Page 41 of Fatal Attraction

It wasn’t until I’d spun around and found people piling in around me that my heart jumped to my throat. I never even heard the shrilldingor had acknowledged the doors were open.

“Hold the door,” I shouted as I gently began pushing my way through. “Can someone hold the door for me please? I need to get out.”

Nobody made a fuss over my plea and a young man in his early twenties was more than happy enough to hold the elevator for me.

I kindly thanked him and then made way for Judge Carter’s chambers…just to stumble back when I turned right down the hall and spotted Harley, Ben, Phoenix, and Spike impatiently waiting outside her door. Spike glanced briefly at me, doing a double take and tapping Phoenix three times on his shoulder, drawing his attention to me. He gulped, looking just as thrown off as Spike did as they then turned to Harley, who offered me a thin smile and lifted a hand, waving for me to join them.

“Harley,” I started, keeping a close watch on my guys who were literally freaking the fuck out as they whispered amongst each other. Suddenly, there was a nasty feeling in my gut. “What’s going on?”

She didn’t get to answer because the chamber door opened, revealing The Honorable Judge Carter standing in the middle of the threshold, eyeing over each of us with her lips pursed, her glasses barely an inch away from hanging off the edge of her nose.

“Get in here,” she commanded, making my bones frightfully chill at the raw aggression in her tone. “Now.”

Ben smiled, looking pleased, and then stepped inside, Harley following in after him. Phoenix was next, and as Spike began opening his mouth to say something to me, Phoenix snatched him by the collar and tugged him in the room, leaving me standing there with knots in my stomach.

Something was wrong.

I got myself together, breathing in deep, and closed the door behind me. Judge Carter, who was now comfortably sitting behind her desk, glowering between everyone except for Ben, settled her gaze on me and asked, “How long have you been in a relationship with Detectives’ Rhodes and Hutch?”

I looked at my guys, the knots twisting impossibly tighter as I began questioning what in the utter fuck was happening right now.

“Answer the question, Charlotte. How long have you been in a sexual relationship?”

My throat caved in on me, and I coughed, straining to clear my throat. “Forgive me, Judge Carter, but what is the meaning of this?”

Three hard knocks rapped against the door, cutting her off as she made to speak again. Harley winced, then blew out a breath before she spun on her heels, opening the door. The lump in my throat swelled when Chief and Captain Burgess stepped in. Their pupils were laced with distaste as they eyed Harley down.

“Right on time. Now we can officially get down to business.” To me, Judge Carter sternly stated, “I’m going to ask you one more time, Charlotte. How long have the three of you been involved?”

“Right at four months,” was my uneasy retort, wishing someone would just break the fucking ice already and tell me what the hell was going on. Obviously, my theory about Angel was inaccurate.

“And you two,” she sneered at the chief and captain. “You knew both detectives were involved with Charlotteandthe sanctum, and yet you stillallowedthem to work these cases?”

“We did,” Captain Burgess agreed, his jaw tight and lips pressed to an awfully thin line. “They came to me, admitted they were members of thesanctum, and then I had them submit their DNA first thing to rule them out in Delilah Fields’ rape. I then called Chief, explained the situation, and he backed me on my decision to let them move forward with the investigation. We were not, however, made aware of their relationship with Charlotte until a few days ago.”

Judge Carter side-eyed both detectives who did nothing but keep their eyes rooted to the floor. “And this came outafterDelilah and Amber were attacked?”

“That is correct,” Chief agreed.

She leaned further back in her seat, steepling her fingers. “I see.”

“You don’t understand,” I said calmly as possible. “There’s so much more to it and if you’d please let me explain—”

“I understand it just fine, Charlotte. Harley did the right thing suspending you when Karl’s DNA matched in Amber Strickland’s case. However, Detective Hutch and Rhodes’ involvement with you and the sanctum is a dangerous conflict of interest and hell, to be frank, they should’ve been replaced the instant they became suspects in Delilah’s rape. All the evidence you’ve gathered, every single fucking bit of it, is inadmissible based on those facts alone. A jury won’t be able to distinguish the truth from a lie.”

“Judge Carter,” Phoenix said next, looking up and taking a brave step forward. “Please, just let us—” His plea was silenced by a firm raise of her palm.

“As of now,” she declared, her dark eyes darting to Ben. “Karl Greene is a free man and will be released within seventy-two hours. I’ll have the paperwork sent to you as soon as possible.”

Ben bowed his head in thanks, grinning smugly. “Thank you, Judge Carter.”

“You-you aren’t going to let us explain?” Spike asked through a scoff.

“Don’t bother. I’ve heard everything I need to hear.”

“What the fuck did you do?” I rasped, my jaw trembling as I stared heart-brokenly at Spike, then Phoenix. “I trusted you!”My voice cracked, and my fists raised, shaking. “I fuckingtrustedyou!”

“Charlotte, baby—”

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