Page 23 of Claimed By the Deputies

“Good afternoon. William Jade, right?” I ask casually.

Tyler and Mitch flank me, cautiously looking around. The other store attendants and the few patrons getting their prescriptions filled keep stealing curious glances our way, but I remain focused on Jade.

“Yes, sir,” he replies with a flat smile.

Beneath his well-groomed appearance, his eyes are bloodshot, and there’s a sheen of cold sweat covering his pale skin. That, along with his jittery hands and dilated pupils, I’d say he’s a dealer who likes to get high on his own supply.

“How can I help?” he asks again. He looks like he’s about to freeze up or bolt.

I’m ready for both.

“This yours?” I ask, raising the evidence bag with the cufflink inside.

His eyebrows arch in surprise. “Oh, dear. I wondered where I’d left that.”

“So, it is yours,” I conclude.

“I… maybe. No. Yes.”

Mitch chuckles dryly. “Pick one, Bill. Either way, you’re fucked.”

“Why is that?” Jade asks, his voice trembling.

“This was found at Tanya Burrow’s house. Close to her body,” I reply. “We think it belongs to whoever killed her.”

“Oh, I don’t…” Jade’s voice trails off as he bolts away from the counter.

Got him.

Tyler intercepts, taking him down with a tackle worthy of the NFL. I hear a loud thud as Jade’s body hits the floor, then a grunt as Tyler rolls him on his belly. He cuffs his wrists behind his back and reads him his Miranda rights.

“What is going on here?” The store manager storms out from his back office, looking understandably confused and insulted.

“We have some questions for Mr. Jade. He’ll need to clock out early today,” I tell the manager as we walk out of the store with our suspect in custody.

By the time we reach my squad car and load a dazed William Jade into the backseat, the events that led us to this particular moment dawn on me, and I can’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Mitch asks, closing the passenger door.

I shake my head. “It took Tassia a split second to crack this whole case wide open with something we didn’t even know existed.”

“Could it have been a fluke?” Tyler asks.

“I don’t know,” I reply honestly. “I think there’s a whole other dimension to Tassia that we weren’t even aware of until today.”

“You mean aside from her being a ticking sex bomb we’re dying to blow up with?” Mitch scoffs, though quietly. “She’s got the three of us twisted in more ways than one, brother.”

“True, but she may also be able to help us with our cases.”

“What do you suggest, then?” Mitch gives me a curious look.

Tyler beats me to it. “We could ask Tassia to go over the evidence in other cases that have stalled. She might notice something we didn’t.”

“I can do us one better,” I say.

As soon as they realize what I mean, both Tyler and Mitch give me their signature, half-intrigued, half-excited looks. We’re playing with fire here on a three-dimensional game board, that much is clear. But the pieces have already been set in motion.

There’s too much at stake not to move forward.

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