Page 44 of Gunner

“…don’t understand. All I’m asking is for a chance to talk to him.”

“I already spoke to the person of interest,” an unfamiliar male voice said. “And found him to be completely unaware of the baby farm you mentioned.”

“With all due respect, this is a serious case I’ve been working on cracking for the better part of a year,” Witter said. “We have dozens of babies who’ve been through this program. These women have been taken advantage of because they’ve beenimprisoned, and there’s no telling if this operation goes beyond the prison. I’d be more at ease speaking directly to Paddy to ensure he knows nothing. You don’t have enough information about the case to conclude Paddy’s not involved.”

“It seems to me that you’re all out of ideas, and you’re grasping at straws here.”

“Is there a reason you don’t want me questioning Paddy?” Witter’s voice was strained. The other cop was making things difficult for him, and I didn’t blame him for his suspicion.

“Now listen to me, you wanna-be cop. It takes real men to handle this job, and that’s not you. You should resign. Cops like you make things difficult for the other upstanding ones and give them a bad name.”

“Cops like me?” Witter asked. “You mean gay? That’s your problem, isn’t it? Because of your bigotry, you can’t overlook your personal judgments and handle this job professionally, can you? Do you really expect me to believe you’ve done due diligence with Paddy?”

The man laughed, and the muscles in my back tensed. First his colleagues at his precinct, now this police captain? What was it about Witter that made people take advantage of him this way? Why didn’t he have a backbone instead of letting all these assholes push him around?

“Let me get this straight,” the stranger said. “You’re officially on a business trip, no? Is the man you’re hiding in that bathroom a part of that business?”

Fuck.

Had I done something to give myself away?

“Don’t divert the topic,” Witter said, but even I heard the fear in his voice. “What or who I have in the bathroom is none of your business.”

“I guess you’re a part of a motorcycle club, then? You think I don’t recognize that cut draped over that chair?”

I patted my body. Shit. I’d left the cut in the room. Stupid. Stupid. As much as I goaded Witter, he was doing serious work trying to track down those responsible for the baby farm. I would never intentionally sabotage that aspect of his work.

“That was left there by a previous guest,” Witter said.

“Likely story.” Sarcasm oozed from the remark. “Let’s get something straight. This ismytown, not your crime-infested Smoky Vale. I’d suggest you pack your shit and get out of here before you run into the wrong crowd. There’s no answer for you here.”

The front door slammed. I entered the room and found Witter with my cut clutched in his hands.

“Was this a part of your plan?” he snapped.

“Why would I deliberately leave that there?”

“Why do you do anything?” He threw the cut at me. “You’ve been difficult every step of the way since you decided to contribute to this case, but all you do is fuck things up.”

“How did I fuck things up?” I shrugged on my cut. “You know what, Witter? You claim I’m a lousy president, but I think that’s you projecting because you’re fucking shit at your job as police chief. You only find the energy to fight with me. Well, where was that same energy to deal with that homophobic piece of shit that just walked out?”

“So I stink at my job because I won’t stoop to their level?”

“Maybe stooping would do some good because all you’re doing is lying down and letting them walk all over. Man, you don’t take that kind of shit and disrespect from anybody, no matter who they are. If anyone spoke to me that way, you bet your ass it’d be the last time.”

My chest heaved as Witter and I glared at each other. He dropped his gaze first. He couldn’t even win in a staring contest.

“You don’t know anything about me or—”

“Or what?”

“Nothing.”

I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shoved him hard into the wall. “You’re the most frustrating man I’ve ever met. I don’t know if I should hate you or feel sorry for you.”

Witter pushed at my arm. “I don’t want your pity.”

“I don’t give a fuck what you want. Listen and pay attention because I’m only gonna say this once. You and I got issues that go far deeper than you can even think. There are days those issues make me want to smash your head in, but then there are days like today when I hear you take shit from others, and it makes me want to fuck them up. If you’re going to keep me around, then man the fuck up, so I don’t have to do for you what you should be doing for yourself. Because if I get my hands on one of them, you’ll truly see the motherfucking monster you think I am. That’s not a good thing, Witter, because I’ll be pissed as hell if I have to get my hands dirty defending the man I loathe most in this world.”

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