Page 23 of The Drag Race Debutante & the Detectives
His brother’s expression twisted with concern. “I don’t like it either, but she was right. They have security cameras everywhere and a guard on duty. And Teddy is there today.”
“So?”
“So we already know the lengths the convict will go to, to protect his family.” He snorted. “I would not want to be in Spencer’s shoes if he does prove dumb enough to show up unannounced.” Eric stopped and gripped Dane’s shoulder, gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Our girl is protected, so how about we get our reports written up before we get called into the principal’s office?”
They found their desks and got to work, filled out the required reports, noting everything that had happened at the drag race, before and after Emily’s arrival, including the fact there hadn’t been an actual race due to the cops being called.
He’d just finished going over his report one last time, when a large man in a cheap suit leaned against his desk. Dane gritted his teeth. The very last thing he needed was this guy trying to get a rise out of him.
“What do you want, Travis?”
“Me and the guys in homicide have a question,” he said, then paused to sip his coffee out of a mug with World’s Best Detective printed on the side of it. Dane only just managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes. The chances of Travis being the world’s best detective were as small as the idiot’s dick. “When you and your brother fuck a woman, do you take turns, or is it just a free for all?” He leaned closer, lowered his voice. “Just between you and me, do the two of you ever, you know, cross swords?”
Dane took the fact he wasn’t punching the walking shitstain in the face as a sign of personal growth. Eric will be so proud. But he also knew how rumours started and he’d be damned if he let this fuckwit taint his and Eric’s relationship with Emily.
If anyone was going to be the object of ridicule, it wasn’t going to be them. Travis was a bully, and the best way to deal with a bully was to push them into the spotlight.
Raising his voice just enough to get noticed, Dane said, “Are you seriously asking me if I fuck my brother? What the hell is wrong with you, man?”
Travis took a step back from Dane’s desk, his face flushed red. “Hey, now that?—”
“Hey, Eric.”
The look on his brother’s face told him he’d already heard what was going on, but he played along all the same. “What?”
“Travis wants to know if we fuck each other.”
Eric stared at Travis with disgust. “Seriously? You homicide guys are fucked in the head.”
Other officers started sticking their heads out from behind their computers, grinning and whispering, which only flustered Travis more. “Now listen here,” he said, waving his hand about and sloshing coffee out of his mug. “I’ve?—”
“What the bloody hell is going on out here?”
Senior Sargeant Jody Walker appeared behind Travis, her permascowl fixed firmly in place and her hands clasped behind her back. She was their father’s younger sister, and out of uniform they called her Aunty Jo, but as the senior officer in charge of the station, they were just as terrified of her as everyone else.
“Well?” she demanded. “Who wants to go first?” When no one spoke up, she nodded. “That’s what I thought.” Then she turned on Travis and pointed to the spilled coffee. “Clean that mess up.”
Travis smiled tightly and smoothed down his necktie. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Everyone else, get back to work,” she said, then pointed at Dane and his brother. “You two, my office. Now.”
They entered the office to find the man in charge of the operation, and another man they didn’t know, staring at them with obvious irritation.
Jo introduced everyone then took her seat and invited everyone else to do the same. “So?—”
“What the fuck happened last night?”
“Detective Bryant, I urge you to control yourself,” Jo said.
“Control myself? They’re lucky I don’t put my boot through their skulls after the mess they caused.”
“The mess we caused?” Dane said. He was half out of his chair when Eric caught his shoulder and dragged him back down.
“Thank God Detective Cross was acting as your shadow last night and called in the cavalry.”
“Yes, well done,” Eric drawled, injecting a healthy dose of sarcasm into his usual stoic charm. “Of course, all you managed to do was scatter the cockroaches, and made it just that little bit harder to do our job.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Bryant raged. “Your job was to keep an eye on the drug dealers these damn races keep attracting. Not hook up with a car slut and get yourself into a fight with Shane fucking Spencer. Is it true you pulled your weapons?”
