Page 69 of Tethered

Shepard shakes his head. “She was just brought in for questioning.”

“In cuffs?”

“What can I say, my girl’s kinky.”

Jen’s lip twitches, but she controls herself until Shepard gives me a wink and leaves. She whirls on me. “What, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck?”

“First off, how the heck did you get here so fast?”

“Chopper. How else?”

“You have a helicopter at your disposal?”

“Of course, darling, doesn’t everybody?”

I open my mouth but close it again.

“Relax, I was with another client when I got the call. He’s very wealthy and insisted I take it as he has a whole fleet at his disposal.”

“Who the hell needs a fleet of helicopters?” I rub my temples at the waste of money and take a seat in one of the empty chairs, swallowing when my wet panties press against me.

“It stinks of sex in here.”

“What can I say? I resisted arrest, and Shepard was forced to use excessive force.”

“Which resulted in him impaling you with his nightstick?” She cocks that damn brow again.

“I plead the fifth.”

“Of course you do.” She sits down and sighs, crossing her ankles together before she lowers her case to the floor. She laces her fingers together in her lap and looks at me. “What happened?” It’s the calm, no-nonsense tone that steals the humor from the room.

I sigh and fold my arms over my chest, even though I know I’m being defensive. I open my mouth and let it all out, even down to having sex with Shepard on the desk, minus the breeding talk.

“This is such bullshit.”

“I know. Even Shepard knows, but his hands were kind of tied,”

“Yes, I’m aware. I’m less pissed at him than I was before.” She waves me off, pulling out her iPad from her case. “Okay, first things first, do you know Sarah’s details?”

“Only her name, that she works at the library, and has shitty friends.”

“I know you like her, but could she be in on this?”

I want to deny it straight away, but I’m smart enough to keep it in check. I’ve been fooled before. Truth is, I don’t really know Sarah. The fact that Porter, Derek, and Judy were so confident Sarah wouldn’t be an issue makes me question myself.

“I don’t think so.” I think back to her defending herself to Judy, and I just can’t see it. “Is it possible? Yes, but I’m not buying it. You’d have to talk to her to understand.”

“Don’t worry, I will. As for Porter and Derek, I’ve reached my damn limit with those two.” I wince before I can stop myself,but she misses nothing. “Why do I get the feeling more has happened that you’ve been keeping from me?”

“I wasn’t keeping it from you. It just wasn’t worth telling you.”

“Tell me now, and I’ll be the judge of that.”

Reluctantly, I fill her in on my encounters with first Porter and then Derek, including the stunt he pulled at Jackie’s house, where I had to pull Austin off of him.

“Wait, you’re back in contact with Austin?”

“It’s in its early stages.”