Page 57 of How May I Please You

“Is that so?” Summers asks smugly. “Is there a reason why you didn't dig in Godric’s backyard while carrying out the initial search warrant?”

I freeze.

“Your partner, Detective Winter, used the shovel in Godric’s hand as justification for the warrant. However, while conducting the search with you, he never dug. Why is that?”

I don't reply.

“Did you keep Detective Winter from digging in Evan Godric’s backyard?”

Fuck.

“Did you know Sierra Cross was buried there while you were carrying out the search warrant?”

Shit.

“I like you, Journey. But I don't believe that Detective Winter cared so much about this case that he killed himself after coming up empty during a search. In fact, I don't believe he came up empty at all. I believe he was right on the money when he requested the search warrant. I believe you knew about Sierra Cross’s body all along … and I believe you murdered your partner for love.”

He actually put it all together. He figured it out. The game is over.

Sir, I hope you're ready.

“That’s insane,” I say, looking past Summers toward the darkness of the hall behind him.

“Is it?” he asks, clearly happy with himself. “If you want to clear your name, you're going to have to have much more evidence than, ‘That’s insane,’ Detective.”

I look past him again, then make direct eye contact.

“When I say it’s insane, I don't mean that your story is insane,” I tell him as I sit up straight and wipe away all looks and mannerisms of guilt and shame. “I mean that it’s insane that you figured it all out. It’s also insane that you and your recording will never make it out of this house.”

I watch gleefully as Summers’ eyes shrink into a squint, his mind asking if I’m bluffing and wondering how he’ll escape if I’m not. We have a staring contest, wondering what the other will do, but I don't have to move because I have the answers to the test and he doesn't.

I guess he decides that I’m not bluffing, because his hand slowly leaves the table and starts to reach for the service weapon holstered on his hip. But the smile that takes over my face makes his muscles stiffen.

“Tsk tsk, Marty,” you say coldly as you emerge from the dark hall and place the six-inch hunting knife at Summers’ throat. “I wouldn't do that if I were you.”

chapter

thirty-six

“Think about what you're doing, Evan,” Summers says to me, raising his hands with his palms out. “I’m a detective who was sent here to investigate you and Journey. If I come up missing, there is no way you two are getting away with it. No matter how badly you want to, you can’t kill me. Just put the knife down and let’s figure out how to end this the right way.”

A laugh crawls up my throat because I can’t believe the audacity of this man. To think that I would let him live after everything he just said to my woman is insane. I heard the way he interrogated her, baiting her as if he was really here to look out for her best interest, trying to trap her into a confession about Detective Winter’s death. He didn't agree to this to protect Journey. He agreed because he is just like all other cops. He wants to ruin someone’s life. He wants to put someone behind bars until they die, and it only makes him feel better if he can do it to two people instead of one. Cops do nothing if not protect their own, and now that this one knows we killed Winter, he's out for blood. Unfortunately for him, so am I, but for me it is literal.

What Summers doesn't know is that his being here was always the plan. Journey knew exactly what to say and how to say it to get this arrogant prick to agree to meet here instead of the precinct. He's just like all other dumb ass men, moved and affected by the tears of a white woman. He heard her sniffling on the phone and dropped his guard. Fucking idiot.

I wish I could’ve been there to see Journey put on her act over the phone, diving fully into character to make sure this plan worked. Seeing her tear up probably would have made my cock hard, but alas, I had to leave first to make sure I got here before they did. I parked my truck in a vacant lot four blocks away and walked here to make sure my vehicle wasn’t seen, then waited in the shower behind the curtain for Journey to lure her partner inside and lower his guard. Now that we’re here, it honestly all seemed too easy. But I’m not one to find suspicion in the ease of things. I’ll gladly take the easy kill.

Smiling while looking at my beautiful Little Devil, I press the knife to Summers’ throat hard enough to slice his first layer of skin. “Marty, you shouldn't talk to me like you know me. There was once a time when you could've. I would've taken it then, but those days are over. You're only recently becoming aware of what I’ve done, but you have no idea about the beast that I am. The right way … the only way to end this is with your body buried somewhere cold and dark. Coming to the Seventh Precinct was the biggest mistake of your life.”

Summers keeps his hands in the air. “Maybe so. Maybe I underestimated you and Journey, but if you kill me, then everything ends here. You have to think about it, Evan. Do you really believe that I came here to speak to a woman under criminal investigation—whose boyfriend has a warrant out for his arrest for murder—without telling someone where I am? I’m Internal Affairs, remember? So ask yourself if you really think I’d be that stupid.”

I look to Journey who is stunning in her all-black outfit that nearly matches mine. I shouldn't even be thinking of her in this way in a moment like this, but seeing the sweat slide down Summers’ brow while I hold a knife to his throat in front of Journey makes me so goddamn hard. If I knew he wouldn't run or shoot us both, I’d eat her pussy right here in front of him before I slit his throat. She bites her lip as her eyes dance around the room. She would know better than me if this piece of shit would alert the precinct about speaking to her here, but it doesn't take long before her face shows signs of disbelief.

“You didn't tell anyone,” she says to Summers. “If you did, they’d be here. You wouldn't have to record our conversation if there were people outside listening. They’d be recording it for you.”

“Or maybe it’s my job to know how to play people like you,” Summers snaps back defiantly. His tone makes me grip the knife tighter as he keeps going. “I’ve been in law enforcement for a long time, Detective Monroe. With all due respect to the current situation, you're out of your league here. Now tell your boyfriend to put the knife down so we can figure this out together.”

“Why are you so fucking stupid?” I ask, placing my free hand on the back of Summers’ neck and squeezing. “What is there to figure out? We got you here for a reason, asshole. You think we want to talk it out and surrender now? You find a body in my backyard and you think it makes me want to spend the rest of my life behind bars? You're boasting about not being that stupid when clearly you are if you think we’re letting you bring us in. You're going to need a fucking army to arrest me, and for Journey I’ll gladly go to war with them all. It’s clear you have no idea who you're talking to, which means you're the one who’s out of their league.”

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