Page 34 of Gunner

“I think we share the Blood Hounds. Filthy scum.” He rocked back in his chair with a scowl. “I have men waiting to apprehend Paddy once they lay eyes on him. Where are you staying? I’ll be in touch once we have word on him.”

“The Jewel Motel.”

“That dump?” He scoffed. “I guess the pay for acting chief of police is shit too, but we don’t do this for the money, do we? We’ve made an oath to enforce the law and maintain order.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“You single?” he asked as he walked me to the door of his office. “As long as you’re in town, why not drop by my house tonight for dinner? I can invite my middle child over. Betty’s a good girl, knows how to cook, just like her mama. She’d be perfect for a cop’s wife.”

“She sounds lovely, but I’ll have to decline, through no fault of her, but if you have a single son, sure.”

The captain’s face turned red, and his lips curled. “You one of the gays, huh?” He spat the word as if he’d eaten something gross.

“Yes, I’m gay.”

“I see.” He turned his back and walked toward his desk. “I just remembered my wife and I already have dinner plans, and my son has a wife, which every man should have, if you ask me. If we find the suspect, I’ll keep in touch, but you might not want to hang around Riverton until we do. We can just as easily call ya.”

Fuck. I wasn’t ashamed of being gay, and I never hid it, but usually, I was cautious about bringing it up in the workplace, knowing how some people felt about it. Since it had the potential to fuck up my work, as I was sure had just happened, I kept it to myself unless someone else brought it up.

I wouldn’t hear from the captain.

I drove back to the motel in no better mood than I’d been in when I’d left. How could I get anything done when all around me was red tape? Red tape because of my past. Red tape because of the position I had. Red tape because I had to do everything by the fucking book. Red tape because even when I went by the book, I ran into a homophobic prick.

Fuming, I took the elevator up to my floor. Gunner. I would have to face him and the smug look that he was right. I stopped outside the room and groaned. If I was this worked up before I saw him, our impending fight would get worse. I didn’t have the energy to fight with him and stay calm.

I collapsed against the wall and loosened my tie. Closing my eyes, I worked on my breathing. Deep, steady breaths until I felt calmer, more composed. I couldn’t be the me who’d gotten transferred to Smoky Vale because I’d lost my cool and fucked up a suspect. A mistake I’d still not forgiven myself for. Not onlyhad he walked away because I hadn’t proceeded according to the books, but he’d done so with hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state’s pockets.

If he’d stopped there, I wouldn’t be as hard on myself as I was today.

Something clicked, and the door to my room flew open. Two people walked out. The tall one had an olive complexion. The younger of the two was slender with blond curls, blue eyes, and delicate effeminate features.

“Thanks again, Matthews,” Gunner said. “Didn’t expect you to get here so quickly. I owe you one.”

Matthews? Matthews? Where had that name been mentioned recently?

“You have a visitor?” The Matthews guy frowned. “Looks like a cop and smells like one.”

The other person stood in front of Matthews, his pointed chin raised. “What are you trying to pull here?”

Oh shit, this was Sullivan Matthews. The notorious hitman. Rumors were he used a honey trap to lure the men he wanted to kill. Could that be the boy with him? Though his companion was lovely, they weren’t my type. I preferred rough-and-tumble guys like Gu—Mason.

“Don’t mind him. We’re working on this case together.” Gunner walked out of the room barefooted and slung an arm around my shoulders. “He wants answers too much to report anything. Don’t you, sweetheart?”

I bit my tongue to stop myself from exploding, and even when I tasted blood, it did nothing to calm me down. Gunner had embroiled us into a scheme with the Mafia. What part of “I’m a cop” didn’t he understand?

“You two are an item?” Matthews asked.

Gunner dropped his hand down to my ass and squeezed. I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Can’t you tell?”

His companion giggled and whispered to the hitman/mob boss who’d probably kill both Gunner and me when he learned we weren’t really lovers, and I couldn’t promise he wouldn’t end up in jail. “Don’t they remind you of Talon and Javier?”

The hitman cracked a smile. “We’ll get in touch. If we suspect anything out of the ordinary from you two, I don’t have to tell you you won’t leave Riverton with your heads still attached to your bodies. You both have a nice day.”

Hold it in, Ben. Hold it in. Just a few more seconds until they get into the elevator. Then you can take Gunner to the balcony and shove his ass over the edge.

10

GUNNER

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