Page 167 of Enigma: The Complete Collection
“No—”
“Then you can’t see her.”
When her good eye shifts to Hugo, her cheeks flush even more. He’s decked out in his standard work uniform consisting of a black suit with a crisp, white dress shirt underneath. He doesn’t wear a vest or a tie like me, but his pricy suit enhances his rugged appearance. The two buttons left undone on his shirt gives a sneak peek to his vast collection of tattoos, and his crew-cut hairstyle makes it seem as if his blue eyes pop off his face. I can understand the desk sergeant’s interest. She looks like she hasn’t had a hard fuck in years, and Hugo’s size and build assures her he’s more than capable of pinning her to the wall to give her the fuck she’s seeking.
Hmm, I wonder how far Hugo will go to keep his job?
“Don’t even think about it.” Hugo’s slit eyes float up from the ground to glare at me. “Unlikesomepeople, I have standards.” The way he growls ‘some’ reveals to whom he is referring—me.
His attitude gets sliced in half when I ask, “Not even for Isabelle?”
His pupils widen as his mouth gapes. Just like me, Hugo will do anything to protect Isabelle. He cares greatly for her. That isn’t surprising. Anyone who meets her is immediately besotted with her. Hugo cares for her differently than me. He treats her more like a sister than a love interest.
Before Hugo can form a response, from the corner of my eye, I catch the quickest glimpse of a profile I’ve seen many times before.
“Ryan!” I call out.
He stops midway through the door, his head turning to see who called his name. I jerk up my chin, requesting a minute. He gives me exactly that after ushering a female detective into the hub he was entering before I spotted him.
When he strolls toward me, his smile enlarges with every step he takes. “I never thought I’d see the day Isaac Holt in a police station, and even more shocking than that is the fact he doesn’t have cuffs on.”
If my visit were for any reason other than Isabelle being arrested, I’d laugh at his banter. Ryan and I could be classified as friends. I use the word loosely as I’m confident if he ever had the opportunity to arrest me, he’d happily oblige. Despite the badge on his hip, he’s one of the rare good guys in this town who don’t line their pockets with the dirty money my competitors offer. He knows the grit it takes to become successful like me as he too dug himself out of the trench I climbed six years ago, and he did it in a fair and just way.
Ravenshoe PD is littered with dirty, scheming cops. But, unlike his peers, Ryan doesn’t formulate an opinion on a suspect without evaluating his own motive. Because of this, I class him as a friend. He’s not a close confidant like Cormack, but he can count on me if he needs anything as I can in return.
With that in mind, I curve my lips high before accepting the hand he’s holding out in greeting. He uses our handshake to pull me in for a quick man hug. “How the fuck are you?” His friendliness gains me even more suspicious eyes than I had upon arrival.
“I’m good.” My clipped tone advises how short my tether is. Usually, I’m calm, cool, and calculated. That’s null and void when it comes to Isabelle. “I need a favor.”
Ryan runs his hand along his jaw, tracking the quiver there. “You called in your favor when I let you see Jacob Walters after he was arrested.”
When Nick’s friend, Jacob, was arrested for assault, I bartered with Ryan to see him. He granted me fifteen minutes alone with Jacob before a public prosecutor was brought in to represent him since he couldn’t afford counsel on the covenant that the favor Ryan owed me from years ago would be cashed in. I stupidly agreed, having no clue someone as mesmerizing as Isabelle was about to enter my life.
If Jacob and Nick were close friends, I would have never dragged Jacob into the ruthless world of underground fighting, but from what Nick told me, he was a brilliant fighter. He practically beat a man to death with his bare hands. He had both size and speed, which is a rare combination. He was so impressive, even Hugo had heard of him.
On the agreement I’d supply Jacob the best lawyer money could buy, he signed on to be my fighter for twelve months. Jacob was ordered two years of probation, which was impressive considering he was looking at a minimum of three years in jail before I arrived on the scene. Jacob chose wisely when he accepted my agreement nearly two years ago, just like Ryan will if he agrees to assist me today. His assistance will be immensely awarded.
I stare into Ryan’s glacier blue eyes. “We’ll flip the coin. I’ll owe you a favor.”
A huff rustles his hard-lined lips. “Unlike my colleagues, I don’t accept bribery.”
“This isn’t for me. It’s for Isabelle.”
His brows pull together as his bewildered eyes shift between Hugo and me. “What does she need?”
His lack of empathy now makes sense. He is as in the dark about Isabelle’s arrest as I am.
I step closer to him, hoping the dozen pairs of eyes gawking at us can’t lip read. “Isabelle was arrested this afternoon. A reliable source has informed me that she’s being held in your interrogation room.”
Ryan’s pupils dilate more with every word I speak, but I hear his brain ticking over as he works through the facts.
After a few more seconds of silent deliberations, he strays his eyes to Hugo, who’s standing behind my left shoulder. “Is he carrying a weapon?”
My neck cranks back in just enough time to witness Hugo shaking his head. I smirk, pleased he remembered to remove his semi-automatic pistol before entering a police station.
Happy to take Hugo’s non-verbal reply as factual, Ryan unlatches the half-partition door between us. “I can only give you fifteen minutes.”
“That’s all I need,” I reply while following him into the heart of the Ravenshoe PD with an apprehensive Hugo trailing closely behind.
