Page 93 of Broken Player

“Drums.”

“It’s the last door on the left. There are a couple of guitars, a couple of basses, and a drum set in case Jericho visits.”

“I still can’t believe you not only know those guys but are part of the band,” Griffin marveled, looking a little star-struck for a minute before he snapped out of it. I giggled but tried to hide it behind my hand.

“Have fun, little brother.” Maddox tested the words like a new food he wasn’t sure he liked the taste of, but Griffin didn’t seem to mind.

“We’ll pick up dinner on the way home,” I added, pulling out my phone. “Put your number in my phone, and I’ll text so we can decide what we want.” I handed my phone over to Griffin, and he tapped the screen before handing it back. I sent a quick text back. “I texted you Maddox’s number, so you have it, too.”

He nodded, pulling out his own phone and getting lost in it as I grabbed my purse and slid my boots back on. We stepped out of the house, ducking quickly into Connor’s waiting SUV. The crowd of reporters outside had thinned considerably since we’d been avoiding them and not giving them anything usable picture-wise.

The drive to the police station passed quickly since I rested my head on Maddox’s shoulder and dozed the entire trip. He was lost in thought, and I wanted to give him some space.

We pulled up to the station, following Connor inside. It was one of his old Marine buddies we were seeing, a guy he served with, who was a sergeant here with the DPD. The building was taller than I expected, this precinct one of the larger ones if I hadto guess. It looked like it’d been recently remodeled, and it had a modern feel to it.

Judging by the fact Yates’s parents lived in this area, I wasn’t surprised.

Connor checked in with the front desk while Maddox and I hung back. Before we could even sit down, a surprisingly young man walked into the room, greeting Connor like old friends. “This must be the guy,” Maddox murmured near my ear before kissing my cheek and weaving his fingers between mine.

Connor turned toward us, waving us over. “Maddox, Ryan, this is Sergeant Ferraro.”

He held out his hand for me to shake first, then Maddox. His smile was open and friendly, and I couldn’t help but smile back. “Call me Lucas. Please.”

Maddox’s hand dropped to my lower back as we followed Lucas and Connor back to his office. Once the door was safely closed, Connor pulled out the three files and handed them over. “These are yours to keep, I’ve got copies.”

“And what am I looking at?” Lucas asked, thumbing through the pages.

“Are you familiar with the Rutherfords?” Connor asked instead of answering his question.

“Sure, everyone around here is. Old money, they own the bank downtown.”

“As I’m sure you’re aware, they have a son. Yates,” Connor continued.

Lucas’s happy demeanor shifted to something a little less friendly and a little bit more annoyed. I could relate. “I’m familiar with him. I wish I wasn’t.”

“A sentiment we all share,” I offered with a soft laugh.

“He’s been skimming from the company. And, as you’ll see, he really enjoys prostitutes. Tread carefully when flipping through that file,” Connor suggested, pointing out the folderwith the prostitute pictures in it as if it were radioactive, keeping a fair distance.

Sergeant Ferraro looked at it like it might bite him, and I fought off a laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind. What do you need from me?”

“We were hoping you’d arrest him tomorrow night at the charity ball his parents are throwing.”

Lucas sighed. “At the Imperial Cedar Country Club, right?”

Maddox nodded.

“This is either going to go really, really well, or fuck up my whole day,” Lucas noted, resigned.

“We’re going to make a speech, and once it’s done, we want you and your men to move in and take him. We plan to show his parents and all his parent’s snobby friends the kind of man he truly is. But we need your help,” Connor laid out, explaining the details of what we planned to do tomorrow night.

“I’ll get everything set up and in place. I’ll need to get a warrant,” Lucas confirmed after he’d flipped through the evidence we brought him.

“We don’t want anyone to know this is going down until it happens. If we don’t surprise him, he’ll run,” Connor added, lifting himself out of the chair. Maddox and I did the same, and Lucas followed.

“I’ll only bring in my most trusted guys. We’ll get him,” he promised, holding out his hand for Connor to shake. If Connor trusted him, Maddox and I did, too. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow night and the end of the nightmare that I’d started for all of us a couple of months ago.

I couldn’t wait to watch Yates get everything he deserved.

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