Page 32 of Hard Game

“What, why?—”

A dull pop fills the air as the bullet passes through his stupid motherfucking brain, exiting out of the back of his skull. Crimson sprays the cream walls, breathing life into them for the first time.

16

LAUREN

Iflinch as the blood sprays the walls, a choked sound coming from my throat. Maddox barely looks my way as he steps forward, leaning in to check Taron’s pulse. Blood drips from where his right eye used to be only seconds earlier, and dizziness hits me in waves.

“Sit down, Detective,” Maddox commands as he brings his phone from his pocket, tapping away at the screen like nothing has happened.

My feet are rooted into the floor, though, and I haven’t inhaled yet.

Maddox shot Taron dead in my living room, and he had information about my sister.

“You killed him,” I say, watching Maddox slip his phone into his pocket. He nods slowly and waves at the chair beside me.

“I did. Sit down.”

My legs tremble as I force them to move, slumping into the seat with an anguished cry. My career is over. I stood by while a colleague was shot in cold blood and did nothing. I can’t take my eyes away from Taron’s corpse, wondering what I’ll look like in orange because surely I’m going to jail.

“I’m going to take you for a coffee,” Maddox says, leaning down to meet my gaze. His hands rest on his thighs, his breath warm on my face. “While someone takes care of this.”

“What?” I whisper, staring at him. “I can’t leave! I need to call this in?—”

“Detective,” Maddox says with a sigh, his fingers gripping my chin as he stares at me. My breath stalls in my throat when his finger strokes my jawline, simultaneously inciting chills and waves of heat. “Do as I say. Or you’ll lose everything.”

I blink, and furious tears spill down my cheeks. “He knew about my sister,” I spit at him, shoving him back. “You killed him, and he knew about my sister!”

Maddox takes me by the arm and guides me to the door somewhat roughly, and I try to break free, but he’s too strong. He closes my apartment door and strides over the road with me in tow like a fucking rag doll, but I know better than to argue or fight. Because even though what he’s done is wrong, I can’t lose my job; it’s all I have. Maddox opens the door to a black truck, and I climb in, scowling as he rounds the truck and gets in beside me. He moves the truck away from the curb painfully slowly, and I realize it’s probably so as not to arouse suspicion. Not that anyone here would miss a trick, nosey fuckers that they are. I can’t even take a piss without Mrs Wentworth next door knowing about it.

“First of all, he deserved it, didn’t he?” Maddox turns to me, and my heart skips a beat at the heat blazing in his eyes. “Didn’t he?” He isn’t asking, but I cross my arms and shake my head.

“No one deserves that, Maddox.”

“Bullshit,” Maddox says with a sexy chuckle. “Bull fucking shit, and you know it.”

“No,” I say, straightening in my seat. “The law delivers justice, Maddox, not vigilantes like you.”

“Vigilante?” Maddox plays with the word slowly, almost like a cat playing with a mouse. “Vigilante. Yeah, you know what, I like that. I’ll be your vigilante.”

“It’s nothing to be proud of!” I tell him, pissed with his attitude. “You’re a criminal and deserve to rot in jail.”

Maddox slams on the brakes, and I gasp, my belt burning into my chest.

“What the hell are you doing?!” I yell, rubbing my chest.

Maddox stares at me, his eyes glinting like glass. His teeth are bared as he exhales loud, angry breaths. He’s like a lion in the midst of a fight, and I shrink back, terrified. “Taron Karpe was a bent cop with a liking for underage girls, detective.” Maddox seethes, moving closer to me. “He beats his wife, and he just asked you to fuck him for information. That alone warrants his death in my book, Detective Diess.”

My heart drops, and I clutch at my chest wildly, like I can catch it. Taron is bent? No, it can’t be.

“He knew about your sister because he is bent. Do you fucking understand yet?”

No, no, no.

“You fucked him, had a relationship with him, and never suspected a thing, did you? So, Detective, how can the law protect and serve when it’s fucking corrupted?”

I’ve never felt such a fool.

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