Saidy: I need to know that you’re alive. I’m starting to plan your funeral. Would you prefer lilies or carnations?
Saidy: I can’t believe I just texted you that. I seriously am worried about you. Dying is no joking matter right now.
I put the phone back in my pocket.
“Saidy?”
I glanced sharply at Sullivan, who was smirking at me over his shoulder. “I don’t know how—”
He cut me off. “You always smile when you talk about her or to her. So I imagine that was her.”
“She’s got great timing.”
Sullivan glanced over my shoulder as West walked into the room. “Ah, everyone else must be here.”
West stared at him but didn’t say a word. Then he turned to me. “He’s the last.”
“Finally,” I muttered. My phone began to vibrate. Buzzing. And buzzing. And buzzing.
“Are you going to answer that?” Sullivan asked with a chuckle.
“Not yet.”
“I’ll stay here while you answer that. She’s earned it.” West nodded toward my personal phone in my hand. “Let her know your safe. I’ll give you sixty seconds.”
He was right. She’d been amazing. I hit accept and brought the phone up to my ear as I walked to the window. “Hey there.”
“Oh, thank the Lord! I thought I was going to have to come down there myself.”
I chuckled, then stopped. “Are you in the car?”
“Hmm? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The obvious sounds of traffic sounded through the phone. The sound of a siren. She was close.
“You were on your way down here, weren’t you?”
“Fletcher, you had me worried! I was sure something awful had happened to you! I’ve worn a hole in my brand-new rug. You don’t even want to know how much chamomile tea I’ve had to drink.”
My cheeks were starting to hurt from all the smiling I was doing.
“At least somebody’s happy,” I heard Sullivan call from across the room.
“I’m okay, baby. I’m sorry I couldn’t answer. It ended up being a longer night than I thought.”
“You’re okay? Are you hurt? Is your butt still sore?”
“My ass is fine, thanks for asking,” I replied dryly. Sullivan and West both snickered. “Hey, I’ve got to go. But we’ll talk later, okay? Go home. Stop worrying about me.”
“Okay, Fletch, I’m just so glad you’re all right. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I hung up and turned to Sullivan and West.
“If you knew before you went to lunch with Saidy, why did you go with her?” I asked, trying to remind myself I couldn’t lose my temper if he gave me an answer I didn’t like.
“Morbid curiosity and it was a great cover for getting to my pickup zone. It was like fortune had smiled on me and handed her to me on a silver platter.”
I took a step toward him, but he turned to look out over the dark garden again.
“I was going to run. I had my transportation lined up. I’d taken care of all my affairs. But then I decided that I’m not much of a runner. Your girlfriend reminded me that there is always another option. I knew I’d rather not look over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”
He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “So, I came home to manage the rest of my affairs and get things in order for this.”
He lifted his cuffed hands awkwardly behind him.
Two officers walked into the room and motioned for Sullivan to stand.
“What happened to your fixer Jenkins? He up and disappeared one day.”
Sullivan shook his head. “I’m going to wait for my lawyer to answer that one.”
“You killed him. Why didn’t you kill me when you figured it out?”
Sullivan pulled back and looked at me as though I’d punched him. “Killed him? Kill you? When have I ever killed someone? Hmm?”
I shrugged and glanced at my watch as each of the officers grabbed his arms.
“I am not a killer, no matter what you think, Fletcher. Or whatever your name is.” He shook his head in disgust. “I’m a broker, not a murderer.”
“What’s the holdup here?” The police chief stopped next to me. Of course, he would be here for an arrest like this.
“We’re in for a long night at the station,” I muttered. Sullivan turned halfway toward us.
“I’d like to contact my lawyer before I answer any more of your questions.”
“That’s your legal right,” the chief admitted.
“Who’s your lawyer?”
Sullivan smiled. And it was a painfully big smile. “You’ll see.”
“I have a feeling we aren’t going to like this at all.”
Sullivan chuckled. “Actually, I know you're going to hate it.”
I followed them down the hall and outside to a squad car where they pushed him inside. I stopped them before they shut the door.
“The night you stopped and helped Saidy with her car, was that a coincidence?” I asked.
“You know it wasn’t,” Sullivan admitted. “Ironically, meeting up with Saidy only convinced me that you were exactly who you said you were. And that you were dating someone out of your league.”
It still made my heart jump a few beats to think of Saidy being alone with him. “I didn’t like that you went to lunch with her.”
“I know.” He leaned back in his seat. “For what it’s worth, I like her. She’s one of the good ones.”
I nodded.
Saidy was the painfully honest type. There was something beautiful about her openness.
“Okay, let’s get this car moving,” an officer said as he closed the door. “We’ll see you down at the station.”
The station. Where I’d probably not get a chance to ask him my questions anymore.
“I can’t believe that guy.” West shook his head as we stared through the one-way glass into the interrogation room down at the station. “Hardly a slap on the wrist.”
“Millions of dollars’ worth of stolen goods, and he’s going to practically be a free man.” I agreed.
Sullivan had been right. We hated who his lawyer was.
