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“You should have left well enough alone, Thurman.”
The voice. I know the voice.
My brain short-circuits as I try to make sense of it. I finally am able to focus on the man’s face when he turns slightly. His profile is one I see every day at work.
Andre Bishop.
This doesn’t make any sense.
“I actually liked you,” he says with a cold chuckle. “Feisty as hell. Thought many, many times of what it’d be like to fuck someone like you. I bet you’re an animal in the sheets.”
“Fuck you,” I hiss, swiping the air in front of me and missing him by a mile.
“Too late.” He shrugs and sighs. “The time for those ideations is over. This is all business, I’m afraid.”
Thoughts blink inside my head, little flashes here and there. This stupid concussion is making it impossible for me to think straight. I remember the files on his desk and the texts from the mayor. Then he easily lured me out of the station with the promise of news about my nephew dangling on his hook.
He knew where he was all along.
“You were nothing more than a nuisance until you started picking at the Ghirard case. I had that shit buttoned up so tight,” he complains. “But you just couldn’t let it go even after Tanaka rode your ass about it.”
I knew it.
I knew there wasn’t something right about it all along.
“You work for the mayor, doing dirty deals behind the scenes? Never pegged you for a corrupt cop.”
He chuckles. “You call it corruption. I call it business. Everything was fine until you got into my business.”
How can he be so smug and chill about this? It’s like he’s confident he’ll get away with it. There’s no telling what all he’s been getting away with since he’s been working for the PMPD.
“You made it pretty easy to deal with you, though,” Bishop says, continuing his arrogant speech. “Your family is trash, and when I discovered your nephew and your sister’s boyfriend were involved with some local bikers, I realized there was a way out of all this. A way to get your thorny ass out of my side.”
My heart hurts that my family was brought into this because of me. Trevor’s in real trouble right now, and apparently, I brought all this on myself.
“Me and Prez were able to strike a deal,” he reveals. “Money and sex, Thurman. Those two things make the world go round.”
“You can’t do this forever,” I bite out. “You’ll get caught sooner or later. Maybe you’ll get rid of me, but there’ll always be someone out there looking to stop corruption and uncovering the truth.”
“That’s me, woman. I’m the detective with the impeccable record and a favorite among my peers. Even you liked me and you don’t like anyone.”
“Where’s my nephew?”
“Oh, he’s around. I promised a lead and I led you right to him. We have a plan for your delinquent nephew. He has your blood on his hands.” He makes a gesture at the back of his head. “And he’ll have the murder weapon on him. I’ll have to shoot him in the head, of course, for killing my colleague and friend. If only I’d gotten to you sooner.”
His sarcasm makes me grind my molars together. “You won’t get away with this.”
“Oh, but I have. Tanaka’s stupid ass thinks it’s you—that you’re the problem in our department. He thinks you’re covering for your nephew murdering Lenny. Prez cut Lenny’s throat and later sent Trevor home. You both played beautifully into our hands.”
I was wrong about Tanaka all along.
We were looking for the same person and were too focused on our dislike for each other.
What a waste. I feel like an idiot.
And now, because I didn’t figure this out quickly enough, my nephew is going to die. We’ll both die. I’ll never see Dempsey again.
A lump forms in my throat. Crying won’t help me. Grieving over a future with a man I love that I’ll never go on to have isn’t going to get me out of this situation.
