“Howard Sutton,” I spat back with no less acid on my tone than he’d afforded me. Whatever acquaintance had been there before I met Drew was long gone. This was a man who was filled with hatred, and now that I was associated with Drew and the Hounds, I was tarred with the same brush. It didn’t matter who I’d been before that. It never would again.
“Step into my office. I have some paperwork for you to fill out.”
“Can’t I do that out here?” I asked, looking around at the more neutral territory of the open floor where the half dozen other officers were milling around doing nothing.
“No, I think you and I need a talk.”
Of course we did. My day wasn’t complete without yet another lecture from the great Howard Sutton, chief of the Babylon Police Department. It seemed he had some wise ass statement every time we crossed paths those days.
I followed him into his office, shoulders slumped and dragging my feet. I dumped my purse on an empty chair before sliding into the one next to it, my body dropping low as I looked over the endless questions that were staring back at me. I was going to be there all night at this rate.
Sutton closed the door and meandered back to his desk before slipping into his chair and steepling his hands in front of him. Neither of us said a thing to one another. The longer we went without speech, the more uncomfortable things became. Eventually, I pulled the pen from the top of the clipboard, just to stave off the discomfort that had started to eat up all of the oxygen.
“You fucked up, Ayda. You’re a failure. You failed yourself, your brother and your parents. How could you have been sostupid?”
“Is that your professional or personal opinion, Chief?”
“Don’t get cocky with me. I’ve known you almost your whole life.”
I sat forward, slipping the board onto the edge of his desk. The pen immediately rolled toward the picture of Sloane, Maisey and the twins that sat on the surface. My eyes took them all in before narrowing and aiming directly at him. He hadn’t known me at all. He saw me around while I was growing up. We’d shared polite conversation, but he had no ideawhoI was or what I stood for.
“What was my major?”
“Excuse me?”
“What was my major, Chief? You claim to know me, but you couldn’t. You know nothing about me other than that Tate is my brother, my parents were murdered on your watch, and I dated Jacob in high school. Whatever else you think you know, I assure you, you’re completely fucking wrong.”
“I know you’ve made the worst mistake of your life falling in with the likes of Drew Tucker and his band of fuckups.”
“Another assumption. You don’t know one of those men personally, especially not Drew.”
“Maisey—”
“Was a club whore who got pissed off when she realized the only thing Drew ever remembered about her was her mouth around his dick.”
“Listen here—”
“No, I’m not going to listen, Howard. Your prejudice against Drew and the club clouds your judgment. You and I have never been friends, but we got along okay. The only reason that’s not the case now is because of what youthinkyou know, what youwantto believe. Drew isn’t a bad guy, Chief. Neither are the others. Your wife was once associated with them and that fucks with your head more than any of their stupid mistakes. You’ve made this rivalry personal, and I’m not going to let you, or anyone else for that matter, make me or Tate a pawn in it.”
“Tateassaultedan officer.”
“No, Howard, he assaultedyou. I’m just curious about what you said to make him react that way. You and I both know he has to be provoked in order to react like that. So what was it? An insult about him? Me? His friends? Maybe something Sloane said or did?”
“I’m not at liberty—”
“The hell you’re not. He’s still a minor, Howard—a minor with good grades, who’s a star on the football team and is known by his teachers as a respectful young man that works hard. So tell me again how you’re not at liberty to discuss what was said. My guess is you knew what you were doing, and you got exactly what you wanted.”
“Sit down, Ayda.”
“No!” I shouted, half standing and slapping my hand on the desk. “I will not have a bigoted, discriminating, son-of-a-bitch dictate to me who I should and shouldn’t love because he’s a small-minded, insecure asshole. Now have someone go and get my brother so we can go home.”
“Sit your skinny ass in that chair and listen to me,Ayda Hanagan. I’ve done nothing but look out for you since your parents were killed. I tried to save you this trouble you got yourself into but your mind was poisoned against me and what was right.”
The maniacal laughter that suddenly filled the room belonged to me. I hadn’t sat down. I hadn’t been cowed by his roar of position and entitlement. It had only straightened my back and raised my chin so I was staring at him with venom.
“The only mind around here that’s been poisoned is yours. Mainly because your whore of a wife is still drooling over my boyfriend and that just makes you crazy. Whatever vendetta you have against Drew and the Hounds is your business. It’s between you and them. I can sit and argue the finer points until the sun comes up, but you don’t want to hear it. So, before I call city council, the state troopers, the rangers and whoever else I can get to listen about your corrupt little department, I would get my brother and save yourself the shame of beinghauled through every court in the state for your shitty decision making.”
“I’ve got nothing to hide, you stupid little girl.”
