Page 36 of Betrayed

Dreading what Jack had to say only added to my foul mood. I walked into the bar and scanned; Jack and Meg were in a corner booth.

“Thank God you’re here. I’m starving,” Meg said when I sat down.

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” I said, knowing it wouldn’t make a difference. Meg was too polite not to wait.

“We only half waited. The appetizers should be out soon,” she admitted. I’d only known Jack for about ten years, but I was confident Meg was the best thing that had ever happened to him. And I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt he was the best thing to happen to her.

“Thanks.”

Jack waited until the server took our orders before starting.

“You won't like this,” he said.

“Just tell me.” I hadn’t told a single soul about my attraction to Blake, but Jack knew. Sometimes his observational skills made it seem like he had a sixth sense.

Turns out, Jack and Doug ran into a lot of resistance when they started questioning people about DA Steven Davenport. He'd dismissed a lot of charges against associates of known crime bosses under questionable circumstances.

“We got a lot of doors slammed in our faces, figuratively and literally,” Jack said.

“You think he’s dirty?” I asked.

Jack’s hesitation was answer enough.

“I think he pissed someone off enough for them to use Aurora to get to him,” Jack finally answered.

We used Blake’s call sign and talked in hushed tones despite the noise in the bar being loud enough to keep most people from hearing us.One can never be too careful.

Giving our female clients Disney princess call signs was Meg’s idea back when she first started at SSI, after John poached her from Mary. Hers was Cinderella when we helped her. Meg believed every girl dreamed of being a princess, even if they never admitted it.

I didn’t think it was true, but the system worked for us.

We’d called Emily Snow White when she was a client. When her best friend, Ashley, asked for one, I’d suggested one of the seven dwarves, but she didn’t think the names fit. I couldn’tremember who suggested creating an eighth dwarf, Flirty, but it fit her to a tee. And Ashley had loved it.

Damn. I hadn’t thought about Ashley since I started this detail.

Ashley and I hooked up regularly, and I usually thought about her every couple of days. Especially if I had a bad day and wanted a couple of beers.Or some physical stress relief. She was the perfect friend-with-benefits. Neither of us wanted a commitment, we had a lot of fun together, and by being each other’s dates for Sheppard events, we kept everyone off our backs.

“Has Blake said anything?” Jack asked.

What the fuck kind of question is that?

“You mean has she made some grand confession of her father’s guilt I swept under the rug? No, she hasn’t.” How dare he imply Blake might have knowledge of, or be involved in, her father’s alleged illegal activity? Or that I wouldn't tell him the instant I heard it.

Jack held his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean it like that, but I had to ask.”

“No. You didn’t.” I leaned back and crossed my arms, daring him to say something else.

He nodded, but kept his mouth shut.Smart man.

“Should we have two people at the house?” I asked, suddenly worried one wasn’t enough.

“Eric knows to be on high alert, and Dean is on standby in the area.”

I nodded. Worried the person who sent the note would act sooner rather than later, I debated packing a suitcase and heading to Dallas for the foreseeable future.

“We’re increasing her coverage during the day; I’ll be your backup on campus tomorrow. Jamie, Dad, and Doug will keeppulling threads. Maxwell agreed to reach out to the FBI and see what they know.”

When I didn’t answer, Jack asked, “We good?”

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