Page 5 of Even if You Fall

Gray shoved Monroe hard enough that she stumbled away, then cleared his throat as he claimed, “This one’s mine.”

“Perfect timing,” I said with a loud clap of my hands. Flashing a wicked grin Briggs’ way, I added, “We just finished repairing the office from the fallout of the last Donut. I can’t wait to see what happens this time.” At the threatening look he sent me, I blew a kiss at him.

“What’s the case?” Cameron Rush asked from beside me, ever the serious one when it came to work.

Taking a deep breath, Briggs released it with the words, “Probably nothing.” He scratched at his short beard before letting his arm drop heavily to his side. “We need to look into it because that’s what we do, but I highly doubt anything will come from it.”

“Meaning?” Rush asked, already tapping on his phone, taking notes while the rest of us just listened.

“Meaning the woman who reached out to me has made a hobby of filing complaints against everyone she works with and has a history of filing false police reports,” Briggs explained, only to slant his head as he continued. “However, she’s made this specific complaint numerous times, and it keeps disappearing.”

“I’m definitely taking lead on this one,” Gray breathed, then hissed a curse when Monroe punched his arm.

Ignoring them the way he always did, Briggs added, “From what she’s shared with me, the superintendent of the district she works for has supposedly been sexually harassing and assaulting teachers and staff. She’s also accusing him of blackmailing them. Since what has allegedly been happening has been against women only, Monroe’s taking lead.”

“That’s exactly why she shouldn’t take lead,” Gray argued. “If thisishappening, we don’t need to put Monroe anywhere near a guy like that.”

“What about me has ever made you think I can’t take care of myself?” she softly seethed.

“It’s unnecessarily putting you near a guy who?—”

“Enough,” Briggs cut in as he scrubbed his hands over his face. “If the two of you wanna keep fighting, do it outside of meetings.” With a hard look between the two of them, he waited to see if either would respond before continuing. “I’m not putting Monroe near anyone other than the staff and teachers, Gray. I need them to feel comfortable enough to talk—they’ll talk to another woman.”

“You saying I don’t make women feel comfortable?” Gray asked with a lazy drawl that had Monroe sighing dramatically.

Briggs stared Gray down. “You know exactly what I’m saying.” With a jerk of his head in my direction, he added, “You can help Thatch look into the superintendent.”

“All right,” I said with another clap, then held out my hand for Gray to slap. “Team Creeper Takedown.”

But Gray’s stare just lingered on Monroe for a moment before narrowing as he looked back at Briggs.

Before he could attempt another argument, Rush asked, “The rest of us?”

“I don’t need anyone else on this.”

Rush released a harsh breath as he lowered his phone. “If this is payback for?—”

“This is absolutely payback for you keeping me off the last Donut,” Briggs said in a low tone that only hinted at humor.

Rush looked like he wanted to respond, but he just slanted his head and went back to tapping on his phone. Knowing him, he’d save the arguing for when he and Briggs were alone.

Still, Briggs said, “I don’t think this will amount to anything, so I don’t want everyone’s focus on it. Besides, I still need some of us watching the Wreckers because I know they aren’t finished with us from the last Donut.”

At the mention of the Dallas-based mafia family, I couldn’t stop from glancing at the newest and final member of our group, Beau Evans. Gone was the golden retriever energy that had burst from him ever since Asher had hired him. In its place was—well, an air closer to what clung to Asher.

In the past few months, the kid hadn’t once quit scowling and seemed to be angrier with the world with each passing day. Then again, if I’d grown up nearly worshiping the badge my entire family had worn for generations, only to find out my corporal dad was working directly with the underboss of the Wreckers, it’d probably change me too.

If I’d found out my dad had been using our casual conversations to gain information on my boss, I’d probably hate the world too.

But other than destroying our office and a warning threat against Asher’s niece, the Wreckers hadn’t made any other moves against us. That I knew of, anyway. Asher’s confidence that they weren’t done with us made me wonder what he knew, and why he wasn’t sharing it.

Not that I’d ask.

That wasn’t my place.

My place was to take care of threats when they arose and find the hidden threats—the unassuming threats. The people waiting to kill you behind their saccharine smiles. Not that that happened a fraction as often as it had when we were on missions as a Special Forces team. But it’s why Asher was putting me on this superintendent guy.

If he was hiding something, I’d find it.

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