Page 91 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

Dani rubbed my back with her hand. “When will the court dates start, do you think?”

Captain shrugged. “Things like this can take some time. With a name as infamous as Ashton Ryddle, though, I assume things will get pushed up. Timelines will be obstructed to deal with this particular case. And it will get messy, you have my word on that.”

I snickered. “Trust me, anything involving my father is messy, no matter how you go about it.”

The captain rolled her eyes. “Don’t I know it.”

I heard worry creep into Dani’s voice. “How messy, do you think?”

The captain sighed. “I’m bracing for this to be the messiest case I’ve handled up until this point. I suspect Ashton will attempt to throw us everything he’s got. Fight until he’s got no reason to fight. And men like him always have a further reach than anyone expects.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What are you trying to say?”

She shrugged. “All I’m saying is, if you two don’t have a vacation planned, it might be a good time to take one. At least until this all blows over.”

Dani murmured, “Sounds like a bit more than a vacation.”

I held her against me. “Got any suggestions on where we should end up?”

The captain grinned. “You two got passports? I hear Bora Bora is great this time of year.”

Dani giggled breathlessly. “We’ll think about it.”

I nodded. “Yes. We’ll think about it.”

The captain licked her lips. “Suit yourself. You two got a way home?”

I nodded to the truck. “We rented a truck to get us out here. And since that S.W.A.T. vehicle of yours didn’t crunch it to bits, we’ve got ourselves a way back into town.”

She barked with laughter. “Yeah. Connelly gets a bit high-and-mighty with that steering wheel. But I figured, why not? Anyone else is in that vehicle, we gotta pin ‘em somehow.”

Dani snickered. “Well, thank you for missing the truck.”

Captain saluted us with two fingers. “Anytime.”

I held my hand out one last time. “Thanks for everything, Cap.”

She shook my hand. “And thank you two. For everything. But, seriously, think about getting out of town. At least until the trials start to strike up. That goes for all of you guys that have tangoed with Ashton. Might do you all some good to get some fresh air anyway.”

“I’ll definitely take it into consideration, thanks.”

I gazed down at Dani and she smiled up at me. For all the trembling her body kept doing, she sure as hell had her fight face on. I was more than proud of her. For once, I felt as if I was the one not taking the reins. Not shining in the presence of darkness. All of this had been her. From helping me concoct the plan to placing the right kind of calls. Hell, even the truck rental was her suggestion. Not mine.

“We did good, gorgeous.”

She winked. “We did good, handsome.”

Cap interjected. “Oh, and one last thing.”

Dani and I both looked at her as she dug around in her pocket. Before pulling out a square white card, of course.

“If either of you need anything--whether it’s related to this case or not--you give me a call. Got it?”

I took her card. “You have my word.”

Dani nodded. “Thank you. We appreciate it a lot.”

Cap slid her helmet onto her head. “And we appreciate you two.”

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