Page 29 of Her Protector Daddies

“What we know and what we can prove are two different things, you know that,” she reminded me.

As if I needed reminding. I would have killed Andrés with my bare hands if I’d gotten close enough and even though it had been some years since my sister’s death, that feeling remained steadfast in my chest. I knew it was his drugs that got into her hands and I was going to make him pay.

I was long past explaining it away as some noble cause to stop those drugs from killing anyone else.

I wanted revenge. Pure and simple. He took my sister, and I would take his life.

“You’re dismissed,” Aubrey said quietly. “Be careful, Bailey.”

“I always am.”

Closing the door to her office, I strolled down the hallway and made it as far as the vending machines before my phone blared into life with a call from Tyler.

“I still have a job,” I said as soon as I answered.

“Of course you do,” Tyler replied. “I had no doubt.”

“Next time we need to chase a suspect to the roof though, you’re taking that one.”

“Sure,” he scoffed. “Speaking of suspects, I’ve got the name and address of Marcus’ possible accomplice.”

“Selena talked?”

“Yup. Jay worked his magic.”

“Son of a bitch,” I chuckled, shoving some dollars into the machine. “Alright, radio me the address, I’ll meet you there.”

Leaving my car parked around the block, I jogged lightly down the street until I spotted Tyler’s squad car. Letting myself in, I snorted immediately.

“You’re the picture of inconspicuousness.”

“Shut up,” Tyler groaned. “You know how blind people are to a police car that doesn’t move.”

“Sure. So, who is this guy?”

“Matt Forster. Selena said he visited her father a few months ago and they had some kind of argument. Apparently, they knew each other back in the day.”

“When he was a cop?”

“Maybe.” Tyler shifted in his seat. “Selena told us everything. She came home and Marcus had a bag filled with stolen money and items. If he stole all of that from Andrés, then no wonder there’s such determination to get her.”

“That’s so fucking stupid.” Who the fuck wakes up one day and decides to steal from Andrés Dorame?

“That’s what I’m saying,” Tyler muttered. “Anyway, Selena remembered this guy’s name, so I ran him through the system. Turns out he did some time for armed robbery and he was released a few months ago.”

“And his first port of call was Marcus?” This shit was writing itself. “He’s definitely our guy.”

“Yup. You ready? He should be inside.”

“Absolutely. Fuck, some people never learn do they.” I followed Tyler out of the car and tried to shove down my irritation. I was under no illusions; the prison system did a piss poor job at rehabilitating these poor fuckers but to go straight back into crime before the prison cell was even cold is just stupid.

We approached the property slowly, weapons drawn but held low to the ground.

Tyler took point as we approached the front door, and after pulling the screen door back, he knocked swiftly on the door.

“LAPD!” he announced. “Open the door!”

Silence, followed by muted pained groaning reached our ears. We shared a glance. That was definitely probable cause.

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