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“I see that. If they were paid to watch over you and this happened… he’ll have a lot to answer for. You all will. The senator likely won’t take it well when he finds out. From the reporters outside, that won’t be long.”
“It’s not their fault,” I said coldly. Now, she was striking a nerve withme. “I was in the fuckingbathroom. I don’t need a pee buddy, Chief Campbell. The entire time I was gone, they were looking for me, and when I needed them, they were there to help me heal and move on.”
“Heal and move on? Sounds like more than bodyguards.”
This wasn’t turning out how I’d planned, but I willed myself to take a breath and fight fire with fire.
“I’m not sure why you would think that odd. When I had nightmares or felt unsafe, I knew they were there with me. I wasn’t alone, and I was reluctant to come down here. I’d say that was a large part of my healing and keeping my shit together. They got me to a doctor. What more could you expect of them?”
“Less, actually,” she said with a raised eyebrow. “No need to get defensive, I’m simply searching for motive everywhere. Why would your bodyguards care this much? And why wait to come in?”
“Because they’re decent men,” I countered with a soft laugh. “I’m not sure who jaded you, ma’am, but they have been nothing but professional. I owe them my life and sanity. They waited because, quite frankly, I wasn’t ready.”
“Hm,” was all she offered, writing some more notes before moving on. It rubbed me the wrong way, and one glance at Weston and Hayes told me they were feeling the same.
“Are there any further questions? I’d love to not relive my trauma over and over again.”
She glanced up, seeming almost surprised by my change in tone.
“I apologize for putting you through this, but we have a job to do, ma’am,” she said, completely unrepentant. The beta had shifted from hot to cold and back again. I couldn't make sense of it.
Then Sterling and Cyrus walked back in. Considering the way she flinched at their presence, I wondered if she was a contact of theirs. If she was, she sure played her part as impartial chief well.
“Are we done here?” Cyrus eyed her quizzically and waited. She swallowed hard and glanced at her notes, then back at me. I kept my face calm as she figured out her next move.
“Is there anyone else, outside of Carlisle, you think would want to hurt you?” she asked me. “There’s just a few more loose ends to tie up.”
“No,” I said. “My coworkers, the senator, and these guys are about all the people I know here. It was this job that brought me to North Harbor. I just didn’t know it would turn out so dangerous.”
“And your coworkers?” she inquired.
“Petty, jealous of the success I’ve had with the senator, but I doubt they’re capable of all this,” I told her. “They’re more the threaten-to-find-me-doing-something-wrong-and-report-me types.”
“They also offered to get her coffee that day, which was why we made a split-second decision to run over to the other shop,” Hayes told her.
She took a few more notes then sighed. “Well, we’ll keep an eye out for the man who did this and bring him in if we can. Outside of that, the details have given some openings for us to investigate. We’ll be in touch.”
The guys helped me out of my chair and hurried out of the station without a glance back.
When we were in the car, everyone was tense.
“You alright?” Sterling asked from the seat next to me. He pulled me into his lap, something he did to calm himself down.
“No, but more because she got petty at the end,” I said with a sigh. “The woman wants you, or one of you at least. She changed a bit when she found out I ran back to you. Definitely didn’t like that you were in my apartment.”
“I noticed that too,” Weston said, “but she knows better than to talk. Don’t worry, it won’t go further than her playing the part. She’d never botch something for the Family.”
“Why?” What motivation did she have to work for them? She had a high-ranking job and respect from the other officers and community.
“We put her in that position, and we could easily ruin her career if we wanted,” Cyrus explained. I glanced up at the alpha. He was just as tense as his sons, his knuckles white from his grip on the steering wheel.
“Don’t do anything to get in her way. She may keep silent, but she seemed very curious. I don’t want to run the risk of her looking into this more,” I pointed out.
“Fine,” they grumbled. It was almost hilarious how these dangerous and powerful men could easily defer to me.
Let’s just hope their faith in the chief was well deserved. I knew she’d find nothing since I’d given her false leads, but the last thing we needed was police attention while we finished out my mission, and if she chose to look for the real truth of all this, that would most definitely put a wrench in our plans.
ChapterTwenty-Two
