Cash nodded as Joe’s gaze searched his.
More words tumbled from his lips. “I couldn’t talk to you because y’all were together and David would hear, so I made the decision myself. I put Dev’s cell phone on a fifteen-minute delay to give me time to go through it before David and his team could hear or see anything. I blocked David completely from seeing the last interaction you and Dev had that made you pull over. David also didn’t see Dev speaking to his father tonight. I don’t know if you even know about it yet. I pulled the conversation and saved it until I could speak with you. Am I in trouble? David said he suspects you’ll be fired and he’s gonna be the new lead which is a terrible idea. Dev won’t work with him.”
Joe was jittery as hell, anxious as always, but continuously proved his worth. He put the team and the case over the man. Both personally and professionally, Cash greatly appreciated the effort. He wasn’t sure he deserved this much loyalty and respect.
Cash clamped a reassuring hand on Joe’s shoulder, squeezing. “Thank you. My superiors know what’s happening. I’ve been honest. It’ll only be embarrassing to look them in the eyes after the video. Apparently, I’m being called to DC tomorrow.”
“Okay then. Should I make contact with the AG’s office on your behalf?” Joe started again, still edgy. He kept his voice to a soft whisper. “I know everything on Dev’s phone is considered evidence. But David’s a huge jerk. For as long as I’ve been on this case, it’s been chocked full of those domineering kinds of guys who can’t see past their own opinions.”
Joe paused, wringing his hands, then met Cash’s gaze.
“I altered quite a bit out of the video. I couldn’t get away with deleting the whole thing. The parts I left in, I darkened. It’s hard to see. The sounds are muted. I overrode the original file and replaced it with the new one before sending it on. So I tampered with evidence.”
Relief flooded Cash so fast his knees felt weak. “Thank you,” he mouthed quietly.
The emotions on Joe’s face changed again. He stepped closer, speaking even quieter than before. “Dev didn’t have sex with Rocket.”
“What?” Cash wasn’t sure he’d heard right.
Joe nodded. “I’ve been the one tracking Dev’s phone all day. They didn’t catch that I took it off-line when he started to play the video a second time. I searched through his entire phone. He has more pictures and videos of you and him. I left the tame ones. I believe Dev thinks the phone stops recording when he turns it off.”
Cash nodded, full of appreciation for his privacy in matters that really didn’t belong in evidence, but his heart wanted other details. “What happened with the prostitute? I felt like Dev and I were making ground.”
“Come on. I’ll show you what happened.” Joe started toward the spare bedroom. “I think you have Dev where you want him. Especially after hearing what he said to his father. It wasn’t the words but the way he talks about you.”
The place where his aching heart hadn’t given him a second’s rest eased. “What makes you say that?”
“Lots of things. Like he said your name randomly nineteen times today before you two ever got together at two o’clock. Your name just bursts out of his mouth. The guy needs serious ADHD medication. Then he was talking to his father and sold you as his boyfriend. Even I totally bought it. Not only that, he brought you up twice with his father. It all sounded very reasonable and emotion driven. Another thing…” Joe paused and made eye contact. “His father’s still alive. Dev didn’t end him. That has to mean he’s in, or at least he’s getting there. His father asked him to ride second, and he agreed to think about it.”
Cash nodded. It did sound promising. He’d have to think about the offer of being second… Yet, he was being called to DC tomorrow. A very rare and foreboding happening during the middle of a case.
Chapter 29
Every decision Cash had made since arriving in Dallas played in a mocking loop through his head. By getting away, coming to DC, he was finally able to catch his breath from the Dev-induced haze. He saw the errors of his ways.
How had he let things get so far out of control? The brief images of the video Joe had showed him, of him and Dev making vigorous love, kept popping into his head. The humiliation of knowing his superiors had access to those videos, even distorted, sent waves of anxiety and tingles of dread rippling over his body.
He ground his teeth. His jaw clamped tight. Rationally, he understood Dev had no idea of the far-reaching consequences of what he had done, but it didn’t matter. That was who Dev was. Act first, deal with the aftermath later, or never.
Now that he was on the verge of being fired, because there was no other viable explanation as to why he was being called to DC except his termination, he worried the government wouldn’t honor the deals he made with Dev. Even now, on the cusp of losing his job, Dev was still the only person who mattered.
Cash glanced around the small, secure sitting room of the Washington DC Department of Justice headquarters. The door was shut, no windows, or even pictures on the walls, and he was completely alone. He’d been there for quite some time. The attorney general wanted to meet with him personally.
There was a time when all this quiet wouldn’t have bothered him. He’d been comfortable in solitude. Now, a sense of panic welled inside him.
He couldn’t keep his thoughts off Dev. He wondered what the biker was doing right at that moment. How was Dev reacting to David’s controlling ways? Did Dev use the same chaotic unreasonableness that he did with Cash?
Would Dev try to kiss David like he had kissed him yesterday? His heart sank, knowing the odds were fifty-fifty.
The Deputy Assistant to the AG came through the closed door. “Hi. I’m Lily. Good to see you face to face.” She came forward with her hand out. He got to his feet, taking in her sedate smile and utter professionalism, just like in every call he’d had with her. She met his grip with an efficient, quick shake. That persona used to be him. “The attorney general will see you now. Follow me.”
Cash nodded, taking a pause to pull his inner self together. He squared his shoulders, standing to his full height, looking down at his slacks. He brushed at the wrinkles before drawing the lapels of his suit coat together to button them.
Why was all this so melodramatic to him?
Because no matter how Joe altered the video, it was still clear what he and Dev had done. He was into Dev. The idea of having the entire department watching his sex tape, then watching him walk through this building to his termination, meant very little compared to the sorrow he felt for being forced to leave Dev.
Cash tuned it all out as he walked through a secure area of the AG’s office. In all the years he’d worked for the organization, he’d never been this far inside the building. Instead of going to the elevators, leading to the top floors where the AG’s offices were, they went to the furthest corner of the space to an office with a closed door.
