Page 81 of Rent Free

“Mamasauce,” I said as I gave her Forest. “Why are you so mad?”

She tried to sweep the powdered sugar off his chest and realized it was there to stay.

“Gamma is mad because there’s a lady here that’s a twit.” She looked at me, her eyes once again going hard. “You seriously owe that girl an apology.”

I grimaced. “I’m more than aware.”

“I heard she’s watching this guy for you.” She once again leveled me with a look. “You’ll lose her if you’re not careful.”

My stomach twisted. “I’m working on it. There was a moment of panic when I thought she was leaving, and I can’t say that I handled it well.”

“You’re one of my brightest children,” she said. “But your choice in women leaves a lot to be desired. For the love of God, don’t let the best one yet go.”

With that she took off with my kid, who was glad to go.

They chattered away until I couldn’t hear a single word.

“Mom’s right,” Garrett said, coming up behind me. “You’ve got shit taste in women.”

I rolled my eyes, heading for Dad’s office once again.

When I arrived, I saw I wasn’t the only one there.

Auden, Gable, and Quaid were there as well.

All of them went silent upon my arrival.

“Son, have a seat.” He grimaced.

I did and he turned his monitor around for me to see.

I watched in silence as the body cam footage from Garrett’s chest was displayed.

From start to finish, I could see the entire thing pan out. From the moment she entered the hotel, to the moment Garrett’s entire body jerked as he saw a woman and her husband leaving. I frowned at the words that the man leveled at the woman before Garrett once again turned his attention back to Sage and the maid.

The next fifteen minutes of footage was my brother approaching then detaining Sage. He walked her out to his cruiser, and the arrest caught the attention of every single person she passed.

An officer getting arrested by another officer would do that.

“News has already hit on who we arrested,” Dad grumbled darkly. “The assistant chief is also sitting in on the interview. Want to watch?”

Dad had a new system where he could tune in to any of the interviews in the station.

At my nod, he pulled up the feed for the interrogation rooms where the questioning of Sage Solomon was already under way.

“This should be fun,” Mom came in with a bag of popcorn, and not my son. “I am so freakin’ glad I didn’t take the assistant chief position. Popcorn probably wouldn’t have been allowed.”

“Where’s Forest?” I asked, slightly alarmed.

I mean, logically I knew my mother wouldn’t give my kid up to someone who wasn’t trusted, but that didn’t make my heart hurt any less.

“Pepper has him.” She snorted. “I was left like a wet gym sock. She was called by Sage, who wanted Pepper to come bail her out.”

“Why’s she here then, since we all know that she’s not bailing out that little psycho?” Gable asked.

“I’m here because I was called to offer up my testimony on what I felt happened and why Sage did what she did,” a humor-filled voice called from behind us. “Hello, Carters.”

I looked behind me to see Forest in Pepper’s arms, his fingers curling around a stray lock of Pepper’s blonde hair.

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