Page 43 of Game Changer

As soon as they’re out of his office, he waves to a chair and sinks down in his. “How are you?”

“Rough question. I know who I am, just not how I am.”

“I get that.” He pushes a file forward. “Accident report’s in there. Summary, road conditions, and it says the vehicle’stires were severely worn, which may have contributed to loss of control on the wet pavement.”

“That’s—”

“Bullshit, I agree. With your permission, I’m going to send my guy over from the dealership in Syracuse to look over the vehicle, and then you and I are going to go meet him.”

I nod.

“I’ll send him on his way now before anyone can fuck with anything.”

“You think someone fucked with her ride?” I ask.

“I’m not sure what I think. I do know that I don’t like the report.” He reaches across his desk, flips open the folder, and points. “The officer is no friend of this family. Sydney doesn’t talk much about what happened that ended them, which is unlike the women around here. They share everything, so Tessa and I suspect there’s something a little bit deeper. His name is on that report, and he was off duty showing up there?” He shakes his head. “I’m not buying it. And if I can get him gone from law enforcement, I’m going to be an even happier man, and I’m a fucking happy man, Boone.”

I don’t tell Lucas everything I know about this shitbag officer, which is little. Regardless, I wouldn’t betray Sydney like that. But I do tell him that the officer in question stopped at the house yesterday. Told him that I think he was there just to lay eyes on her. A pathetic excuse since he had nothing for me. I told him Sydney even questioned why he was first on the scene.

After practice, I meet Lucas at the garage where Lindsey’s SUV was taken—Town and Country Tow. Inside, a man in his sixties stands up, reaches his hand out, and shakes mine. “JerryJohnson. I was just talking to Lucas here, and since you’re the insured, you can decide where to have the vehicle fixed.”

I glance at Lucas. “What would you do?”

“I called Jerry because he owns a dealership, knows Rovers. He’d be the one I’d choose.”

“All right then.” I glance around at the men wearing shirts with the Town & Country Tow logos on it. They obviously work here and seem a bit annoyed. “Is there a problem?”

“Vehicle’s totaled; there’s no fixing it,” the bald one says then spits on the concrete floor.

I glance at Jerry, who states, “Always worth a second pair of eyes.”

I turn to Lucas, who winks and nods toward the door. “I know you need to get to the city. I’ll take it from here. Let me walk you out.” He looks at one of the men and asks, “Do you need his signature?”

He shakes his head.

“You sure? Because you insisted you did, and now I’m fucking pissed you wasted his time when he could have just headed to the hospital.”

“He’s good,” the lanky, bearded one states.

“Jerry, call for that tow?” Lucas asks.

“It’s two minutes out.”

“We can tow it,” Baldy huffs.

“Well aware of what you can do,” Lucas growls.

“Am I missing something?” I ask Lucas as soon as we’re outside.

“The vehicle has five thousand miles on it; there is no way that it has bald tires. It’s clear that the report has been falsified.”

“Which means Officer Dipshit messed with it. I need to know why.” I scratch my head.

“Any idea if they have communicated?” he asks.

“Why would they?” I respond.

His brow arches a bit. “You hang around Sydney. If he’s stopping at the house just to get a glimpse of her, why wouldn’t he?”

---