AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Waller,” I say.
“Yes, Brooks?”
I don’t even turn to look at him. “Your friends thought they beat me, too. They’re in jail.” Now I look at him. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”
He stares at me again for several hard beats. “I’m not them,” he says, and he leaves.
Lori steps to my side. “Now what?”
I glance over at her. “He threatened you,” I say. “In other words, he just ensured that I’m not done until he’s done.”
Chapter forty-one
Cole
“Bring Tara into the room.”
Lori stares at me, clearly ready to ask a million questions she knows she can’t ask right now. Not here, not while we’re being watched. She hesitates but tears her gaze from mine, exits the room and returns with Tara. “Now what?” she asks, shutting the door behind her.
“This room is being filmed,” I warn. “You aren’t speaking to me but Detective Waller. You have two choices: Give up your father or take the heat, and potentially expose your rehab records to the studios, which could damage your career. Should you choose the latter option, I’m going to connect you with an attorney I know here locally that will sue the fuck out of everyone we can sue and recover millions upon millions without you having to work.”
“I couldn’t give up my father if I wanted to,” she says. “He’s an honest man. I know nothing negative to share with these people, and even if I did, I would not turn on him for a career that has a limited lifespan. So to choose an option, I say, sue the fuck out of them. Connect me to that attorney. Now. Today.”
“Good choice,” I say. “I’ll make a phone call now.” I pull out my phone, setup a meeting for this afternoon despite this being a Sunday. Lori and I walk with Tara toward security, during which I send a text to Adam: Red alert.
He’ll know that means trouble. He’ll know that means I’ll pay whatever it takes to find the dirt I know exists on Waller.
He replies with: Message received. Still free of charge.
I’m fortunate that Walker Security hates dirty cops as much as I do, and if Waller is with the ones we already took down, he’s a killer and a thief and I won’t let someone like that target Lori. I should never have brought her here.
Once we’re at security, we coordinate with Tara’s guards, and part ways with the agreement that keeps us out of the press chaos. Lori and I are to walk four blocks down to a Starbucks where they will pick us up. We exit the police station and start walking, wordless and keeping a fast pace, both of us watching for press, moving quickly through the crunch of people swarming the walkways. It’s not until we reach the coffee shop, and the pickup location, that Lori steps in front of me, her green eyes alight with challenge. “Do not back down for me,” she says, stepping in front of me.
“We aren’t backing down,” I say. “Thanks to you and that book excerpt, we’ve set the stage for a harassment case against the department should they take inappropriate actions. The right attorney is here in LA who specializes in these type of cases, and will fight that portion of this battle while we battle any criminal charges if they’re filed, which I doubt based on the facts.”
“He threatened you, too.”
“A day at the office,” I say.
“Then it’s that to me as well. I can handle it.”
“I have no doubt you can handle yourself,” I say, “but this one came at you because of me. He threatened you to get to me. This doesn’t end well for him and that is on me.”
“What does that mean, Cole?”
“It means he’s going down.”
“The way you made those other officers go down?”
“Damn skippy, sweetheart. Just like that.”
“What exactly did you do to take down those officers?”
I narrow my eyes on her. “What are you suggesting?”
“I just—the way you’re responding to this—”
“Careful who you admire,” I say. “You might choose wrong. Is that what this is? You chose wrong?”
