Page 105 of Piece You Saved

He stops fumbling for what I assume is his phone and meets my eye.

“No SWAT. No cops. And no FBI.”

“So why did you call me?” Detective Morgan frowns. “What do you expect me to do?”

“You’re the unexpected. You are the one thing Rylan will never see coming. Andyouare going to be the tiny stone that breaks the wheel.” I’m being more dramatic than I need to be, but I’m not just trying to make a point here, I’m trying to capture his attention. And hold it.

His wide-eyed, mouth-gaping stare tells me I’ve succeeded.

Kade glances at the front door with an air of expectation.

I narrow my eyes at him. “What are you doing?”

Kade grins at me. “I’m waiting for the Girl Scouts to knock.”

Harley snorts in amusement, while I blink in confusion. “Girl Scouts?”

“You know, for this fucked-up plan you’ve cooked up that involves cops,” Kade’s grin evaporates as he snarls, “Girl Scouts would make more sense than you involving a cop in this. For fuck’s sake. We need someone who won’t hesitate to put a bullet right between Rylan’s eyes. Not someone incapable of giving someone a fucking speeding ticket.”

“A bullet right…” the cop echoes. When no one jumps in to correct him, he scrambles to his feet and turns to leave. “I shouldn’t be here.”

Kade lazily waves the cop out with one hand as he calls, “Yes, by all means, go. It’s not like you wanted justice for your sister, is it?”

The cop slows, then stops. “I will not shoot a man in cold blood.”

Kade sits back in his chair and pierces Detective Morgan with a stare so lethal the cop must feel it running right through him. “Rylan Trevailer is not a man. He’s an animal you’d be putting down. Trust me when I say this.”

“I’m acop.” Detective Morgan rakes a hand through his short blond hair as he swings around, disturbing the neat haircut. “Cops don’t shoot a—”

“You’ve seen the scars he gave Saige,” I interrupt, holding his gaze. “I don’t know your sister, but a man like Rylan is a predator through and through. Saige wasn’t the first. I doubt she was the fifth. Maybe not even the tenth. If he had his hooks in your sister, he made her suffer first. You know that as well as I do.”

Detective Morgan releases an audible breath as he turns to face the refrigerator.

We all watch him.

I don’t need him in my half-cooked-up plan, but having him stacks the odds more in our favor than if we didn’t have him. We need all the help we can get if we want Sam and Saige to live through this.

He stares at the refrigerator like he’s staring into the past. “Marie snuck out to go on a date. I covered for her and kept on covering for her long past the point I should have stopped.”

He turns and our eyes lock.

I know the despair he’s going through because I’ve lived it. I dragged Leandro into my mess. He was a fuck-up for a brother, but if I’d left him out of this, he’d be alive. I’ll never forget that for as long as I live.Never.And the one time my despair felt a little less painful, I ruined things by lunging at Saige.

Detective Morgan clears his throat and continues. “My parents will never forgive me for that.Iwill never forgive myself for that. They told me they had. Said it was all in the past, but it isn’t. I see it in their eyes during holidays and when it’s three of us at the table and not four, the way it should’ve been. If I’d said something sooner, maybe we’d have found her.”

Using my foot, I push the chair he rose from away from the table. “So we get to make sure he never does that to anyone again.Permanently.”

“This isn’t what I do.” Detective Morgan’s voice is weak. His eyes are bleak, still heavy with despair, but he’s not going anywhere.

“So go,” I say. “Keep on with what you’re doing. Maybe you’ll get him one day.”

I turn away to face Kade and Harley, and I wait.

It takes five seconds before he makes his decision. His footsteps move toward us, and he sinks reluctantly into the seat. “I’ll lose my job over this.”

“What’s more important, your job or justice for your sister?” Kade asks.

Detective Morgan doesn’t respond. He doesn’t leave, either, which I guess is answer enough.

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