Page 60 of Her Protector Daddies

Aubrey lifted her head. “Actually, I did a little digging into that.” Abandoning her files, she turned to her desk drawer and started rummaging around. “I was wrong. He didn’t request to be your partner, at least not in the way I thought he did. Aha!”

Aubrye straightened up with a sheet of paper in her hand and thrust it toward me.

“His request was with the Chief. Trask went to him and asked to be assigned to you that way. It passed by my desk as already approved so I thought it was the Desk Sergeant that had cleared it.”

“The Chief?” What the hell was the Chief doing getting involved in Patrol pair ups? Sure enough, his name and signature were stamped onto the application, along with Trask’s name and badge number.

My growing suspicion around Officer Trask suddenly ramped up to ten.

“The Chief… he also signed off so easily on using Selena, by all rights a civilian, and placing her right in front of Andrés under the guise of getting intel.” The paper crumbled slightly in my hand as my mind scattered the pieces around my mind, slowly forming another root of suspicion.

“The Chief could have any number of reasons for agreeing to that,” Aubrey said flatly, a warning licking at the edge of her tone. “Given the struggle we’ve had for years, building a case against Andrés, you can argue that he’s doing everything and anything to get that arrest.”

“Sure, you could look at it that way,” I said slowly, lifting my attention from the paper. “But he’s also the one with the most knowledge about everything. Every case against Andrés, every single witness, every piece of evidence.”

“Tyler,” Aubrey warned. “You’re suggesting something very dangerous.”

“I’m not officially suggesting anything,” I replied, handing the form back to her. “But don’t you think it’s strange if you consider all the pieces? Not only does he have all that information, but what are the chances that the moment I go undercover with the sole purpose of finding intel on Andrés from the people on the streets, I get saddled with the one Patrol Officer who doesn’t even let me piss in peace. I told you he was distracted at that car stop. I bet it was because I was questioning André’s girl, and he wasn’t. Then, our one key witness from the robbery gets gunned down and now our only other secure witness is being placed right in Andrés lap. Right where we’ll be too far back to stop anything awful from happening, all under the guise of trying to get ears on that bastard.”

Each word sent my pulse racing a little faster, and despite her best efforts, Aubrey couldn’t keep the look of realization from her face.

“Tyler…”

“Look, all I’m saying is it’s fucking suspicious, don’t you think?” Pushing off from her desk, I began pacing around the room. “I’m not going to start broadcasting this and maybe it’s all a coincidence. Maybe Trask is just a dirty cop and the Chief is making some desperate decisions to secure an arrest but we… we can’t let Selena walk in there.”

“That’s out of my hands,” Aubrey said quietly. “There’s nothing I can do about that, and what you’re saying is just speculation. You have no proof and no notice. What reason would the Chief of Police have for throwing the entire case under the bus? And getting rid of witnesses? If you’re right, this move is exceptionally brazen.”

“Maybe, but we’ve been keeping Selena safe. This is the only time she will be away from us.

Our gazes met, and neither of us wanted to say it. If the Chief was on the payroll, that’s all the warning he would need. My heart sank. We couldn’t stop the sting operation with Selena, which meant she would be walking into the lion’s jaws and he would be ready for her.

“You know that if I’m right, Trask knows I’m still a detective and why I’m on patrol.”

Aubrey nodded slowly. “Again, Tyler. This is just?—.”

“I know, I know. But I’ll get proof. I’ll get something, alright? Because we can stand here and deny that this is all fucking coincidence.”

“Until then, this conversation never happened,” Aubrey said calmly, straightening in her seat.

“Fine, but do me one solid.”

She lifted a brow.”

“Keep Trask away from the deal when it goes down. He can’t be there; he can’t even be listening in if there’s even the slightest chance he’s passing information along.”

Aubrey nodded. “I’ll keep him under control.”

Good. Now, I just had to make sure Selena walked out of this in one piece.

The alternative was too heartbreaking to consider.

23

SELENA

On paper it was easy.

Get dressed up. Wear a discreet wire. Attend a Charity Gala filled with criminals and end up face to face with the notorious drug lord Andrés Dorame to discuss a mutual hatred of my father in a way that will secure Andrés’ arrest.

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