Detective Brown scowled. “Well, she’s clearly dressed, isn’t she?”
Detective Williams looked slightly embarrassed.
“I’ll be sure to let Devi’s lawyer know about your views on walking into a woman’s private space,” Hayes said.
Her lawyer?
Oh, did he mean Gwen? But Gwen wasn’t her lawyer and she honestly seemed to have more to worry about. Devi would prefer Gwen focused on Rohan rather than her.
“Her lawyer? Why the hell does she need a lawyer if she’s innocent?” Detective Brown demanded, his face growing red.
He really should get his blood pressure checked.
“Is this what you do to female victims?” Hayes asked. “Have you done this before? Barged in on them without notice? Trying to catch them in a vulnerable position?”
Whoa. That seemed a stretch.
But then she looked closely at the detective’s face. He looked . . . guilty.
Okay, now she didn’t feel so bad about Hayes siccing Gwen on him.
Asshole.
“You have no right to accuse me of anything!” Detective Brown said. “Coming in here, throwing your weight around. What? Is she that good in bed? What happens once you leave? Huh? And she’s all alone?”
“Is that a threat, detective?” Hayes said, standing and getting between her and the older man.
Devi peered around his wide body to look at Detective Brown.
“Because you do not want to threaten Devi,” Hayes added. “You threaten her, then you answer to me. I’m not a vulnerable woman who you can intimidate. I’ve lived through things that would make you piss your bed.”
“That was a threat to me! You heard him, Gray,” he said to the other man. “I could arrest you.”
“Oh, shut up, Barry,” the younger detective said.
Detective Brown gaped at him. “What?”
“I’m sick of you using the law to bully people. That’s not why I became a cop. And I think you better leave.”
“Why should I leave?”
“Because this is my hospital room and I don’t want you here,” Devi said firmly.
Oh. She’d just surprised herself. But she was tired of people pushing her around.
“I’m a cop,” Detective Brown said. “You can’t kick me out.”
“Do you have a warrant? Are you here to arrest me for something?” she asked.
He said nothing so she was going to take that as no.
“Then get out,” she told him firmly.
“Leave, Barry,” Detective Williams said tiredly. “You’re making things worse and this is difficult enough as it is.”
The older man glared at them all and then huffed. “What? Telling her that her deadbeat father was found murdered shouldn’t come as a fucking surprise to her.”
“Get out!” Hayes snarled. “And you’ve fucked things up now. Your career is over. I would go home and pack your stuff because your life is going to become utter hell.”