AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Just go home.”
My heart sank. “Harley, I—”
“I’ve issued a search warrant for Karl’s apartment, phone records, the whole nine yards. It’s with the judge now and as soon as Hutch and Rhodes are finished with Karl, he’s going in lockup, and then I’ll be assisting the detectives with the search. I haven’t fully decided what I’m going to do with you just yet, but for now, you’re suspended.”
“Suspended?” I repeated in disbelief, rising to my feet with tears shimmering in my eyes. “For how long?”
“Until I decide I’m done being pissed off with you,” was her heated, soul-crushing retort.
I knuckled under my eyes and sucked in a painful breath. I felt sick. My heart hurt so fucking much it was all I could do not to fall to my knees and scream—beg at the top of my goddamn lungs for her to reconsider, but I knew it was pointless because she outright refused to spare me another glance.
“Charlotte,” Peter’s voice floated across the room when I left the office, hiding my sobs. “Char—hey, what’s wrong?” He caught up to me while I waited for the elevator to open. “What the hell happened in there?”
I looked away, not in the mood to answer any of his questions, and just shook my head, cursing when Harley fled the captain’s office and made way for the interrogation rooms. What I wanted—needed—was Phoenix, and yes, Spike too despite he was an impulsive asshole. I needed to be inside that room listening to what was being said. I needed to know what the fuck was really going on here so I could figure this shit out.
The elevator opened, and I wordlessly stepped inside with Peter flanking me, turning to him when the doors closed.
“She took me off the cases.”
“Fuck, Char.” Peter grasped me by the shoulder and pulled me close to him, holding on tight. “I’m sorry.”
“I worked so hard for this, Peter. So fucking hard. And now it’s gone.”
“It’s not gone,” he said, pulling away as the doors opened. He matched step with me and held open the exit door until we were both out of the precinct and making the trek back to our cars. “I know losing these cases suck and all, but you still have your job.”
I internally snorted, opting to remain calm despite my tears. After Harley’s reaction, I wouldn’t be returning to work anytime soon, at least not until these cases were closed.
And that… That was if—
“Seriously though,” Peter’s voice cut through my thoughts. “What happened in there? Since you’re not working the cases anymore, then you should be able to—”
“Why the fuck do you care?” I stopped walking and whipped around to face him, my head cocked and wet eyes narrowed. “So you can gloat? Throw in my face how stupid I am and how I should’ve listened to you? Because I think we both know that ship has long sailed.”
“No, Charlotte,” Peter said with a sigh, “that’s not—”
“You told me you were done with this,” I reminded him, his words from the other night still fresh on my brain. “With me, Karl, all of it. So answer the damn question, Peter. Why do you want to know so damn bad?”
“I did say those things,” he agreed, nodding as he frowned. “And I’m sorry. The shit with Karl…” He paused, taking a moment to swallow as he stared deeply into my eyes. “I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you like that, and I’m sorry. It’s not Karl I care about, Char, it’s you. It’s always been you. I hate you’re going through this. I hate you’re hurting and yes, I’ll admit that maybe I’ve been riding your ass a little too hard about pressing charges, but that’s only because Karl has done nothing but escalate ever since you served him divorce papers, and I was worried you’d get hurt.”
He paused again, drawing in a breath.
“I’m only asking because I can see that what ever the hell’s going on has you struggling not to break down in a puddle. I may not be your lawyer anymore, but you’re still my best friend, and I care about you. As you know, I have the entire day off to do what ever I want. I will be more than happy to spend it with you to talk, go out—whatever you want to do to keep your mind off things. Hell, if you want, you can call up your friend Blaire and the three of us can go out to dinner or get drinks at a bar in town.”
I considered everything he’d said, even his offer, and despite wanting to say yes, I couldn’t stop thinking about what was happening inside that interrogation room, or worse, what may possibly happen to Spike and Phoenix once the captain and chief discovered they were willing to conceal case evidence for not only the sake of my dignity and reputation, but my career. Unless she decided to personally confront them over the matter, there were zero doubts in my mind that Harley would keep her mouth shut. Spike and Phoenix were the only connections I had left in this case and…
FUCK.
I had to hurry and get back to the office before it was too late.
“That sounds great, Peter.” I swiped the wetness glued to my cheeks away and gave him a smile that earned me an even bigger and brighter one, his eyes dancing with relief. “I have a few things I need to take care of first. Is that okay?”
He nodded, grinning ear to ear.
twenty-nine
Charlotte
Imade it within ten minutes, trying not to trip over my damn feet as I raced up the steps and inside the building, praying the white boards and files were still in my office. Perry, my colleague whose office was directly beside mine, spotted me as he was coming out of the break room and hustled toward me fast, determined to match my pace.
