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With my appetite gone, I pushed my plate aside just as Ian’s cell phone rang.
“Would you put the call on speaker phone if it’s about this mess?” I asked. “Please?”
Glancing at the screen, Ian nodded. “It’s James.” Enabling the device so we all could hear, he set the phone down in the middle of the table. “Everyone can hear you, James. What information do you have?”
A humorless chuckle emitted from the phone. “Well, two weeks suspension and a meeting with Internal Affairs when it’s done.”
“What? Why?” Sanna gasped.
“Captain caught me sniffing around where I shouldn’t have been.”
“And where was that?” Ian asked with an amused grin.
“Gordon’s parole records and eavesdropping when I was talking to the guys I sent over to check out his last known address.”
“Let me guess,” Dylan piped up. “Your captain didn’t instruct you to put your own personal APB out on Tideway, did he?”
“It must have slipped my mind,” James replied with a cynical snort. “Anyway, I figured y’all could use some reinforcements to hold down the fort up there, so I’m on my way to join you. It’ll be a lot more fun than sitting around watching TV. I might be officially off the case, but unofficially? Well, let’s just say I’ve got a bunch of friends looking for these pricks. They’ll find ‘em; they just know to be more careful than I was.”
“Well, shit,” Ian groused. “Look, if your meeting with Internal Affairs goes south, I’ll hire you, bro.”
“Thanks, man. Since this is the third time the captain’s busted me for pretty much the same shit, there’s a good possibility you’ll be getting my resume real fucking soon.”
“James, I’m sorry I got you into trouble,” I moaned.
“You didn’t, gorgeous, I did. Trust me. It wouldn’t break my heart if I got canned. I’d rather work for Ian. He doesn’t have a lot of rules to follow. I think I’d like that kind of freedom.”
“When do you think you’ll be getting here?” Ian asked with a wide smile.
“In about an hour or so. I need to grab some gear. Oh, but I did find out something,” James remembered. “Tideway missed his meeting with his parole officer last week. He’s also not supposed to leave the state, so Mellie’s neighbor’s video is enough to land his slimy ass back in a cell. My captain was kind enough to tell me he’d see what he could do about it, after busting my balls for twenty minutes.”
“Hopefully, that’ll be enough to lock him away for a while. Call me when you get here. We’ll escort you in,” Ian advised.
“Aww, now you’re making me feel like fucking rock star. I could get used to that.”
“Don’t let it go to your head, asshole. And watch your six.”
“Ten-four,” James confirmed. “Hey, I know Dylan and Nick are cooking up there. Save me some dinner.”
“Then you better get your scrawny ass up here before I eat it all,” Drake taunted.
“Dammit,” James grumbled. “I forgot you were there, Drake. You’d better not eat it all, or I’ll kick your big ass.”
“Better bring a fucking army then, son,” Drake taunted with a grin.
James laughed. “I’m on my way.”
After dinner, Sanna and I cleaned up the kitchen. Nick and Joshua kept watchful eyes on us. I knew how animals in the zoo felt. Joining the others gathered around the massive river rock fireplace in the great room, Sanna eased to the carpet between Dylan and Nick’s feet. With a courageous breath, I followed her lead and knelt by Joshua’s feet. I didn’t want to analyze my outward show of submission; it just felt right.
Glancing down at me, Joshua’s eyes widened in surprise before his nostrils flared and he sucked in a deep breath. Pride was written all over his face.
“Easy, tiger,” Ian chuckled, sitting in a big leather chair across from us. “I’ve got some rope if you want to tie her to the coffee table.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Joshua warned with a wicked grin.
“I’m not trying to bust your balls. Well, not too much, but you’re the one that’s tied up in knots, man,” Ian laughed. Dropping his gaze to me, he cocked his head. “Explain something to me, Mellie. Are you one of those subs that only want to submit in the bedroom or something? I don’t get that. I never have. Help me understand that. What am I missing?”
I exhaled a heavy sigh. “I wish I understood it, but I don’t, at least not fully. No, I don’t want to keep it exclusively confined to the bedroom, but I can’t get the divided parts of my brain to come together. One side is strong, the other is weak.”
