Page 47 of Love Under Protection

Me:Need a favor. Flynn, Sawyer. 34. Athens, GA. Current location?

He responds a few minutes later with one word: his brother’s name.

Me:Yes. Urgent.

Liam’s twin brother Landry floats barely above the legal line and does some things that we all pretend to know nothing about for a company down in Tallahassee, Florida. When one of us needs a little back up without drawing attention, it’s Landry we call.

Without any proof, I cannot flag the department or use department resources on this. Especially not when I’m hoping to take care of this on my own.

Chapter 26

Harley

Liam:Information Retrieved.

Me:Email. [email protected]

Liam:Sent.

Less than twenty-four hours later and Landry has come through. The email on my phone confirms that Sawyer is in New York. His arrival was ironically timed with Raylynn’s move and he’s been spotted at several local places and his face shows up on traffic cameras throughout the city and along the route Raylynn took to her interview. Subway cameras pick him up the night we went out too.

If he was at the bar, he slipped in undetected.

Me:Phone number

Liam:I’ll tell him to call you after shift.

I reply one last time with a thumbs up sign before sending a text to Raylynn telling her not to leave the apartment at all today and that I’ll explain after work. She threatens to beat me over the head when she sees me, so I try to lighten the mood by reminding her that that would be assaulting a police officer.

Raylynn:Kindly fuck off. Officer.

If the next three hours don’t fly by, there’s a damn good chance that I might go crazy driving around in my patrol car. As it is, I’m already itching to take a drive to West Village and see if this fucker is home.

I’d really love to turn this information over to the department so that we, or I, could handle it. The only problem with that is that I’d have to disclose where I got the information from and that isn’t going to happen. So, I’ll wait for the call from Landry instead.

While I have the chance, I give a call to 425 Madison’s security company and warn them to be on the lookout for this guy. I don’t know anyone that isn’t a resident that could actually get into the building but I’m not about to take chances. Shit happens, a fact I’ve learned all too well in this job.

Things are quiet for the rest of my shift. I take the liberty of patrolling the area around 425 Madison to pass the time and to keep a lookout for this fucker. If I catch him near the place, Raylynn may have a chance of getting a restraining order to stick, except there’s no such luck today.

By the time my shift ends, I’m circling the block and ready to pull into the parking garage. I haven’t even gotten out of my car when an unknown number pops up on my phone. Unfortunately, the service is shitty in the parking garage, so whoever it is will have to leave a message and I’ll call them back when I get upstairs.

My first stop is my apartment, so I can listen to the message that happens to be from Landry. I quickly jot down the number then call him back.

“Hey, I understand you’ve got an unwanted guest?”

“I do. Don’t know what this guy wants but I need some help. Don’t have enough to stick him with by the book, yet.”

“Say no more. Liam filled me in a little, so I figured you may want some help. Talked with my boss Cole and he’s authorized two men to come to New York for a few days. Says he’ll cut you the friends and family discount.”

“Send me the damn invoice. I’ll handle it.” I don’t give a damn if it costs me my firstborn child or this apartment, I’ll sell everything I own to keep her safe.

* * *

The next day after work,I meet Landry for the first time at a coffee shop down the street from the apartment building, and he tells me the rest of the information he’s got on this guy.

“I’ve got my partner watching this house over on Grove where the guy’s been staying. He’s there now apparently. You aren’t going to like this, but when we got in, Robert spotted the same guy nosing around 425 Madison.”

The words are out of my mouth before I even have time to consider that I may be making a stupid move. “Let’s go pay him a visit.”

---