Page 31 of From the Shadows

A text. She ignores my calls all day long but responds with a text that is well composed and grammatically correct. No shortened words, no emojis.

I respond with a simple two-word message.

Me: Thank you.

Shoving my phone into my pocket, I turn. “Are we done?”

Christophe leans back in his chair, and Teague hikes a brow at me.

“Are we ever?” Christophe asks far too casually.

“You hear from the nanny? Amie?” Teague pours whiskey into a couple of glasses, the bottle poised, waiting above a third.

I shake my head, significantly more interested in getting out of here than sharing a drink like I normally do. “Chantal texted back. She’s going to be out of pocket for the foreseeable future. She has some things to take care of at home.” I don’t know if that’s true, she didn’t exactly give me a whole lot to work with as far as details are concerned. “I need to go. Make the necessary arrangements for my daughter and try to get her back on some kind of a schedule.”

A smile stretches across Teague’s face as he swirls the whiskey around his glass. “That all it is? Not going to go get cozy with Lapin in her little bungalow? Play house for a bit?” He’s goading me… it’s what he does. The man can sling shit all day long, but when push came to shove with his woman, he shut it down fast.

The most effective way to deal with this version of Teague is to ignore him, so I address Christophe. “I’ll touch base tomorrow. I may be working remote more often until my childcare issue is settled.”

He nods, obviously well aware that another offer to bring Evie here will be for naught.

“If we need you, should I look for you at your penthouse, or just come straight to Jess’s?”

Before taking my leave, I glare at Teague, long and hard, until a normal man would start to squirm, but he just chuckles and takes a sip of his whiskey. Not a care in the fucking world, that one.

At the back of the mansion, I hold my breath and brace for the worst as I climb into Jess’s van. I don’t know what I think I’m going to find, but it’s perfectly clean. No blood in sight, no tang of copper lingering in the interior.

Good.

But I roll the windows down anyway. The breeze will be great as long as the rain holds off. It doesn’t look promising.

I hit the brakes, slowing as I pass the park, not that there should be kids out playing this late, in this weather. But just the same.

A cruiser sits tucked back off the road, just waiting for some poor unsuspecting soul trying to beat the storm home. That fool is not me. Not today. But that doesn’t seem to matter,

Lights flash, bathing the street in a riot of red and blue. The headlights are blinding in the mirror as he pulls up behind me.

But I know that walk. The false bravado in every step, the jaunty swing of the flashlight, and I track the shit-eating grin on Officer Dustman’s face as he deliberately does not touch the back of the van on his approach.

“Glad you’re not blaring another one of those dirty books, Jessaline. Might give people the wrong idea about you.” He’s so focused on being a dick, he doesn’t notice it’s not Jess in the driver’s seat. Now is not the time to examine why him using her full name makes me feel an elevated level of murdery. There will be time for that later.

“Devin.”

Is it smart to startle an asshole with a weapon? No. It’s really not. But watching him almost shit his pants is pretty fucking entertaining.

When he recovers, he asks, “Are you authorized to be driving Miss Lapin’s vehicle?”

“Kind of formal, don’t you think? You pull Jess over enough, you should be on a first-name basis by this point. Or dealing with a harassment suit. I’m happy to file that on her behalf.” Again, not my finest moment, but considering the way he hesitates at the very idea, I think my odds are fine. “I was driving the speed limit, and my lights are functional and on. Is there a legal or safety centered reason you pulled me over?”

“I, uh”—he shifts in that way that cops sometimes do, adjusting the utility belt that sits heavy around his middle—“no. Just, uh, be careful driving…”

“Home. Yeah, I will. You have a good evening. Stay out of trouble.” I don’t wait for him to dismiss me, but I do keep one eye on the review mirror to make sure that degenerate doesn’t trail me to Jess’s house.

Chapter 13

The Fall

JESS