I paid dearly for that lapse in judgement.
“Well,” Quinn said, groaning loudly and standing, swiping up his phone from his desk. “The school will have to wait; we got the warrant we’ve been after. You want to take the kid with us or leave him here with Greer?”
“I’m not fucking taking him,” Greer says instantly, scowling at us. “Put him in the break room with Gideon’s leftover books.”
“Yeah, we weren’t asking your opinion,” I drawl.
Normally I’d say leave him here—with anyone other than Greer; the waste of space can’t even keep track of his own partner—but it’s not like we’re going to a crime scene. Gathering CCTV footage from a run-of-the-mill clothing store is boring legwork we can’t get away from. They’d refused to give us anything without a warrant. I can’t wait to see their faces when we go back with one and force them to cooperate. The power trips some people are on, simply because we have a badge, pisses me off. It’s always satisfying to throw it back in their faces and make them sit the fuck down while the adults do their jobs.
“Yeah, why not?”
Chapter five
Grady
Rileyspendsmostofthe ride not speaking to us. Which suits me just fine. What do teenagers even talk about these days? Nothing in a language that I understand. All I want to know is where he got the bruise. It’s fresh enough that it has to have happened today. Who does the school call in those situations? The foster parents? What are they doing about it?
“You have a boyfriend, right?” Quinn asks, glancing behind himself from the driver’s seat.
Riley stiffens, and I watch him carefully. “What of it?”
Still so sure that we’re going to say something unpleasant to him. We don’t target kids. There are plenty of adults in theprecinct I can sharpen my claws on. One in particular. Two, when Quinn’s boyfriend Sebastian comes sniffing around.
“Just making conversation,” Quinn says pleasantly with a smile, not offended in the least. He has a better temperament than me. “I myself have four of them.”
Riley’s mouth drops open. “Aren’t cops supposed to be like… paragons of society?”
“I think we’re human,” Quinn says with a chuckle. “What has that got to do with my relationships?”
Can’t be an issue with being gay since the kid is himself. The polyamory thing? He can take that opinion and throw it over the side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
“Cheating onfourpeople is fucked up.”
“Watch your mouth,” I snap automatically. Nice to see he has some morals in there, though. Cheating in generalisfucked up. A fact I know quite intimately, multiple times over.
“Got a mirror handy?” Riley asks waspishly.
I wonder if Boss-Riley was like this as a kid. Wouldn’t surprise me.
Quinn snorts. “There’s no cheating involved. The five of us are together, in one relationship.”
Riley blinks, confusion settling in. “You—wait, what?”
“We live together.”
How anyone could live with that lawyer is beyond me. Some of the others aren’t so bad, I guess. I like Will. Sometimes Peyton. The rest I can do without.
“Fiveof you?”
Quinn nods, slowing down at a red set of lights. “Yes.”
If Riley says one smartass remark about it, he can get out and walk home. Regardless of my thoughts about Quinn’s terrible taste in men—one, specifically—no one’s allowed to say a single negative thing about it without getting my foot up their ass.
“That’s so many dishes,” Riley says quietly, almost to himself.
Quinn bursts out laughing. “Our dishwasher is the best investment I’ve ever made.”
My phone rings, and I answer without checking who it is, glad to get out of this weird conversation. As soon as it connects to the stereo system, I say gruffly, “Detective Sergeant Grady Donehue.”