The best criminal defense lawyer in the state. Rarely lost a case. If he couldn’t get the charges dropped, he worked deals that anyone would be happy to have. And now he was working his magic on Sullivan’s behalf.
West grunted. “Do you ever feel like a hamster?”
I cleared my throat. “You know, sometimes I don’t. That’s all you.”
West glanced away from the interrogation room and glared at me. “You know what I mean. We spent months doing undercover work, and this guy isn’t even going to spend a day in prison.”
“Yeah, I hear you, man. He cost us a lot. But you have to think about everyone else we stopped. All those other guys? They’re going to be spending a long time in prison. And Sullivan? He might be the sleazy guy who fenced everything, but he’s got a lot of information that’s going to help us.”
“I’m just glad I won’t have to work with him,” West chuckled.
The deal that Sullivan worked out included consulting the police department and the FBI on the case. He would be turning over evidence of dealers and anyone else connected to the case. He would be under a very strict parole and would be a criminal consultant for the duration, helping with any future cases that fell under his expertise.
Which meant he was going to have to have a shadow. Some unlucky detective was going to have to monitor him.
“I wonder who they’re going to stick him with,” I mused, thinking over the handful of the detectives they could pick from.
“You.”
We both spun around to see the chief standing in the doorway behind us.
“What?”
“You’ll be Sullivan’s handler.”
If I’d been the fainting type, I would have fainted right then and there. It hadn’t seemed like a bad deal until I knew I’d be the one dealing with him
. Hadn’t I done my time with the guy? Paid my dues?
“You’ve run point on this case ever since you went undercover. You know Sullivan best. You know how he operates. You know who he operates with. I don’t trust him to not double-cross us some way with this case.”
“That’s a very accurate observation. Starting with who his lawyer is.” I glanced back at the table where Sullivan sat, trying to look pensive. His lawyer’s face was stoic as he straightened his papers and deposited them into his briefcase.
“I really thought I was done with that guy.” I shook my head.
“He personally requested to work with you,” the chief shrugged. “I think you’re the right guy for the job, so if he’s more comfortable divulging information to you, then the faster we’ll have this wrapped up.”
“What next?”
“Now you go home. You take a couple of days off. When you come back, we’ll have sorted through the rest of the lawyering up these guys are going to do. Several of them are out on bail already.” He shook his head in disgust. “At least we have concrete evidence of the deal.”
West grunted, “What about Jenkins?”
“We found him. They picked him up in Florida, actually. The FBI are wanting us to hand over evidence to them. They have cases in connection with this.”
“Did you tell them where they could shove it? This is our case.”
“Unfortunately, I think we’re going to have to cooperate. It will mean longer prison sentences for some of them. I guess there’s an unsolved murder of a governor’s aide one of them is involved with. They were tightlipped about who and when.”
We watched as Sullivan’s lawyer stood up and left the room. Leaving him sitting there smirking at us through the window. He knew we were watching.
“Do you mind if I have a word with him?” I asked.
“Be my guest. Just remember nothing is finalized and that he’s lawyered up. We’ll go before the judge on Tuesday for a special hearing.”
I nodded as I slipped out of the office and into the interrogation room. Sullivan didn’t look surprised in the least.
I sat down on the uncomfortable folding chair, grimacing as I did. I still hadn’t recovered from the record-breaking splinter.
Sullivan smirked. “So. Where did you get shot? You hid that part well. My new security guy was convinced he shot you.”
“He missed.”
Sullivan chuckled. “Well, I guess he wasn’t as good a shot as he claimed. I fired him after that night. He said he liked to kill any and all witnesses.”
“My guardian angel has been working overtime lately and probably deserves a raise.”
Sullivan cracked a smile. “I didn’t know he was going to take a shot at you. I’m not a killer. I don’t want any bodies on my hands.”
“You know, Sullivan, though it hurts every fiber of my being, I believe you.”
He laid his hands flat on the table. “Where do we go from here?”
Part of me wanted to string him along and keep him nervous—after the months of stress I’d felt when he held the upper hand, I kind of wanted to watch him squirm. Another part of me wanted to be done with it and go find Saidy just so that I could see with my own eyes that she was okay.
“Well, if you keep cooperating, you should walk out of this thing fairly unscathed.” I cleared my throat and pushed the brim of my hat up, resting my hat on my head like a kid wearing a hat five sizes too big. “My question, is why.”
“I’m too pretty for prison,” he said with a grin.
“You know I’m not talking about that. I mean, why didn’t you run? You had millions waiting for you.”
Sullivan shrugged. “Listen, you’re not my shrink, and I don’t think I need to answer that unless my lawyer is present.”
“I’m not asking as a cop. Call it mild curiosity. Why didn’t you have me killed?”
Now Sullivan looked especially uncomfortable. “I’ve got standards. Not many, but I’ve got them. Happy now?” He ground out.
“Actually, yeah.” I stood up.
“I knew I should have run when I went to lunch with Saidy. She’s a great guilt tripper though,” he muttered as I walked out of the room, my steps the lightest they’d been in months.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Saidy
I glanced through the peephole and saw Fletcher standing there. With a happy cry, I flung the door open.
