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He leans back in his seat, all humour lost from his eyes as he regards me, sizing me up, deciding how to answer. Finally, after what feels like minutes of staring into each other’s eyes, he runs his tongue over his teeth and takes a sharp breath.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I assume honesty is the best policy?”
“Obviously.” I arch a brow at him.
Something carnal flashes in his eyes, too briefly to cling onto. “I loved being a cop, I like helping people. But more importantly, I love making bad people pay for their sins.”
The accent. The sneer. The barely controlled disgust in his voice as he talks about bad people. It’s all doing things, inviting unwelcome intrigue and physical reactions that I can only hope aren’t obvious. Another deep breath helps me tamp down whatever it is, and I look down to my desk in an attempt at disinterest. “Is that what we are to you, Detective? Sinners?”
He shrugs one shoulder. “I guess we all are in some way.”
“Why were you fired?” I ask, that pesky intrigue rising again.
He clenches his jaw and purses his lips, looking at the floor. “When I was in uniform there was a particular residence that we were called to a lot. Domestics. Guy used to beat on his wife, and it would be the neighbours who’d call when they heard her screams. She was young, shy, and sweet and I gave her my number to call if she ever felt scared. She never called.
“A couple years went by and I didn’t hear anything. We weren’t called out again and I got promoted to detective, so I didn’t do those types of calls anymore. A few weeks ago, I got called to the address as a potential homicide. When I got there, John Tanner was already detained, and his wife was already dead. She was black and blue. I was pretty pissed but then I heard it…”
He swallows hard and I wait, holding my breath for the rest of the story. His lip is twitching as he tries to contain his anger and I watch the movement.
“A baby,” he continued. “A baby was crying somewhere, and I followed the sound to find the child at the back of their wardrobe. He couldn’t have been a year old, and he was bruised, bleeding, and his leg was obviously broken.” He clears his throat, clearly emotional from the memory. “My guess is Tanner hadattacked his son until he’d passed out, she found him and hid him, and he killed her.”
I watch him closely, taking in the way his lips move around his words like he’s tasting something foul and how his knuckles have whitened where his hands are clasped in front of him.
“I snapped.” His eyes jump back up to me. “I beat the shit out of John Tanner, broke his nose, knocked him out, and snapped his femur all before the other officers in the room could pull me away.”
I nod slowly. Deciding what is and isn’t justice outside of the law is something I can get behind. “And they fired you,” I summarise.
“Taking the law into your own hands is a no-no, and I’ve done it more than should have been allowed already.”
I look at him in question and he smiles again.
“I have impulse control issues.”
“Are you going to be able to follow my command and abide by my laws?”
He shrugs again. “I figure working with you would offer me more of an outlet for my frustrations.”
“And you’re okay to…sin, every now and again?” I ask carefully.
He pins me with a hard stare, seemingly deciding on his answer. “I don’t hurt innocents,” he says with finality.
I tilt my head at him, narrowing my eyes as I glare at him, my hackles rising slightly at his insinuation. “Whatever makes you think you would have to?”
He doesn’t answer, just stares back at me.
I look back to Stuart, effectively dismissing Campos. “You sure about this?”
“Aye.” He gives a solitary nod.
“Fine.” I sigh and look back to the ex-detective. “I don’t like you, I don’t trust you, and I don’t want you here.”
His brows raise and he seems to open his mouth to say something, but I beat him to it.
“But I don’t want anyone here and I don’t like or trust most people, so this seems to be the best option. You’ll shadow Stuart this week and then the two of you will work out a rota for working, him taking far less hours than he’s already putting in. I have a couple hours left here and then I’ll be going home. You can come with me, and Stuart will show you around there. Get to know your way around, it’ll be your base.”
“Yes, thank you. I won’t let you down, Anni.” He stands with a friendly smile and my skin prickles.
“You will address me as Miss Wolfe, Ma’am, or Sir.”
