Page 20 of Prey for You

“Whatever,” Bridget said, but her eyes were on me, pleading with me not to get mad as I strode back to the bed. “I’ll do whatever,” she mumbled. “Let’s just get this done as quickly as we can.”

“Trust me, no one wants to drag their feet on this one, but we’re nailing a fuckingpriest.The press is going to have a field day. So first off, you keep your mouth shut tight, you hear me, Bridge?”

“Yeah, I hear you.”

I had fantasies of sneaking into Jeremy’s house and waiting for him to start talking to her like this again, half parent-to-child,half Dom-to-sub, walking up behind him when he didn’t know I was there and—

“It’s his side that’s going to slow things down, try to let the attention die and make people forget he’s a priest.”

“He’s not a priest,” Bridget said flatly.

“Whatever, the point is, we’re working on it, but it’s not all in our control. We are in the process of scheduling depositions for next week, so I need your schedule. When you can come in—you have to be present for their questions, obviously. But when it’s his turn, it’s up to you. You have a right to be there. But you don’t have to…”

The asshole’s voice faded to background noise as Bridget’s head snapped towards me and she stared, eyes wide and mouth tight.

I gave her a questioning look. She mouthed the word,“Depositions?!”and I shrugged. They were part of the process in a criminal case. Hadn’t she done this before?

“Bridget? You there?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said hurriedly, blinking and tucking her hair behind her ears. The bed vibrated as she jiggled her foot. “Next week? Yeah, um, the only thing I’ve got is Gerald on Thursdays. I’m happy to skip—”

“No, you’re not. We’re not giving themanyreason to turn this into questions about your credibility. In your world, Gerald is like church for the Priest until this is done, Bridge. You hear me?”

Her expression went flat. “Whatever, I hear you.”

“Okay, so Thursdays at what time.”

“Usually one. Sometimes two if he’s got stuff.”

“Okay, so I’m blocking out Thursday afternoons, but other than that, you’re flexible, right?”

They went back and forth a few more times, Bridget growing more and more distant. Jeremy didn’t seem to notice, which pissed me off more.

Why couldn’t any of these people see how deeply this all affected her?

When they said goodbye, she tapped the END CALL button and neither of us spoke until the phoneboopedand the screen switched to the call log. No way was I risking Jeremy hearing me and asking questions.

I was sitting on the bed, just arm’s reach away, but she kept staring at the screen.

“Bridget?” I asked quietly, reaching for her shoulder.

“I forgot about the depositions, Sam.”

I frowned. “Haven’t you done them before? They’re awful, I know, but it’s a treasure hunt—”

“No, Sam,listen.”She turned to look at me and her eyes were full of fear. “I forgot about the depositions. How do I stop from testifying if I’m giving them everything in the depositions anyway? But if I tell them about younow,they’ll go out and do the dirty work to find someone else to make this happen and they’ll still put you away!”

I took her hand. “Hey, hey. Relax. This is a criminal case. My guys will be asking questions to try andhelpme, so you go ahead and answer. I’d be more concerned that they get upset when your answers don’t make me look like a serial killer.”

She sighed. “Jeremy says I always fuck everything up, so I’ll play dumb, or whatever. But what if my guys start asking—”

“Your crew is going to be way more interested in the statements we both gave when I got arrested. Depositions are just my guys poking around to see if they can find anything new to help—so you be the most compliant, helpful witness possible,” I said with a wink. “I’ll be there. I’ll make sure they always take me. And if something comes up that makes us nervous, you just… be the brat that you are,” I said with a grin.

She snorted and looked up at me. “Even brats have to answer if a judge says so,” she said quietly.

I shrugged, pretending nerves weren’t fizzing in my chest. “Then wait until a judge says so. We can’t give them any reason to be suspicious of your motives, Bridget. But seriously… do what they tell you to do. I’ll make sure my guys object to anything even remotely condemnatory. In the end, we’ll figure it out.”

Please, God, can we figure it out…

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