Page 53 of Astrid
“Can you tell us how everything went?” he asked.
They all settled back into the furniture, and it was Lucas who picked up the remote and shut the TV off, before settling back to listen.
“Did you run into any problems?” John asked as he laid his arm on the back of the couch, so Astrid could snuggle against him.
“No, everything went smoothly. The only thing that shocked the hell out of me was when Tom had his officers cuff the three of us.” She pointed to herself, Joyce, and Ava.
“Why?” Alex scowled at them.
“Actually, it made sense. When they cuffed us, it made it look like we were associated with them, and if anyone was watching them on the outside, they would see that the cops took us in along with them. I don’t think anyone was watching them though.”
“Neither do I,” Morgan said. “I sat outside with Tom twenty minutes before the girls arrived, and I never picked up on anything suspicious going on. It was a clean arrest, no fights, no arguments. We took them to the station, and the first words out of their mouths was that the girls weren’t involved in their issues.”
She grinned, and Astrid took over, “That’s when we told them we knew, and then turned it back on them that we knew they were cops.”
“Wow,” Wyatt said in shock. “You just threw that out there? You didn’t want to hold that information close to your vest?”
“Nope, we’re doing a job, and we wanted to know why some cops were in our area, and not reporting to the locals. Meaning Tom.”
“Did they try to deny they were cops?” Dillon asked.
“No, they admitted it. Griff is vice, Paul is undercover narcotics, and Harry is someone higher up than both of them. But…” Astrid held up her hand until she had everyone’s attention. “They’re Canadian.”
“Holy shit,” DJ said, and shook his head as if to clear it. “You’re telling me you have cops from another country working down here? Just how big is this thing you’re working on?”
“Big,” the four women admitted at the same time. “Let’s put it this way, we’ve found twelve of the thirty women, that we know of, and only one of them is alive.” Astrid’s comment had all the men silent, lost in their own thoughts. “There’s a lot of information we have to sort through, and still more to come. The men from Canada will be here at eight o’clock Saturday morning, so we can discuss it.”
“Aunt Morgan, you and Uncle Wyatt have to meet with the cake designer at eleven that morning. You’re supposed to go over the last-minute details, and Uncle Wyatt, they want to know about the groom’s cake,” Lucas said, and the two people looked at him like he’d gone crazy, then sighed. “It’s the last thing you need to do for the wedding. You’re lucky your dress is already done, Uncle Wyatt’s, Dad’s, and my tuxes are ordered, and since Wilson is in charge of the BBQ, you just need to do the final details on the cake.”
Morgan rose from the love seat, walked over, took Lucas’ face in her hands, and kissed his forehead, causing the younger man to turn beet red. “And that’s why you’re my man of honor.” She laughed at his embarrassment, and sat back down next to her fiancé.
“So,” she continued. “I trust my girls to ask the right questions while I’m gone.”
“Don’t forget,” Astrid said with a laugh. “Starting tomorrow, Carl will be living here.”
“Who?” the men asked.
“Carl Miller, remember he’s the guy from BCI. He’s been able to get the warrants to put the cameras in Neil Mason’s house when he helps you install the cabinets, Alan.”
“And we won’t get in trouble for doing that?”
“Not as long as he can produce the warrant. I haven’t seen them, but I’m sure they’ll say that it was for gathering information from a known drug dealer.”
“And,” Joyce said as she stretched and stood to pace. “I’m sure he’ll be discreet and not get caught putting them up. I for one won’t be with you guys when you install them, so we’ll have to trust that he knows what he’s doing.” She stopped and looked at the others, and quickly covered her mouth as a yawn overtook her. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready to call it a night, and not that I’m kicking you guys out, but it seems like the boys should be home and in bed.”
“Yeah,” Dillon said as he rose to his feet. “We could have left a long time ago, but we wanted to know how things went. I’m glad it worked out for you.” He gathered his sons, and they quickly left. Morgan and Wyatt were five minutes behind them, with a promise from Morgan that she’d be in the office by seven the next morning. After they left, Alan went over and set the alarm, then headed downstairs. It shocked Astrid when Chuck came up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re okay, and that nothing happened to you.” Then, he turned on his heel and left, to follow the others downstairs, leaving the three couples staring after him. Shaking their heads, they turned off the lights, except for the one on the back of the stove, and slowly made their way up to their respective rooms.
The first thing Astrid did was strip on her way to the bathroom, and instead of taking a shower, she went into the bathroom and scrubbed the makeup off. With a clean face, she went into the bedroom, donned the shorts and tee she slept in, then paused as she looked at John, who had stripped and propped himself up against the headboard. Instead of getting beneath the covers, she climbed on the bed, sat with her legs crossed, and asked, “You okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, then sighed heavily. “Did it really go down as easy as you said?”
“It did. I won’t lie to you John, it was very easy talking to them. When the girls and I arrived at the bar, I sent a text to Tom to let him know we were there, and told him I’d send another one when the guys arrived. When they did, I went to the ladies’ room, and sent that text to Tom, he told me they’d come in to make the arrests in thirty minutes. I went back out, and it seemed like only thirty seconds passed before eight police officers surrounded our table.” She studied him intently, then frowned. “You’re not going to get jealous on me, are you?”
“I’m going to try not to, but it might be hard.”
“John, I can’t have a relationship with you if you’re going to be getting jealous every single time I talk to, or even about another guy. It’s my job. You’re going to have to learn how to deal with it, because if you treat me like you did a few days ago, then this thing we have between us isn’t going to work out.”
