Page 129 of Last Chance Love

“And you put Dane with him on purpose,” I said, remembering he’d been part of the goon squad and had been set as his guard at least once at night.

“Dane was wriggling hard under pressure, and I’m still convinced he knows more than he’s letting on. But now he gets to breathe a sigh of relief that he doesn’t have to fess up since his dealer went and sold herself out in front of three of the most honest people we have here.”

“Uh, are you talking about Dr. Gideon?” Reed asked in disbelief.

“Rufus might not be the hardest worker, but his values are indisputable. He lost his job because of office politics surrounding the ethics of taking kickbacks to push new drugs on patients. When he refused and tried to raise a fuss, he lost his job, was blacklisted from just about every hospital and clinic in the state, and became a pariah.”

Reed’s face went still and then crunched up. “Does he, uh, know what my charges were?”

She tilted her head. “He does. And no, I did not tell him. He found out from an article. He still keeps up on medical news, including of the more scandalous nature. Personally, I think he’s just a gossip fiend.”

“I guess that explains a few things,” Reed said with a sigh. “What I got my ass burned for was probably a little too close to home for him. Explains why he was so cold to me the first couple of years.”

“You weren’t his favorite,” she admitted with a laugh. “But by all accounts, he has warmed up to you.”

“Miracles do happen,” he said and then winced. “Fuck, now I feel horrible for how much of a dick I was to him.”

“Well, then you both have time to make it up to one another,” Mona said with a shrug.

Reed looked up, eyes wide. “Wait, we’re not being ousted?”

Mona gave him an incredulous look. “What for?”

“Well, probably everything we did in the past, I don’t know, twelve hours or so?” I asked, glancing up at the clock and choking on my drink. “Sorry, eighteen hours. Holy shit, I’ve been up for almost forty-eight hours. Kill me.”

“Later,” Reed said distantly, gesturing toward Mona.

She laughed. “Oh, don’t mistake me. The two of you are in trouble for your little stunt. Even if it was a delaying tactic on my part, you both severely violated the rules. You two, and Max for that matter, will be in trouble.”

“C’mon, he wanted to talk to his boyfriend. That’s on me,” I protested.

She snorted. “I was born at night, Leon, but it wasn’t last night. I know I’ll never get the full truth, but I know that man had more to do with this than he’s letting on or that you two will admit. Don’t worry. I know docking his pay means nothing, and putting him on temporary leave just means more Riley time, but I have the perfect punishment, and it provides a solution for one of my new problems.”

“What new problem?” I asked.

“Why, the loss of one of my best mentors. No, scratch that, my best mentor.”

“Uh, shit.”

She winked. “You two will be on probation, and during that time, you will be bumped down to Tier Two, losing the privileges you had. If, after six months, you have behaved yourselves, we’ll consider putting you back up to Tier One. And your mentor status will be lost and have to be reviewed in the same order.”

My eyes widened. “Oh.”

Reed let out a bark of laughter and covered his mouth. “Oh shit.”

I looked at him. “What?”

“Max.”

“What about…oh no.”

Mona’s smile turned evil, and sometimes I really wondered what it was about her and Max that brought out the worst in each other despite how much they respected one another. “He will fill in for you as a mentor while we wait to see if you’re still up for the job when the time for review comes up. In the meantime, you two will be reassigned. For now, Reed, you will work with the animals under Max’s eye with a once-a-week shift at the clinic.”

“Oh, hell’s bells,” Reed said with a wince. “That’s worse than the demotion.”

“And you, Leon, will be assigned to work closely with me.”

“I beg your pardon?”

---