Page 63 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

I grinned at him, walking over to my safe. “This is the easier route.” I unlocked it and pulled out a few of my favorite interrogation devices, shoving them in my pockets.

“Boss, if you take her down there, and she knows nothing, you’ll be torturing an innocent woman,” Lock pointed out.

I cocked my head at him. “Who said anything about torturing? We’re just going to have a little chat.”

Dash tried again. “Yeah, after you put Betty on the pedestal. We all fucking know what that means.”

“Besides, we were given strict instructions from Rafe. Are you really wanting to take this up with the alphabets? We could lose the whole goddamn business by going against the alphabets.”

“It’s not a problem,” I said, shoving my knife into the sheath.

“Yeah, because you apparently have some relationship with this Rafe guy, one that none of the rest of us know.”

“Are you saying you don’t trust me?” I asked Lock. Should I be looking for a new team leader?

“Of course we trust you, and don’t ever threaten my fucking job again. I just think you’re too close to this. You don’t need to interrogate her to get information from her. She just needs to be talked to like a lady.”

I nodded my head from side to side in thought. “I can be charming when I want to be.”

“Sure, when you’re talking to Sally.”

“Hey, leave my girl out of this.”

“Boss, the only good relationship with a woman that you’ve ever had is with that rifle. And you killed people with that. I’m not sure Sally is going to be much help right now.”

“Women are all the same, Dash. They get feisty and locked up sometimes. You just have to give them a good rubdown and clean them up, make them feel special.”

“Are you really comparing seducing a woman to cleaning your rifle?”

“It’s the same principle,” I said, trying my best not to roll my eyes at the man.

“It’s not the same at all. I guarantee, if you go out there and treat her like you treat Sally, this is going to end with you in prison and me coming to visit you once a month. And you’ll have a big friend named Greaser, who will make sureyouget treated just like Sally. When was the last time you had a rub down?”

Alright, he might have a point there. “Fine, I won’t treat her like Sally.”

He scoffed, walking away from me. “You and your women. One of these days, you’ll find a real woman to keep you safe.”

“It’s the other way around,” I argued. “I keep them safe.”

“Then why do you kiss them and worship the ground they walk on?” he asked as he yanked the door open.

“Dash,” I called out to him. “I want a folder on the desk right away.”

He rolled his eyes at me and walked out of the room. I followed him into the hallway and motioned for Beth to come with me. Now that I had her in the building, I just had to get her to willingly follow me downstairs.

“So, these are the offices. We take care of these on our own, so you won’t need to clean these.”

“Where does this door lead?” she asked, pointing at the one I just passed.

“Oh, that’s the medic room.” Best not to let her in there either. “We take care of that one too.”

I shoved the stairwell door open and headed downstairs. “Down here is the training center, along with the locker rooms. Everyone comes and goes at all hours, so you won’t have a lot of luck during the day.”

“And this one?” she asked, pointing to our interrogation room.

I glanced at the interrogation room door just as Fox walked out of the training center with Dash and Lock. “Why don’t I show you?”

I stepped forward just as Dash ran over to me, inserting himself between me and the door. “Hey, boss. I was just talking with Mark. He needs you upstairs.”

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