long after being informed, I met up Malachi and Steele at the local police department. From there, we were escorted into a small observation room where Steele’s friend Spencer and his two team members sat.
I discovered we were down the hall from Cassidy’s cell, not too far away from her. Too far away for my tastes, for certain. But the distance between us was only a temporary arrangement. One that would be over soon enough. And once we had all taken our seats, the fun part started.
The joy of waiting.
And in case there was any confusion on my statement… the sarcasm should have been implied.
So, the minutes passed by, ticking by agonizingly slowly. Each second seeming to pass slower than the last. I almost felt my body aging and desperately searched for things to occupy my mind. Silence and stillness never sat well with me. It was uncomfortable. I attributed the sensation to being rubbed raw with sandpaper before taking a bath in lemon juice.
I would rather gouge my eyes out.
What made things worse was noticing how everyone else seemed to take the time in stride.
Steele sat next to me with his arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed. How he was able to sleep at a time like this, I would never know. The guy had strange quirks. And I was almost more irritated at the calmness on his features than anything else.
Malachi drummed his fingers on the table he sat at, nodding his head to a song only he was able to hear. How he managed to do something so out of synch with his normal stoic self, I wouldn’t understand. His mood was such a rare occurrence I had a hard time recalling the last time I saw him so at ease.
I decided to busy myself with the discrepancies within the painted-over cinderblock walls. The building—rather, this room—was originally a different structure altogether. What that structure was, I didn’t know. The point was, I had grown bored, and I was close to losing my mind. As it was, I learned there were three different paint colors, starting with the original white, going to a strange silver-blue color, to the dark steel that now covered the walls.
Charlotte needed to light a fire under her ass.
Why did everything have to be on her timetable? Why couldn’t she just do what was needed within a timely fashion. I mean, she didn’t have to spend three hours getting ready every single time she left her house, did she?
I was so grateful Cassidy wasn’t that type of woman. She had natural beauty and didn’t have to take hours to bring that out. She was perfect just the way she was, and I couldn’t wait to hold her in my arms again.
But if that woman of an alpha didn’t hurry her ass up, I had half of mind to go after her.
“You told her, right?” I asked Malachi.