“I can’t do that. I haven’t even been cleared from medical leave.”
“I’m prepared to make an exception.” Tremaine interjected.
Of course, he was. He would do anything to hurt me since I refused to kiss his ass. I couldn’t be bothered with getting into it with him, because I was too busy trying to figure out what in the entire fuck was happening. I searched my mind for any indication that Nicholas was this high-level criminal they were portraying him as being.
Sure, he was filthy rich, but that didn’t automatically equate to guilt. The number one clue should have been the fact that Iactually liked him. Of course, something was wrong with him. My judgment had been super shitty lately. What in the world was going on with me?
No matter how smug the look on Tremaine’s face was, I couldn’t just take his word for it. I had to find out the truth for myself. As troubling as it was, it was almost a good thing that I would be the one investigating Nicholas.
I needed to see firsthand if he was the man these men thought he was. If Nicholas was really a criminal, there was nothing I could do to protect him. The part of me that wanted to be naively hopeful prayed that this was just some huge misunderstanding.
“Officer Sutton, before you leave today, someone will set you up with all the equipment you need. Officer Hale made us aware that you’re familiar with most of the surveillance equipment, so there shouldn’t be any questions. For now, gather as much intel as you can. Once we get a judge to sign off on it, we will get a bug in his house and phone. Until then, you need to try to get in on some of those secret meetings. We’ll be in touch, Officer Hale,” Christopher instructed before he and Officer Benton left the room.
My vision was blurry, and my head felt like it was spinning as I dropped my face into my hands.
“I can’t do this, Tremaine,” I muttered into my hands.
“This isn’t an option, Jameela. You been hollering for months how you want to be back on the job. This is the way you come back. You want to prove that you’re not a liability? Do this. You’ve only been knowing this dude for a few weeks. It’s not like you know him like that. You don’t know what kind of monster he is, but you’re about to find out. Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way of what might be the case of the century. This is huge. If this goes well, you can write your own ticket.”
“This is crazy.”
He walked over and squatted down in front of me, taking my hands in his before he spoke. “What’s crazy is you probably had my daughter around this bastard. I hope you aren’t thinking about fucking up this case, because you will never see my daughter again if I feel like you tried to tip him off.”
“Are you kidding me right now? I know damn well you don’t have the nerve to threaten me about a daughter that you haven’t even seen in the past two months.”
“Excuse me for trying to work and put food in her mouth.”
“If you would stop being a bitch and sign off for me to come back to work, then you wouldn’t have to worry so much about putting food in her mouth. I got my car taken care of, by the way.”
“I bet your scheming ass boyfriend took care of that for you.”
“You didn’t! All you want to do is control me.”
“Look, you said you wanted to come back to work. This is how you come back. If you get in the way of this investigation, you will be prosecuted, and I will make sure to get full custody of my daughter. Don’t fuck this up.”
His words were as sharp as the knife he planned to jam in my back. His threat hung in the air, nearly choking me. When I finally found my bearings, that arrogant jackass was still squatting in front of me.
“Get the fuck out of my face, Tremaine. I know how to do my job.”
“Good,” he said, finally backing off. “I was starting to think that you had lost your damn mind. You had no business fucking around anyway. Why weren’t you at home with our child?”
“Stay out of my damn business. You haven’t given a damn what either of us were doing up until now. Don’t pretend to start now.”
“What you do and who you have around my daughter is my damn business.”
“Whatever you say. Is there anything else?” I asked, standing from my seat.
My phone vibrated in my back pocket, and for the first time in weeks, I hoped that it wasn’t Nicholas.
“Just go down and pick up everything you need. When do you expect to see him again?”
“I’m not sure,” I lied.
Damn it. I was already lying, and I hadn’t even started my investigation.
“Make it soon, Jameela. You know how to lure a man into your trap.”
“Fuck you, Tremaine.”
