Page 71 of Her Protector Daddies

“I only—I only went there because the Chief told me to, okay? And-and you don’t say no to the Chief! Please…” His outstretched hand continued to tremble but this time I allowed him to sit up.

“Talk.”

“I didn’t request you; I mean, I sort of did, but only because I mentioned once that I was curious why a Detective would come back to patrol, but then the Chief asked me to provide updates on you. Everything you were doing, everyone you spoke to, y’know?” His heavy breathing created short gasps between each word. “He wanted to know everything about the case and about Selena and then—then the Gala. He sent me there. Told me I was to give him constant updates.”

I darted forward and grabbed Trask by the vest one more, bringing my face close to his.

“Did you tell him about Selena and the wire?”

Trask nodded quickly.

“Did you tell him when Selena entered the Gala? Did you tell him when she made contact with Andrés? Did you?!”

Again, Trask nodded and a rush of acid flooded the back of my throat.

Fuck.

If that wasn’t proof that the Chief of Police was in the pocket of a Drug Lord, I didn’t know what was.

It didn’t take me long to drag Trask back to the Captain’s office, where I threw him down at her feet and made him repeat every single thing he told me about his orders from the Chief.

The moment Trask admitted he had told the Chief when Selena made contact with Andrés, I stepped in front of Bailey to stop him when he surged up from his seat.

He was ready to kill, and as much as I shared that sentiment, I wasn’t going to lose anyone else.

“So what,” Bailey growled over my shoulder. “The Chief is on Andrés’ payroll? He’s been working against us this entire time? For how long, huh?”

Jay shifted in his seat, one hand curling into a fist.

“I don’t know,” Trask stuttered. “I only know what I know, okay?”

“Selena could die.” Bailey’s voice cracked and pain lanced through my chest. “She could die because of a dirty cop and a corrupt Chief? We’re supposed to be the good guys, who the fuck can we trust?!”

Aubrey observed Trask in silence for a few long minutes and the frown between her brows deepened.

“I will deal with this.”

“How?” Bailey snapped, still pressing against my hold.

Her gaze snapped to him. “The right way,” she replied sharply. “In the meantime, I want the two of you at your desks and Jay, you should stay here too.”

“What happened to mopping up the streets?” I asked.

“I don’t want to send you out there until I know exactly how many people receive special orders from the Chief. Am I clear?” Her sharp eye darted between all three of us. “Desks. Now.”

Being at my desk meant facing down the mountain of paperwork that had grown over the past two days. It wasn’t ideal, especially with my mind tangling webs of how long the Chief had been working against us, directly or indirectly. It was perhaps a stroke of luck however, that the paperwork ended up being a distraction. I threw myself into the mundane nature of it all and worked until my wrist ached and my lower back twinged.

It was a never-ending sea of paper and files and part of it eventually took me down to the holding cells. At least there I got to watch Andrés suffer behind a locked door and it was a small victory. Keeping him off the street was saving lives.

Until my eye caught movement on the camera. I looked up to see an Officer sliding the key into the door of André’s cell.

Was that one of the Chief’s men?

Abandoning my paperwork, I sprinted down the corridor to the holding cells, arriving in time for Andrés to be standing near the desk getting his personal effects handed back to him. His cold eyes locked onto mine, and an even colder smile crossed his thin lips.

“What the hell is going on?” I demanded.

“Uh…” The Officer blinked owlishly. “Andrés is free to go.”

---