Page 88 of Tarnished Queen

“You act like making this right is going to save you. When did you mistake me for a forgiving man?”

Sweeney grimaces. “And when did you mistake me for someone who wants to poke the bear? Whether they’re working for you or not, no one in this precinct wants to cause you any trouble.”

“Weird, since you all keep causing me so much trouble.”

“There’s plenty of evidence she’s guilty of the charge. I might not have been able to stop her arrest even if I had caught who she was before the warrant was served.”

“Guilty of what?” I bark. “You’re acting helpless, but you managed to undo the damage pretty quickly once I showed up.”

“No, this wasn’t me. The charges were dropped. That’s why she’s being released.”

“What charges?” I ask again. “Belle hasn’t done a damn thing wrong.”

He hesitates before he answers, like he already knows the reply is going to absolutely infuriate me. “Child abduction.”

“Child abd—Are you fucking insane? Who the hell would Belle have—?” Then it comes to me. Elise. “Blyat’.”

Sweeney is watching me parse through this new information when the door opens again and Belle comes out. A tall, skinny officer has a vise-grip hold on her upper arm, hard enough to bruise. She’s staring down at the floor, shame flushing across her face, so she doesn’t even see me standing in front of her.

“The charges were dropped,” I growl, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the officer’s grasp. “She isn’t a criminal and she sure as fuck isn’t yours to touch. Let her go.”

Belle lets out a whimper at the sound of my voice. She instantly falls against me and buries her face in my chest. “Nikolai. You came.”

Right now, I could rip this building from its foundations and tear the place in two. Seeing Belle trembling and terrified is enough to send rage pumping through my veins. It takes all of my restraint to stand next to her and keep my voice level.

“Where’s her stuff?” I ask Sweeney. “We need it all. Now.”

His tongue slicks over his lower teeth. Talking to him like this in front of other officers is not going to earn me any points with him, but after this fuck-up, he’s the one in my debt. “I’ll get it.”

Belle curls against my side as Sweeney goes to retrieve the plastic bag full of her belongings.

“Are you okay?” I whisper, wrapping my arm tightly around her waist.

She nods. “Just take me home, please.”

Every fiber of me wants to rip Sweeney a new asshole and not leave the premises until I’ve paid a visit to the chief and had the arresting officers fired, tarred, feathered, whatever the fuck.

But Belle needs to get out of here. Making sure she’s taken care of will feel better than revenge.

Just barely.

Once we have her things, I level Sweeney with a glare and lead Belle out of the precinct. With every step away from the building, she seems to stand a little taller. By the time I get her buckled into the passenger seat and engage the ignition, the tight ball of tension and anxiety inside of her is unraveling. She’s fidgety now, her eyes darting up and down the street.

“What is it?”

She startles at the sound of my voice and then shakes her head. “Elise. I don’t know… I don’t know where she is. When they arrested me, they took her, too. I thought I’d get to talk to her, but I didn’t say anything. She might not even know what is—Can you get her back, too?” When she turns to me, her eyes are wide and hopeful.

Belle believes in me. Belle has faith in me.

“Did they bring her here?” I glance up at the building. If Elise is still inside, I really will rip the place from the foundations. Sweeney will be dead before the last brick crumbles to the sidewalk.

“I don’t know.” She unzips the plastic bag and pulls out her phone. It takes a few seconds for it to power up, but as it does, notifications start coming in rapid-fire. Her phone buzzes again and again and again.

“Elise called,” she hiccups, biting back a sob. “She left messages.”

She presses play on a voicemail and Elise’s voice cuts through the silence in the car. “Um, hi. It’s me. Mom picked me up at the station a few minutes ago. I asked to see you, but they said I couldn’t.”

Her voice wavers. It’s clear she’s trying not to cry. Belle presses a hand to her mouth, stifling her own tears.

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