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“Good grief, there’s more,” I sighed. “Just spit it out. I have places to be.”

“I’ve not forgotten the way you treated me, Rachel. I offered you my help, and you threw it back in my face.”

“I told you. I don’t need help.”

“But you needed your dad’s help, didn’t you?”

“Don’t all little girls need their dad once in a while?” I smiled, refusing to rise to his bait. He had definitely been digging into my history.

“Seems like your dad also needed Dante’s help. How convenient that Chris suddenly got all the information needed for parole. You know, none of us believed that it was him that murdered Alex.”

“Well, that’s why court and a jury of our peers exists. Police rarely know what they’re talking about. What you believe, and what actually happened, are two different things.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t worried at the time, and I’m not now. My dad did the time, time he didn’t deserve to do, and the new evidence proved that. Alex was an evil man, and he got what was coming to him.”

“You almost sound thankful.”

I raised a shoulder. “You’ve looked into my background. You should know what I suffered at his hands.”

“True… it’s just… I also investigated your dad’s history. He never once mentioned his daughter was being abused in any of his therapy sessions.”

“Perhaps because therapy is confidential.”

“Unless the right person asks,” he countered.

“Oh, we both know that’s way above your pay grade,officer.”

He gave me a tight smile. “Just let it be known. I’m watching you. All of you. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to my favourite red head.”

I returned his tight smile with one of my own. “Watch all you want. The police force must either be very quiet to be able to waste the resources. Or you’re just easily disposable and not much use to them at all.”

“And how disposable are you to Dante?”

“How insecure do you think I am?” I laughed. “Do you think you have the power to knock my confidence in him? In fact, you mention him a lot… is this some sort of jealousy thing? You seem mighty obsessed with Dante.”

“Yes, because I have a secure job, a future, an ability to climb my career ladder… So, you can see why I’d be jealous of a criminal drug lord.”

“One might see it as a drug lord. Some might see it as a man who owns two houses, a successful business, and an entire devoted family around him. A man who stepped up for his daughter when she lost her mum. A man who is surrounded by people who would die for him in an instant. And what do you have? A job where you could be replaced with one little ad online, donuts, and a badge. Baby, don’t compete where you don’t compare.”

He gave me a tight smile. “Cute. That smart mouth will get you in trouble one day. One wrong move, Rachel, one—”

“And what? Your threats don’t scare me. Whatever you think happened with Alex is irrelevant. The past is in the past, and clearly the rest of the police district, as well as the courts, agree with me. Or else they never would have released my dad. But” I said, shuffling closer to him and lowering my voice. “You would also do well to remember that all rumours start somewhere, and all rumours have a shred of truth in them. Perhaps it wasn’t my dad that murdered Alex. If you really believe that, perhaps I’m not the wisest person for you to be pissing off.”

“Are you threatening an officer?”

“Threatening?” I said, stepping back with a fake gasp. “Me? Now why would I do that? It was a friendly reminder. I am not a woman that can be intimidated or easily scared. Enjoy the rest of your day. I’m sure there’s a man littering somewhere that needs your attention.”

He let me go when I pushed past him this time, and I felt his eyes boring into my back as I retreated down the corridor.

This wasn’t fucking good.

But I wasn’t about to let the little fuckwit get the better of me. All he had right now was too much time on his hands. He had nothing concrete. And whatever he did dig up, Hacksaw could erase from the database. Everything would be fine.

Chapter 40

Rachel

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