Page 35 of Papa's Bébé
The Chief of Police wasn’t someone who deserved their help, he could rot. Perhaps it would be a good thing if the person threatening him took him out. Cut off the head of the poisoned snake.
But the girl was innocent. And it sounded like she was being subjected and harassed. She didn’t deserve to be hurt because her father was a corruptbâtard.
The theme from Batman filled the room and Brody reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. “Sorry. Oh shit. I have to go and, um, take this.”
He headed out of the room, bringing his phone to his ear.
Ink stared after him with a strange expression on his face.
“Everything all right?” Matthieu asked.
Ink glanced over at him. “Ah, yeah.”
Brody entered, looking even more red. “Um, Ink, he wants to talk to you.”
Ink sighed and nodded. He stood and reached over for the phone.
“Actually, he said to put him on speaker,” Brody explained, fumbling with his phone and placing it on the desk. “You’re a go.”
Who washe?
“You’re on speaker with me, Brody, Stone, and Matthieu,” Ink said. “Please don’t tell me that you were listening in to that conversation.”
“Ink,” the voice drawled. “Let’s not play this game. We both know that I’m always listening.”
Ink started to swear. “I cleared this room for bugs myself. I don’t understand how you could have been listening.”
“Who said I bugged the room? I never said that.”
Someone had been listening to their meeting? That was a serious breach of security. Ink needed to deal with that.
“Christ,” Ink said. “You bugged Brody?”
“What?” Brody asked, his eyes wide as he stared at Ink. Then he looked down at the phone. “You bugged me?”
“Of course I did. How would I keep an eye on you otherwise? Got to keep my Pup safe.”
His pup?
Was this Brody’s boyfriend? Had he really bugged Brody?
Well, Matthieu guessed he had a point. If he wanted to keep Brody safe, he needed to know what was going on. Unfortunately, most of what Brody likely dealt with was private.
“You can’t do that,” Ink said.
“’Course I can,” the man said through the phone. “I did it, didn’t I?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Ink replied tiredly. “But tell us why you called.”
“Been hearing a lot of rumors about the corruption in the Billings Police Force,” he said. “Also heard rumblings that it’s caught the interest of a number of gang leaders wanting to cash in. Steele could find himself under pressure if that happens. The city could be on the brink of disaster.”
“So you’re saying take the case.”
“Ink, would I ever tell you what to do?” the person asked.
“You do it all the time,” Ink said dryly. “I didn’t think you’d really care about the police force crumbling and the good guys becoming bad.”
“I will always protect those who belong to me,” he replied. “But it would be easier if they lived in a safe city. If a corrupt cop pulled over my Bunny, Pup, or Sunshine then terror would rein down on them. And I don’t think anyone wants that.”
