“Misdemeanors in exchange for time served.”
I curse again, barely resisting the urge to pound my fist against the wall. No, to punch itthroughthe wall. But I manage to do some box breathing, some visualization—mostly of me turning Hiller into a bloody pulp, and in doing so, I contain my anger. “Any word from the other teams?” I grind out.
She shakes her head again.
My anger banks further, and I focus back on trying to fix this fucked-up mess. “Okay,” I say on a staccato breath. “You think you can buy us some time with the district attorney while we keep working on those other teams?”
A wince. “Not much time, but I think I can get a little.”
“Good.” I shove my hands into my pockets. “Run with that. I’ll press the other teams.”
She nods and leaves, and I’m alone in my office with thoughts I don’t want to have. If Joey just?—
No.
This time I lose hold on my temper and my fist collides with the wall with a crash.
Fuckingno.
Joey doesn’t want to do it, so she’s not going to fucking do it. Not today. Not fucking ever.
And I’m not going to ask her, going to make her.
She’s been through enough.
Because I know if she hears that the case is going to shit, she’ll step up, will sacrifice herself without a second thought.
I can’t let that happen. Iwon’t.
I didn’t protect Kylie, didn’t protect Joey from what happened, but I can damned well protect her now.
Ihaveto.
There’s a knock at the door, and I shake my hand out, brush away the Sheetrock dust. Then I shift the file cabinet slightly to hide the new goddamned hole in my wall.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Dammit,” I mutter, closing my eyes for a heartbeat. Then I take another breath. Calm. Steady.
ThenI move to the door and pull it open.
Kylie’s standing on the other side with Joey behind her, who’s wearing an expression I’ve seen too many times over the last couple of weeks.
Worry.
No matter how hard I try to hide it, she’s still picking up on my tension.
I need to talk to her, put her at ease.
I just…need a solution for this fucked-up mess first.
“What’s up?” I ask, surveying the twosome who have gotten close.
Close enough to have a couple of Girls’ Nights that saw me kicked out of my house for the evening. Close enough that they gang up on me.
“Joey has practice,” Kylie says as she and Joey step into my office and shut the door. “But we went shopping this morning?—”
See?
