Page 89 of Warrant
“Yeah…but that’s like saying a pack of dogs is cute as they walk by,” Mona said. “It’s never been any one of them singled out before…”
“He seems a bit…odd,” Melody pointed out. We all looked back at Rae again. “You know what?” Melody continued. “Never mind. That tracks.”
Rae gasped out a laugh. “Are you calling me odd?”
“You play with dead bodies all day,” Maya pointed out gently.
“I’m not playing with them like dolls,” Rae said with a shake of her head. “I’m finding out how they died, or making them look presentable for the grieving families.”
“You’re right,” I told her. “What you do is incredibly important for both law enforcement and for helping families move on.”
“It is,” Maya said with a nod. “Sorry. I was mostly kidding.”
“It’s okay,” Rae told her and reached over to pat her hands. “I know most people don’t understand.”
“Please tell me you washed those.” She eyed Rae’s hands on her own.
“All we care about is you, Rae,” Harlow told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“And you,” Mona added, looking at me. “Whatever you need to do, we support you.”
The others echoed the sentiment and all I could do was smile. How had I gotten so lucky to find such amazing women to call my friends? The puzzle pieces of my life were starting to click into place.
CHAPTER 35
Warrant
My patience was at an end. I’d given her over a week. Stayed away even though it killed me to do so. But Owen had called and said that Ainsley had resigned as sheriff.
My knock on the door went unanswered. So I did the only reasonable thing. It didn’t take me long to pick the lock. What I found inside had me freezing in the doorway. There was a homeless squatter sitting on her couch.
“You guys are back early,” the person said, without taking her eyes off the TV. “You said you wouldn’t be home until late. It’s only four.”
Correction. Ainsley was dressed like a homeless person and was sitting on the couch in a pair of sweats and a ratty t-shirt, her hair in one of those messy buns, and was hoovering down a pint of ice cream with impressive speed. There was a Cheeto in her hair. And ice cream down the front of her.
When I didn’t answer, she finally looked over. Her gorgeous eyes widened when she realized it was me. She set the ice cream down and muted the TV. It was some trashy reality TV drama, you know, the kind where women scream at each other for the whole episode.
“Hey,” she said, standing up and wiping at her shirt. It dipped down, leaving one shoulder exposed, and stopped just below her tits, also leaving her stomach bare.
Fuck me. Even at her worst she still looked damn good.
“Owen said you resigned.” I hadn’t meant that to come out so accusingly, so I softened my tone. “Why, Ains?”
She sighed. “I was going to come talk to you tomorrow… After I’d showered,” she admitted with a wry grin.
“How about now.” It wasn’t a question. I stalked over and plucked the Cheeto from her hair.
She took it from me, shrugged, and popped it in her mouth. “Have a seat.”
I sat in the recliner next to the couch so I wouldn’t have to crane my head to look at her. I wanted to see her expression when she told me what’d happened. She’d given up her career. Considering she’d been struggling with the idea of dating me and holding that job, I wanted to make sure she hadn’t quit for me. That would be fucked up.
“I found out something about the Iron Circle Crew.”
That caught my interest.
“I want to bring it to Cypher. Let you and the club handle it.”
“Okay.” I liked the sound of that. “So what does that have to do with you resigning?”
