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"Officer Milon. He's such a jerk. I swear, I think half the time he's the one who breaks the laws and just tries to set us up. I'm surprised he's not here to bust me. He's that obsessive sometimes. I feel like I have a homing device implanted in my skin or something sometimes."
I straightened and looked at Corrigan. "The same officer who was pretty adamant that you're behind all of this," I poked him.
Corrigan lifted an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and grunted his agreement.
"No way," Bryce shook his head. "No way."
The same thought crossed all our minds.
Bryce continued, "He's a cop. There is no way he would've set all of this up, just to…"
"He's a vigilante cop," Corrigan corrected him. "They can do pretty 'grey-area' stuff, Bryce. I've been arrested enough. I've met a few of 'em."
"I wouldn't put it past him," Kevin added his two cents. "I mean, he might not have set it up, but…he probably didn't share all his evidence either."
"Are you for real?" Bryce snapped and glared at no one in particular. "This is…this is a nightmare."
"He could've been behind Sheila's attack today," Corrigan suggested.
It did make sense. Partners listened to partners. And partners could be coerced by partners.
"He was really nice to me when I met him," I murmured.
"Yeah. He is. He's great to the victims, pretend or real."
"I don't know, guys…" Bryce shook his head again and started to pace.
"It doesn't hurt to go and ask, does it?" Corrigan ventured and held my gaze.
Kevin and Bryce looked at me too.
"They're parked right across the road," Corrigan added.
"I might have an address by then for this feed," Kevin added.
"I think this is stupid. You can't just go up to a dirty cop and ask them if they're dirty," Bryce cried out.
"That's exactly what you do," Corrigan disagreed. "You don't listen to what they say. You listen to how they act, what they don't say. That's how you know."
"This is stupid!"
"No. This is the best lead we've got."
"Guys." I stood between them.
"You're not going out there with Sheldon," Bryce said firmly.
"What?" Corrigan asked, tensely. "You don't trust her with me?"
Bryce froze in place.
I stood between the two, stiff as a board.
"Guys…" I murmured. This would not end well.
Chapter 29
"Are you insane? You can't just accuse a cop of being dirty!"
"Why not?" Corrigan smirked. "They accuse me all the time."
Bryce shouted, "You're not a cop!"
"I protect my own law." He glanced my way and smiled, "And I serve to protect those I love."
I closed my eyes.
"This isn't funny!" Bryce cried out, aggravated.
"Yeah…kinda…okay, not really, but…it's not like…"
Bryce pushed, firmly, "You're all eager to jump on this bandwagon because you have serious issues with authority. You always have, Corrigan."
"It is the anti-social quality in you," I murmured softly.
Bryce dropped beside me and cried out, "I give up."
"Fine. Let's go." Corrigan grinned and extended a hand.
Bryce slapped it away. "You can go, but she's not."
"Oh my god!" Corrigan cried, "I thought you surrendered."
"On trying to get through your head, not on Sheldon going out there."
"No! No. No. Are we twelve, fighting over a girl?" Corrigan laughed in disbelief.
"No," Bryce said calmly. "She's my girlfriend and she's not going out there."
I slapped both hands on my ears and cried out, "Don't say that word!"
Bryce ignored me and said again, "The line's drawn, Corrigan. Step over."
Corrigan smirked in his best friend's face and drawled, "So we're playing who has more credibility? Are you serious? You're pulling the boyfriend card?"
"Not that word either!" I shrieked.
"I guess I am," Bryce said clearly.
"Fine. I'm her best friend."
"So am I—and I'm the guy she's in love with."
"She loves me too," Corrigan debated.
"Not in your bed."
I slumped over and dropped my forehead on my knee.
Corrigan sighed, "You can't be her best friend and her lover. You can't be both."
"Are you kidding? Of course I can." Bryce stood up and added, "I love her and you're not taking her."
"Oh my god!" I burst out. "The crazy people are outside, not in here!"
They both ignored me and Corrigan retorted with, "Sheldon is going to get the best reaction out of this guy. He'll look at her and something will happen. A twitch, a whisker, I don't know. Something. I have to take Sheldon with me."
"No, you don't," Bryce got in his face. "Look, all you need to do is tell him that we've got a trail on this guy's feed. Tell him that we're going to have the address in the next thirty seconds or something. Then you'll see a reaction or you won't."
"Stop it," I said forcefully. "Stop it right now!"
Corrigan shifted back and Bryce faced me. He said calmly, "There is someone out there who's obsessed—"
"And he's likely to kill you just as much as me," I pointed out.
Bryce quieted.
"I did not…I didn't bitch slap Lew to end up hiding in my own house. That's not me and you both know it! I am done hiding, that's the entire reason for this party."
At Corrigan's brief flash of triumph, I squashed it immediately and said, "But I'm not going to go accuse some cop of being dirty or setting this up or even…I don't know…trying to actually find this person by letting me be the bait."
"Sheldon…," Corrigan sighed.
"I am embarrassed that I'm here," I cried out. "I'm embarrassed that…we're insane. I got fed up and instead of thinking rationally and going to the police, I threw a party. And you let me!"
Bryce and Corrigan almost jumped from the accusation, but both merely looked scared—in their tough and manly way.
I cried out, hoarse, "We're a bunch of high school kids! I'm not some 'Ruling Queen.' I'm just…I'm just a girl that goes to school, that wants to keep her two best friends close, and…God forbid!—I even want to, maybe, hold hands in a slightly couply boy/girlfri—I still can't say that word."
"So what are you saying?" Corrigan asked, cautious.
"I'm saying that we're insane!" And then I crumbled and fell back on the couch, stricken.
I knew that there was a brief exchange of looks between Corrigan and Bryce. Bryce won out. He shooed the best friend and computer tech from the room as the boyfriend—still a knee jerk reaction—sat beside me.
"Hey…," Bryce murmured, huskily.
"Don't!" I said sharply.
