An undeniable urge to go on a murderous rampage slams back into me when Agent Moses murmurs, “According to Demi. This is a she-said-he-said case, but even if it weren’t, domestic altercations aren’t the Bureau’s field of expertise. We—”
“Chase mass murders, terrorist cells, and cybercriminals. I’ve heard it all before. It’s the same fucking shit every time we talk.”
His sigh agitates me to no end. “If you know this, why are you bringing this matter to me?”
“Because Col has more of Ravenshoe PD on his payroll than the fucking state.” I rake my fingers through my hair before hitting him with the real reason for my call. “I also wanted to prove Demi isn’t a part of Col’s operation. She’s being forced to participate.”
I want to ram my hands through the phone and wring his scrawny neck when he mutters, “Nobody held a gun to her head when she went on recruiting drives at local gyms.”
My words are forced through a tight jaw. “No, they didn’t, but they have no issues shoving one under her ribs when she doesn’t jump on command.”
I hear Agent Moses’s chair click into place. Considering it is almost two in the morning, I’m shocked to discover he’s still at the office. He doesn’t seem like the type of agent to hang around after everyone else clocks off. “You saw that? You witnessed someone pull a gun on her?”
“Yes!” I answer, a little too loudly. “In the second lot of photos, you can see where the muzzle of the gun bruised her rib.” That evidence was harder to amass without Demi’s knowledge, but since she’s sleeping in only a pair of panties and my gym shirts, the loose fit helped me gather sneaky snaps of her injuries.
Don’t misread what I’m saying. We didn’t do anything last night. I’m not a complete-fucking-asshole. I slipped my shirt over her head while she was still dressed, then she shimmied out of her dress under the bedding. I’m not entirely sure when her bra was removed. She was wearing it when I snuck out to speak with Caidyn. It was gone when I went back to document evidence of her abuse.
Yes, I noticed things other men think are unimportant. I also liked the fact she felt comfortable enough to sleep in my bed as if it’s hers.
The click of a mouse sounds down the line a mere second before Agent Moses’s indecisive sigh. “There’s no doubt that’s a muzzle indent.”
“But?” I ask when I hear one hanging in the air.
“But… I don’t know if it’ll be enough to convince my supervisor to take on this case.” He sounds as disappointed as I feel. I understand the Bureau wants to get Col on more than a battery charge, but something is always better than nothing, right? “With more credible evidence, we could get him on attempted murder.”
“But…” I repeat when it continues to linger like a bad smell.
“But…” He leaves me hanging longer this time around. “What you’ve given me is nowhere near enough. I’ll need a lot more to take this to the head of my department.”
“More what? More bruises? More abuse? Exactly how much torture does she have to endure before you’ll do something to help her? Does he have to kill her, Arrow? Does she have to lose more than she already has?”
Mistaking the annoyance in my tone as me being so desperate I’ll do anything he asks, Agent Moses replies, “Video footage would be great. Or catching him in the act. That could work, too.”
“So you want to put her back in the line of fire to secure more evidence?” He can shove his next ‘but’ where the sun doesn’t shine. There’s no fucking chance in hell I’ll place Demi undercover with anyone, much less someone as incompetent as him. “That damage you see, those bruises, cuts, and grazes, they occurred in under five minutes. Five fucking minutes, Arrow. Yet you want to throw her into shark-infested waters without so much as an oar for protection. Fuck that. I ain’t doing that. If that’s all you’ve got up your sleeve to keep her safe, I’ll take the matter elsewhere.”
His sigh this time around represents a dismayed man instead of an annoyed one. “How long do I have?”
I stray my eyes to the grandfather clock next to the refrigerator. It reveals it’s precisely two in the morning. “Seventeen hours.” If you’re a kid counting down the hours until the fat man in the red suit arrives, seventeen hours seems like a lifetime. Now it feels as if I only have seconds left on the clock.
“Give me until midday to work out a plan of attack.” When I attempt a rebuttal, Agent Moses talks faster. “I need time, Ox. Nothing happens in an instant.”
I could call him out as a liar. It only took me looking into Demi’s eyes once when I was seven to be a goner, but I keep my mouth shut. Not even my mom could understand my immediate fascination, so why the fuck should I expect any different from a weasel of a man like Arrow Moses?
“Keep me updated.”
“I will,” he promises like his pledges are worth something. “And I expect you to do the same.”
He can’t see me, but I jerk up my chin as if he can before I disconnect our call.
“No good?” Caidyn asks almost immediately, exposing he was eavesdropping on my conversation. I can’t blame him. It took me promising to keep him informed on all aspects of Demi’s case before he would hand me the keys to his Jeep. He wanted to pummel Col into his grave just for backhanding Demi, so I’d hate to think how far he’ll go now he knows one of Col’s hits was with a closed fist.
“He doesn’t believe there’s enough evidence for a conviction.”
Caidyn rounds the island in the kitchen before he props his hip against it. “How isn’t there enough evidence? You saw her assault.”
“I only witnessed the tail end of it.” I swish my tongue around my mouth to ensure my next lot of words can make it through the carnage unscathed. “And him forcing her to kiss him.” The swish of moisture did little to lessen the scorn of my tone. It’s as furious now as the anger that pumped through me last night. “What do you think that was about? That isn’t normal, right?” We’ve kissed our aunts on the lips before, but that all ended when our top lips grew as hairy as theirs.
“If the look on your face is anything to go by, it was far from normal.” Caidyn moves to a stack of drawers before pulling out his wallet. “Ask Avery to have a word with her. If anyone can get her to open up, Avery will be that person.”
“She’s talking to me.”
He squeezes my shoulder more in support than to maim. “I’m not saying you can’t be there for her, Maddox. I’m just asking you to step back a wee bit so she can get all the help she needs.” My brows furrow when he adds, “You don’t want Saint and Landon conspiring against you again, do you?”
“What the fuck are you on about?”
It’s rare for Caidyn to show fear, but I’m confident that’s what he’s expressing now. “I thought Saint told you.”
“Told me what?” His lips hadn’t stopped moving. I’m just too damn impatient to wait.
He takes a moment to consider how best to tell me his news before he rips off the Band-Aid in one fell swoop. “Saint wasn’t crushing on Sloane all these years. He just veered for her when Demi freaked about his approach.”