Chapter Twelve
“There you are.”Bulldoglooked up from whatever he was studying on his desk when Bishop knocked on his open door.“Come in and have a seat.Close the door.”
Bishop did as he was told.It wasn’t unheard of for him not to have one-on-one meetings with the prez, but the timing was strange.And that Bulldog hadn’t sent for him, rather, Bishop had come to see if they’d found anything on the fuckwad stalking Winter.
“What’s up, Prez?”Bishop asked as he sat and brought one ankle up to rest on the opposite knee.
“Take a look at that.”Bulldog extended a piece of paper across the desk.Bishop had to lean forward to take it, then he took a moment to skim the page.Once he realized what it was, he took his time, reading more carefully.He focused on the image first.A bit blurry, and the man standing behind the numbered card wasn’t as well-groomed as the man Bishop had seen yesterday, but there was no mistaking it was the same man.
“Hammer found him.”Bishop glanced at Bulldog before turning his attention back to the rap sheet in his hand.The farther he got, the harder he clenched his jaw.
Assault.Assault with a deadly weapon.Sexual assault.Attempted sexual assault.The list went on and on and each charge made the churning in his stomach worse.This piece of shit had set Winter as his next victim.
“Where is he?”Bishop asked tossing the page back onto the desk as he looked up at his president.
“That’s sticky.”
“What do you mean?”
Bulldog balanced his elbows on the arms of the chair and steepled his fingers in front of his mouth for a moment as he watched Bishop, as if he was trying to figure out the best way to say whatever he was holding back.
“Take another look at those charges.”Bulldog nodded toward the paper.Bishop didn’t pick it up.He’d seen enough that he wanted to put some holes through the fucker’s face.He didn’t need to see the list again.“I’m not sure if you noticed but all charges were dropped.Nothing ever made it to a courtroom.Charges like that mean that somewhere, someone has some serious pull.”
“Fuck.”Bishop let his head fall backward to rest on the chair for several seconds.“Who’s the fucker related to?”Bishop asked still looking up at the ceiling.“And I hope to hell this doesn’t mean he’s untouchable.”
“He’s Senator James Warnock’s nephew.”
Bishop frowned, not recognizing the name.
“He’s senator in one of the midwestern states, Nebraska, Kansas, something like that.I’m not sure.I’m not saying it means he’s untouchable, but we’re going to have to be fucking careful and cover our asses six ways to Sunday.”
“I’ll do the time if I have to.”Bishop said lifting one shoulder as if he wasn’t volunteering for anything from twenty-five years to life in prison.Would he walk up to the gates, offer his hands, and say put me away?Fuck, no.But if he was stupid enough to leave enough evidence for them to convict him, he’d do the time, especially if he knew it meant Winter would be safe.Or at least safe from that fuckwad.
“I know that.We all would, if it came down to that.”Bulldog watched him for a moment.“Let’s not rush into this.”
“I will make sure Winter’s safe.”Bishop felt the need to make it clear.“She can’t be a prisoner here for the rest of her life.She’s going to want to go out, to the store, to meet with friends.I can get her to stay put for a while.She’s afraid of him, and the more time I spend with her, the less afraid she becomes.”
“I’m not discounting that,” Bulldog said with a shake of his head.“I’m just saying let’s take our time, put together a reasonable plan to make sure we can get the job done, to make sure she’s safe and that no one has to spend half their life behind bars.”
Bishop clenched his jaw and stared at his president for a moment.The man wasn’t wrong.That didn’t mean Bishop liked it but that still didn’t make him wrong.
“All right.”He glared at Bulldog a moment longer, then spoke again.“Hammer figured out how he’s tracking her yet?”
“Not yet.”Bulldog shook his head.“He says something’s off and he’s having a hard time figuring it out.He wants to talk to Winter.”
“Can do.We finish here, I’ll round her up and take her to see him.”
“Since you had no way of knowing what he’d found or that he wanted to talk to her, why are you here?”Bulldog leaned forward and put his elbows on his desk.
“I wanted to let you know I’m gonna need a property cut.I know it will take a couple of days, but I wanted to get it started.”
Bulldog’s brows shot upward.
“Winter, I take it?”
Bishop didn’t say anything but nodded once.
