Page 84 of Brazen Criminals

“Oh, hello,” he says, taking in the guys in the room. Officer Reed takes a few steps into the apartment. “How are you all doing? I heard there was a bit of a disturbance this evening and I wanted to make sure you’re okay, Clara.”

I force a smile across my face. “It wasn’t great there for a minute, but things have calmed down for now.”

Officer Reed strides farther into the room, doing a full scan of the space, noting the liquor on the table with a raised brow. He paces, picking up pictures of Sophie and Emma from the side tables, straightening a painting on the wall. Trips studies him, tension tight across his shoulders while he pretends he’s indifferent to the cop in our midst.

Reed clears his throat. “I’m not sure I know everyone here,” he says, making eye contact with Jansen, RJ, and Emma.

“You’re right, you don’t,” Trips says, standing up and striding to the window, turning his back to the cop in the room, clearly working to get a rise from the man. RJ tenses next to me, his nostrils flaring as he glares at Trips. At least one of these guys doesn’t feel the urge to challenge the police officer.

No one offers up their name, though, not even Emma.

Officer Reed grimaces at Trips’ back, turning toward me with a soft smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Clara, I’d like to work with you on your stalker situation. I have some ideas. Come by the precinct tomorrow, how about one p.m.?”

An involuntary shiver runs through me, and Walker wraps his arm around my waist while RJ touches the inside of my wrist, his fingers warm against my skin. I don’t know why I’m scared to meet with this cop—he seems like a nice guy. But it feels like the ground is shifting under my feet, that lines are being drawn, and I don’t know which side I want to end up on.

I nod instead of answering. Officer Reed glances around the room one last time before strolling back to the door. “If you need anything, you still have my card, right?” he asks, and I nod yet again like some puppet on a string. He exits Emma’s apartment with a half wave and Jansen closes the door behind him.

“Well, wasn’t that something?” Emma says before we all hold up a hand to quiet her. Trips turns back from the window with a nod. RJ disappears from the apartment, returning with the tablet he used to check for bugs a few weeks ago.

He sweeps the room. “Clear.” We all let out a sigh, the silence broken by that one announcement.

“What was all that?” Emma asks.

“Looking for bugs,” RJ says with a shrug.

Emma jumps up, glaring at all of us. “Seriously, what the fuck? Bugs? Like listening devices?”

I nod, not even trying for damage control after RJ threw that bomb into Emma’s lap.

Trips is tense again, staring at RJ like he would love to kick him in the face.

“Why in fuck would the police bug my apartment?” Emma asks.

RJ sets his tablet on the coffee table. “They didn’t.”

I cut in, trying to fix this. “And honestly, they probably wouldn’t have been able to get a warrant—the guys don’t live here and have never been here before tonight.”

“Better safe than in jail,” Jansen quips, curling up on the ground and resting his head on my knees. I run the end of his ponytail between my fingers, the motion soothing.

“I don’t understand,” Emma says, slumping back down onto the loveseat.

Trips gives me a small nod, his jaw clenched.

Emma’s pink hair is standing out from her head, and her hands shake as she picks up and sets down her drink, her fingers tracing the lip of the glass. I swallow, trying to find the right line to walk. “The cops think the guys did a bad thing.”

“Did they do this bad thing?” she asks, skeptical.

I stare at the top of Jansen’s head as I figure out how to tell a truth that isn’t mine. “They tried to do a good thing, and it turned to shit. Then they tried to make it better.” I shrug, not knowing how much else I can say without giving up secrets that aren’t mine to give.

I want Emma to be gentle, to take this in stride. These guys, well, I wouldn’t say they’re good guys exactly, but they aren’t bad guys either. They’re some combination of kind and safe stirred together with selfish and a blatant disrespect for the law—but I don’t know how to explain that either. Instead, I offer my best friend a sad smile. A hacker on my left, a forger on my right, and a thief curled up at my feet.

Emma drops her head in her arms. “Fuck fuck fuck,” she mumbles to herself. We all wait for Emma to come around, no one breaking the silence. Even Trips stops pacing and leans against the wall, tension vibrating from him. I catch his eye, and something that looks like gratitude shines in his gaze. I didn’t fuck up.

Walker’s hand rests on my back, Jansen’s fingers draw idle circles on my calf and RJ’s warmth radiates across the space between our bodies—I’m surrounded by peace and protection, my heart stilling, reveling in the change. I don’t know the last time I was simply at peace. I let out a long sigh—it feels good.

Emma echoes my sigh, pulling her head back up. I’m surprised when she looks at RJ instead of me. “You said you guys were safe. Is that still true?”

RJ locks his stare on Emma. “Every word.”

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