AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ChapterSeventeen
After showing Mr. Hayes out, all Journey could think about was getting justice. She hoped she’d also be able to give him and his family the closure they needed to heal by the time she closed the case.
As she headed back to her office, she ran into Prentice in one of the aisles.
“What happened?” she asked quietly, and he fell in step with her.
“We need to question Marta Polczynski again. I requested she be picked up by an officer and brought here instead of having her taken to the station for questioning. I really think someone got to her before she talked to us.”
Journey nodded. “I agree, and I think it’s very convenient that Marta never mentioned that she was a supervisor at the company and that Joyce was one of her direct reports. If someone put the fear of God in her, we’ll have to get her to trust us enough to talk. How soon will she be here?”
He glanced at his phone. “Not sure. They’re at her house now, but no one’s answering and the neighbors haven’t seen her.”
An unsettling sensation lodged in the pit of Journey’s stomach. She hoped the woman was all right, but after what happened to Fred, she feared the worse.
“Okay. Keep me posted.”
When Journey returned to her office, she pulled out her cell phone and called Laz. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, and she was concerned that his recovery would take longer with all that was going on. He needed rest. Something he wasn’t getting.
“Hey, baby,” he said sleepily, and Journey smiled at the tingles that scurried up her spine.
She never thought she’d be the type of woman who got all giggly inside when her man used pet names. Or when his sexy, sleep-filled voice worked her up to the point of wishing she could ditch work, meet him at home, and coax him into bed.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Oh…yeah, I’m fine. I was just checking on you. How do you feel?”
“Like I got shot and dragged behind a car for a mile along a pothole-riddled street.”
“Laz.” Even if part of that was actually true, Journey didn’t want a picture painted for her.
He chuckled. “All right, babe. I’ve been in bed since you left. I knew I was tired. I just didn’t realize how much.”
He sounded exhausted, and the fact that he was still in bed spoke volumes. Laz was an early riser, and there wasn’t a lazy bone in his body. He was one of those people who could function on little sleep and be just as productive as someone who got a full eight hours.
“Where’d you go last night, or should I say this morning? I woke up around three, and you weren’t in the room.” She had known that it wasn’t just the room he had vacated; he had left the building. She didn’t know how many clothes he had brought, but when she didn’t see his phones and leather jacket, she knew.
After a hesitation, Laz said, “I got a lead on the shooting, and I went to check it out. Nothing for you to worry about, though.”
Meaning he probably found someone directly tied to the situation and beat them up—or at least threatened them for information. She hadn’t noticed any bruises on his knuckles, but with Laz, even with one arm in a sling, he could do some damage.
When he worked for the police force, Laz constantly pushed boundaries, making her job almost impossible some days. Requesting search warrants without having enough probable cause, going off half-cocked after perpetrators, and basically just doing whatever he saw fit to put bad guys behind bars.
Journey recalled a couple of times when she’d walk into an interrogation room, where a criminal was being held, and they’d be visibly shaken. Not for fear of going to jail, but for fear of the arresting officer—Laz. He always got his man.
“How are you doing?” he asked, cutting into her thoughts. “How’s it going with your security detail? Hopefully, they aren’t cramping your style too much.”
“I’ll admit it’s taking some getting used to, but I understand the need to have them around.”
“I’m glad you understand. Hopefully, it won’t be for long. We’re going to find the person behind this shit, and then we can return to our lives.”
Yeah, she hoped.
“I know you want to find the people who shot at you, but you need to stay in bed and get some rest,” she said, thinking about how pale he had looked when she left for work. “I need you to hurry and heal so that you’ll have full use of both of your arms and hands.”
Laz chuckled. “Yeah, I prefer to use both hands and have a bed beneath me when I make love to my wife. Last night, it felt like I was having sex with one arm tied behind my back.”
Journey couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across her face. “I imagine it did, but it was still fun.” She laughed. “I can’t wait to do it again. Chair and all. As a matter of fact, maybe tonight we can have a repeat of last night. Wait, what am I thinking? I’m sure we can get creative where you won’t even need your hands. Actually, maybe I’ll just have my way with other parts of your body.”
