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“What about my car?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a friend. He’ll have it outside the club in an hour.”
Her eyes went wide in mock surprise. “Are you telling me Mr. Vanilla has contacts who know how to hotwire a car?”
I frowned at that. “Though I suppose it doesn’t help the vanilla tag, I actually know a guy who owns a tow truck. I already organized for him to get it for you. Because I don’t think it’s a very good idea that you go back to William’s place right now. Do you?”
She chuckled softly. “I guess not.”
We were at the doorway to the club. But it was quiet inside, and the closed sign was up. “Will you be okay here until your car arrives? I can give you a lift home, if you prefer.”
She shook her head. Large hoop earrings with little sun charms dangling from the bottom jingled around her face. “No, that’s okay. I’ve got plenty to do while I wait.”
“Probably takes up a lot of your time, huh? Running a successful business?”
“You think my business is successful?” There was pure pride in her tone, and I wondered how many times she’d had to defend herself and what she did.
“Of course. I saw all the social media excitement about your penis party. Seems like it’ll be a big night for you.”
“Are you going to come?”
I smiled with a wry twist of my lip. “Don’t think so. William has a fundraiser that same night. I’ll be playing bodyguard.”
“But you’re a cop.”
“Yeah. I thought so, too.” This conversation was suddenly cutting a little too close to the quick. She could proudly defend her club, because she knew at her core that everything she did there, everything she’d built, was good and moral. Could I truly say the same for my own job? I was supposed to be a pillar of the community, and yet the chief had me babysitting politicians and taking bribes from local gangs. Every time I questioned any of it, it was always the same old story. Our orders came from higher up, and we needed to toe the line. I pulled my cap down on my forehead. “I should get back to it. I need to explain to my chief about the photos that are probably going to pop up online in the morning.”
“Will you get in trouble?”
“Depends on what the photos are like, I guess. But that’s not your problem. Sorry William was a dick. I’ll talk to him about leaving you alone.”
I turned on my heel before I could take in her expression. I went back to my car and got behind the wheel. The headlights lit Eve up, bouncing off her shiny dark hair, illuminating her like she was some sort of angel. My heart gave an unexpected little thump.
“Fuck,” I muttered. I put the car in reverse and drove away before I could do anything stupid.
* * *
Back at the station, I took all of my belongings out of my squad car and headed upstairs. The chief called me in the moment he saw me, motioning me over through the glass window.
With a heavy sigh, I stuck my head into his office. “What’s up?”
“I heard there was a callout to the Reed’s place. Anything going on out there?”
“Photographer.” It wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the whole truth. Not something that sat entirely right with me, but neither did William trying to frame Eve for some sort of bullshit break and entry. But there was no point telling the chief any of that. He was obviously well and truly in Reed’s pocket.
“Right.” He flicked his head toward the door, dismissing me. “See you tomorrow then.”
“See you.”
I wandered back to my desk and dumped my things on top of it. Jayela and two of the other guys, Johnson—an old dog cop—and his rookie partner, Stewart, looked up from their conversation. As usual, Johnson stood too close to Jayela, his crush on her clear for everyone to see. Everyone except Jayela, who laughed the notion off every time I’d brought it up. The man was a creep, a married creep at that, but Jayela had always been big enough to fight her own battles and didn’t need me rescuing her from unwanted male attention.
“Where have you been?” Jayela asked. “I thought you were just getting dinner and then coming straight back?”
“Yeah. Me, too, but William called. Had to swing by his place.”
She screwed her nose up. “I don’t like that guy. He acts like you’re his bitch.”
I didn’t say anything. But I didn’t like it much either. I wasn’t just William’s bitch, I was the chief’s as well, and it left a sour taste in my mouth.
