Page 82 of Winning Bid

I can picture it now. I am not getting out of here today without fucking this woman. “Whatever you want.”

A moment later, Dana texts me back. “I'll look into the video rumor.”

It had been on my mind for a while now, of course. The only thing that really puts it out of my mind is fucking June. Or thinking of fucking June. Really, the moment she's naked in my mind, all of the noise disappears.

When she's naked in real life, the world goes away.

But for now, I have to stay focused. Moss wouldn't have brought any of this to my attention unless it had the potential for fallout. If only we knew?—

“I just so happen to have a pair of those pink fuzzy handcuffs. They're stored in my underwear drawer.”

And just like that, I have no more thoughts in my head. “Let's go see what you look like in pink. Last one to the bedroom loses.”

She grins and squeals before I race her to the bedroom. I bar the doorway so she loses. But I make sure she wins, too.

Hours later, June is asleep, and I check my phone on the kitchen island again. There's a text from Dana. “They're bluffing. Call me.”

For fuck’s sake, please let this be the news I need to hear. “Dana, what's going on?”

“It was all bullshit. I had my people on the force dig into it for me. They found out the rumor of the video was so that they could pressure you and June into a confession. They've got nothing.”

I can’t believe it. “You're sure? A lot of important lives hang in the balance here?—"

“Anderson, come on. You know me. I wouldn't tell you it was bullshit if I didn't know for sure it was bullshit.” She sounds very offended.

“I know. I'm sorry. This has been one of the most stressful things in my life, and I'm … I'm not sure that I want to believe that it's going the way I need it to go. I can't have hope and have it taken away from me again.”

“Honey, I know. But I promise you, I'm not giving you false hope. This is real. They have nothing on you. All they have is a bloated corpse and a lot of suspicion. A murder case that does not make.”

I blow out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. It still feels too good to be true. “So when we're questioned again?—"

“You have every right to tell them to fuck right off. You're in the clear, my boy. Don't make the mistake of accidentally confessing anything. Not even so much as speeding to get there. Anything that you confess to can give them probable cause, and that will definitely amp up their investigation on you. This is the very definition of giving them an inch, and they will take a mile. Give them nothing, and you'll get nothing.”

“One thing I don't understand. How is it that Moss’ people had it so wrong?”

She sighs. “It seems to me that the cops know who to tell that rumor to. Moss' people are compromised. I don't know if they truly believe that the video exists or if they are plants to feed him false information. Either way, they can't be trusted. He needs new people.” She pauses. “He's not getting mine.”

I chuckle. “Fair enough. Dana, thank you so much for your help on this.”

“Anytime, Anderson. Hope to see you around more often.”

“I'd like that.” Visitation will be much easier since I won't be behind bars. Now, to handle the rest of it.

By the time the detectives actually call me, I've been expecting them. I don't even speed on the drive in. Like Dana said, I will give them no excuses. Inside the police station, they're all smiles. But behind their eyes, something else lurks.

Confidence.

Give me an interrogation room, Banks carries a folder in one hand and pulls out my chair for me with the other. “Take a seat, Mr. West.”

“Why, thank you.” The three of us sit like civilized people. Banks and Wachowski on one side, me on the other. Their interrogation room looks like any that I've seen on TV. Whoever stands behind the one-way mirror is about to get one hell of a show.

Banks sets the folder on the table. “I'm glad you could make this meeting.”

I chuckle. “Well, you are the police. I don't think I have much of a choice.”

“You have all kinds of choices, Mr. West,” Wachowski says in that nasal voice of his. “A man with your kind of money? I'm beginning to see you think you can do anything you want.”

“Pray tell what that's supposed to mean?”

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