“That asshole?” Matteo said. “Man, I can’t stand that guy.”
“A disgrace to the badge,” Isaiah added. “One of the worst since the whole Rampart scandal.”
“You’ll have to tell me about all the scandals sometime,” John chimed in. “I wouldn’t really know about them. The fire department doesn’t have things like that.”
Everyone laughed. And no one refuted what he’d said.
They couldn’t.
He’d talked to Jack and the other guys in there enough to know that one of the reasons they’d all left the force was because they were sick of the behind-the-scenes drama and even somecorruption. Not all cops were bad, John knew. But being on the streets, these guys had no doubt experienced enough to sour them on it.
“Another time,” Jack promised.
“Man, I wish I’d been there,” Kendrick said. “I’d love to punch Todd in the damn face. But instead a fireman had the opportunity and let it pass. Should have been some cops there.”
John flashed him a grin. “Well, as usual, the fireman reached the scene first.”
This brought another round of laughter from everyone.
“Touché,” Kendrick conceded.
“I’m afraid you set yourself up for that one,” Jack said. “All right. Let’s focus, though. We need to?—”
John stood up. “Shit.”
All eyes were on him.
He began pacing at the front of the room, where Jack stood. Something was coming together in his mind, but he couldn’t quite make it all fit yet.
“This ex-cop. What did he do after he left the force?”
It was Ace who answered. “Started someprivate securityfirm.” He made air quotes. “I guess since he’s mobbed up, too.”
“Or… the mob hired his little firm to do their dirty work here in L.A. Shit!” John said.
“They outsourced it,” Jack said, nodding.
John was already running from the den, hurrying upstairs to find his Little girl.
Chapter Sixteen
Despite the harrowing events of the day, Trixie was still happy and giddy.
She was with other Littles! It was like a dream-come-true slumber party.
Since she was about the same size as Lana, her new friend was sweet enough to loan her some sleeping clothes that just happened to look extra cute and Little. So, Trixie was now dressed in a short pink nightgown adorned with ribbons. It wasn’t long enough to cover the pull-up she wore, and Trixie had never felt so Little in her whole life.
It was blissful.
Too bad there were bad guys out there trying to find her and probably kill her.
Otherwise, the night would have been perfect.
“You can have that stuffie,” Iris told her, referring to the plush dog Trixie was holding as she sat on the floor in a circle with the other women.
“Really? I don’t want to take your toys.”
Iris waved it off. “It’s a gift. Besides, we have a ton of stuffies. You can have some more, even!”