“You’re safe!” I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and hugged him close. He enveloped me in his arms and lifted me off the ground, hugging me tight to his chest. He kissed the top of my head.
“Honey, I’m home,” he said. I laughed—and maybe cried a smidge.
“I was so worried something was going to happen to you. I just knew something bad was going to happen.”
“Well, I’m here now, and I’m fine, for the most part. It feels so good to be done. The whole investigation has been wrapped up, and now all I have to do is testify and a few other things. But now I can go back to being me. And I made detective.”
“That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” I asked.
He nodded. “You don’t even know how much I’ve hated lying to you all this time. It was killing me on the inside.
“I think it was killing both of us,” I agreed. “I just didn’t know why.”
“And you’re sure you’re not mad at me for lying?”
“Fletcher, I understand that was way beyond your control. I met you in the middle of it. You didn’t have a choice! I don’t know how you did it all that time. I was so nervous just from going to lunch with him.”
“You shouldn’t have done that. You could have been hurt,” he admonished.
I rolled my eyes, “I was so scared for you that I even got my grandmother in on it.”
Fletcher laughed, his chest rumbling against me. “Wow, that is pretty nervous. And I’m proud of you. Don’t let that woman push you around.”
“I even wrote it in my planner,” I told him.
“Oh that is serious,” He pretended to look properly impressed as he carried me inside the house. He kicked the door shut and continued to carry me to the couch where he sat down with me on his lap. “I’m glad you stood up to her. And you did a very brave thing trying to pull Sullivan's attention away from me. It about killed me to watch you drive away, knowing you were going to lunch with him, even knowing West was watching you. It was hard to not be there myself to watch over you.”
“You have been watching over me,” I assured him. “I didn’t realize what you were doing. What you were protecting me from. Part of me wishes I had known so that I could’ve helped you more or been more understanding when you were exhausted all those nights. But another part of me knows that I wouldn’t have been able to keep that secret for that long, and that I might’ve gotten you hurt or even killed. I’m so glad that Sullivan will be behind bars from now on.”
Fletcher cleared his throat and grimaced. “About that,” he said, “he’s not going to be behind bars exactly.”
“What do you mean?” I demanded. “He tried to kill you!”
“Turns out, he didn’t want to kill me. He’s actually not the worst criminal I’ve gone after.”
“You mean he’s going to walk away?” I exclaimed.
“Not exactly,” Fletcher ground out. “He’s going to be assisting us on the case now. He’s exchanged information for his freedom. Freedom with a parole officer. More like freedom with a babysitter. His lawyer is pushing for house arrest for three years—he’ll probably get it because he’s got the best criminal defense lawyer in the state. Only allowed to leave under strict guidelines and under strict supervision of an officer.”
I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. “And who might that be?”
“Yeah, unfortunately it’s going to be me until we finish this case, and then he’ll be passed off to someone else most likely.”
“You mean to tell me you’re still stuck working with Sullivan? How are you not going to kill him?�
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“I don’t know how to answer truthfully. It turns out he’s not as bad as I thought he was.”
“Do you know what’s great?” I asked as I looped my hands behind his neck and snuggled closer. “You won’t ever have to worry about me going to lunch with Sullivan again.”
“You don’t even know how happy that makes me.” He grinned and leaned in and gave me a quick kiss.
“I never could get over you,” I complained. “Even when Sullivan was pursuing me and asking me out, I couldn’t stop thinking about some tall guy I knew once, who is really good at fixing things. He had a thing for ball caps and standing up to my grandma for me.”
His cheeks reddened in an adorable blush as I continued, “Even when you literally dragged me away from that bar, I knew you were doing it because you didn’t want me hurt. And while I was mad enough to spit, that was the moment I realized that there was more to you than I’d ever imagined. I knew you loved me, and that you cared about me enough to protect me even if it meant I wouldn’t see you in a favorable light. And that type of sacrifice is something I can truly appreciate. That’s the kind of love I want in a relationship.”
“I do love you, Saidy Perez. And it about broke me when I thought I’d lost you, even though I knew it was my own fault.”
“I would say it was both our faults,” I butted in. “But yeah, you were the world’s worst boyfriend—briefly.”
I yelped as he tickled my sides. “But you loved me and were doing what you needed to do to keep me safe and do your job. And if you don’t shut up and kiss me sometime soon, I’m going to do something to make you regret it.”
Fletcher grinned, “Doesn’t seem like I’m the one doing the talking right now. I’ve only had one thing on my mind since I walked in. Have you been talking this whole time?”
I reached out and poked him in the chest. “I’d be careful if I were you, buddy. You might be in danger of a black eye one of these days.”
He took his time as he leaned down, teasing my lips. There wasn’t the urgency in this kiss that there had been the day before. I reached up and pulled the ball cap from his head. “Was this part of your disguise?” I whispered against his lips.
World's Worst Boyfriend: A Romantic Comedy Adventure (Fake It Book 3) Page 21
