Page 72 of Bad Situation

Shit Happens

Eli

Bree Newman storms out of the boss’s office.

Well, our boss and her lover, but that’s just semantics at this point.

Her face is red but not from crying. No, she’s pissed. I know for a fact she was slapped with an OPR investigation for tampering with a case. I was only too happy to inform the powers that be at headquarters about the files she “found” in the dumpster. Her computers were locked down before she even knew of the investigation.

She doesn’t know, but I did her a favor and withheld the info about her blowing the boss. I’m holding that over his head and, by now, she surely knows it, too. They can sit and stew on that for a while, wondering if or when I’ll let that cat out of the bag.

I might be their so-called golden boy after the MacLachlans were taken down and even though I hated all the attention, right now, I’m grateful for the contacts and the name I made for myself. Today, it carried the weight I needed.

When she gets to her desk she holsters her gun, grabs her bag, and slams her drawer shut. Dean sits back in his chair and frowns. “What crawled up your ass?”

“Shut the fuck up,” she mutters and turns to leave. If she had one, her tail would be tucked between her legs.

I look at my computer and see it’s almost noon.

I grab my gun and keys off my desk and look to Dean. “I’m going to grab a burger. You want anything?”

He looks up at me and rolls his eyes. “My wife is on a diet so I am, too. Apparently, to be supportive. She made me a salad.”

“Enjoy that,” I mumble and hurry down the hall.

When I reach the elevator, it’s about to close, but I catch it just in time. The door slides open and the only person waiting inside is not happy to see me.

I step in but instead of facing the front like elevator etiquette dictates, I turn and lean against the side wall facing her, cross my arms, but say nothing.

We don’t even pass two floors when she lunges forward and pulls the emergency button.

When the elevator lurches, so do her words. “You did this. I know you did.”

I shake my head once. “I didn’t plant any evidence. Pretty sure you did this all on your own.”

She takes a step and glares. “You just wait until I write up a report on how you’ve been sneaking around with my target. I won’t be the only one slapped with an OPR investigation.”

I push off the wall and take a step, letting my arms drop. She moves back in unison but we’re still close when I lean in and lower my voice. “I already told OPR everything about Montgomery and me and, trust me, it’s a shit-ton more than you think you know. If they open a case on me, it’ll be dropped as soon as they confirm you planted those documents in the dumpsters and who knows what else. You submitted your shit evidence in an affidavit to the U.S.-fucking-Attorney. You know what happens to agents who are caught lying under oath? They get Giglioed for life. Your name will be thrown into the dungeon of law enforcement who can’t be trusted. You’ll be useless on the witness stand which means you’ll be useless to the Bureau.”

Her jaw hardens and her composure is shaky at best.

“That’s right,” I go on. “You’ll be lucky if they let you manage new recruits. If I were you, I’d forget about your shit case, forget about Jensen Montgomery, and definitely forget about me. You’ve dug yourself into such a pit, you’ll be clawing your way out for months.”

A voice surrounding us breaks into our little chat. “This is building maintenance. Is everything okay in there?”

I reach over, jab the emergency button but don’t look away from Bree when I answer, “We’re good, thanks.”

I turn away from her and cross my arms as we stop at three more floors on the way down and people file in. When we get to the lobby, everyone else gets off first and, as she moves, I call for her one last time. She stops to look back. “And if you think of doing anything like this again, I’ll go straight to OPR with pictures of you going down on our supervisor.”

Interesting. I guess her lover, Larry Flemming, didn’t tell her I have dirt on both of them because her face pales.

I move around her and off the elevator, leaving her with one last warning. “If you fuck with Jensen Montgomery, you’re fucking with me and you cannot keep up with me. Leave her the hell alone.”

*****

Jen

I’ve been sitting here for only ten minutes listening to the legal plans my team at Lehmans has made after what happened yesterday.

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