Page 39 of Blood & Heartache

“I’ve not had the pleasure of dealing with the White Knight, but I hear he’s like a dog with a bone. Once he gets hold of something, he doesn’t let it go until he’s gotten what he wants out of it,” Braxton shared.

I snorted at the nickname. “White Knight?”

“Yeah, because he believes he’s better than everyone else for not taking the bribe we offer to all cops we think will be useful. Mind you, no one’s ever approached Kody White about the matter. We knew the moment they brought someone in from another city, they were trying to make sure someone in the police department wasn’t dirty,” Braxton said. “The really interesting part of it all is that we have no idea who actually hired him. There’s no record of who reached out and offered the transfer.”

That had me frowning. I didn’t like there was a person out there who had the power to make that call and cover it up. “Has anyone reached out to the precinct he transferred from? They have to know who they talked to about it.”

“Bet you’ll be shocked to know the previous captain died ever so suddenly, and there’s no record of anything having to do with the transfer,” Braxton said with a tone that told me he wasn’t surprised in the least. “The only thing found was the signed letter by the police commissioner approving it. He had no actual dealings on the matter, only put his stamp of approval on it.”

“Do we know anything about dear Detective White?” I asked.

“Basics,” Braxton sighed. “We wanted to dig further, but your father decided we had better things to do with our time than worry about some young cop trying to make his mark on the world.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Daddy,” I commented, rubbing my forehead. “Why can’t things be simple? Everywhere I turn, something goes wrong, a person isn’t who they seem to be, and the cops want to know if I’m fucking the mayor.”

Braxton let out a little snicker. “I mean, if you’re wanting to get technical, you did finger fuck the mayor.”

I gave him an unamused look as he opened the door to the conference room. “Jealous?”

He came back to me, resting his hands on the armrests of my chair, and kissed me. “Maybe a little, but knowing in time I’ll get you to do it to me helps. Only instead of your fingers, I want you wearing a strap-on and pegging my ass into the mattress.”

“Wow, you’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?” I chuckled.

Braxton booped me on the nose with his finger and smiled. “Only every day since your birthday party. Why do you think I teased you the way I did? I wanted to know if you would play our game or not.”

I didn’t really know what to say to that, so I didn’t even try as he rolled me over to the table where the others were working. Jace was on the phone, and by the way he was pinching the bridge of his nose, I didn’t think the conversation was going well.

“What do you mean? Is he just not at the hospital any longer? There’s no way they would have let him leave after just having surgery,” Jace bit out through a clenched jaw. “No, the paramedics marked down that they took him to New Hope General. Well, why would they write that down if they took him to Keller?”

He paused, listening to whatever the person was telling him, but none of it was making him seem any less upset.

“I see,” Jace muttered. “When did this new rule get put into effect? Well, then it seems we’ll need to be aware of that going forward. Thank you for looking into the matter, Tamara, and I’m sorry I snapped. It's not your fault they pulled a bait n’ switch on in the system. Love you too. Tell Auntie I said hello and not to worry, I won’t miss the monthly meal next week.” He hung up and set the phone down, groaning as he rubbed the heel of his palm against his eyes.

That conversation had me all kinds of curious, and none of it was about what he learned regarding the mayor. “Auntie?” I questioned.

“Yeah, that was my cousin, Tamara. She’s a charge nurse at New Hope General, so she has access to more information than most. Seems about a year ago, a new policy was put into place that they create an intake record for all politicians so people can’t figure out what hospital they’ve been taken to. The hospital that has the patient will then contact the family themselves and notify them of what’s going on,” Jace explained as he dropped his hands to look at me. “Mayor Wilson was sent to Keller, so now I need to track down what connections we have there.”

“Huh, you know that’s rather smart,” I commented. “But let’s go back to what you were saying about this monthly meal?”

Jace sighed as if he’d hoped I would have forgotten about it. “With my cousin being a nurse and the work I do here, it made it hard to do a family meal together. My auntie decided that we’d have one meal a month together come hell or high water, or that was the plan. I’ve been good about making it to them, but last month something came up with a high-stakes game, and I couldn’t make it. Then I got my ass chewed out over the phone, and she threatened to show up here and demand I be allowed to have the night off.”

“Oh, I think I like this woman,” I said with a grin. “As long as the world isn’t burning down around us, you remind me when it is next week, and I’ll make sure you can go.”

“Thanks, Boss,” Jace said with a warm smile. “How did things go with you and White Knight?”

“He’s a peach,” I answered. “At the moment, he’s trying to talk to Boykov and establish my alibi along with who knows what else. The idiot thought I’d be willing to give him security footage to prove I didn’t leave the house today.”

“Why would he be suspecting you in the first place?” Ryker demanded.

“We might want to pay Grant, the mayor’s other assistant, a visit. It seems he’s led the police to believe that I might be having an affair with Mayor Timothy Wilson,” I informed the others. “I quashed that rumor and was able to direct his attention to Melony, who was the idiot letting her boss boink her behind his wife’s back.”

“That’s it?” Ryker asked, seeming surprised. “He didn’t have anything else to say?”

“Goodness no. After I told him to kick rocks and not bother me again, in a professional manner, of course, he finally dropped the act and showed me his true face. Let me tell you, that man is in for a rude surprise if he believes I’m just keeping the seat warm for whoever’s going to take Father’s place,” I said, picking a piece of lint off my robe. “Let’s see if he’s going to keep his job after I tell his bosses the stunt he’s just pulled.”

“Do you think that’s wise?” Atticus asked. “Wouldn’t it just prove what he believes about the police being dirty? Certainly, there is a more effective course of action we can take.”

I contemplated that for a moment. “You might be right, Atty. I’ll think about it before I make a move. No point in wasting a perfectly good opportunity to torture the man and get something I need out of him.”