Page 53 of Dirty Rotten Cheating Husband

Since that was Vivi, I yanked the masks off the other two men, one moaning and holding his nose, the other retching up blood. Nakamura and Williams.

“What the fuck are you guys doing here?” I hissed, glancing over through the window at Clementine. Now she was dipping a shortbread cookie into her tea.

Adorable as fuck.

Nakamura threw up again, all over the lawn.

“Chief’s orders,” he said.

“Why?” I asked sharply, my fear spiking. “Did a threat come in about her?”

“No,” Vivi snapped resentfully. “We’re trying to find some dirt on her. You know, to encourage her not to contact that journalist.”

My blood froze in my veins.

I’d worked like a fucking dog for a department that was currently rummaging through an innocent woman’s trash in an attempt to intimidate her into not talking to a journalist.

“Get the fuck out of here,” I said.

“But the Chief—” Vivi began before I cut her off.

“I’ll be in to talk to him tomorrow. I’ll give you all ten seconds to leave or I’m going to fuck up the cop car.”

Nakamua and Williams began to back away, but Vivi said,

“You’ve never so much as failed to do a report on time, Grayson. Just help us go through the garbage. Maybe we can find some loans or something we can hold over her head.”

“Five more seconds,” I said.

“Let’s just go,” Nakamura said.

“No!” Vivi snapped. “He’s bluffing.”

“5,” I said. “4.”

“Come on,” Williams said.

“You won’t get the promotion if you don’t play nice,” Vivi warned.

“Really?” I asked, picking up the camera they had used to take pictures of Clementine with and smashing it on the ground, stomping on it with my boots until it was nothing but a pile of crushed plastic.

“Shit,” Nakamura said.

“1,” I replied.

Then I walked over to the cop car and wrenched the mirror on the driver’s side off, in a sudden ear-splitting rip of shredded metal and snapping wires.

“What was that?” Clementine cried, looking out the window, and I only hoped the night was too dark for her to see anything.

“Just taking out the garbage,” I called back. “I’ll be there in a second.”

I turned to my team, who no longer really felt like my team. They felt like strangers.

“If the Chief asks, tell him I take it very personally when people threaten Clementine Adler,” I shrugged. “You can stay here and I’ll fuck up the rest of your car or you can go.”

Then I left their stunned faces and went back inside to finish watching the cat show.

CHAPTER 21

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