Page 33 of Papa's Bébé
“At first he got several notes. Threats to kill him. To harm him. But then it escalated when someone tried to run him off the road. That’s when he decided that he needed security.”
Ink made a scoffing noise. “Okay, I see where this is going n, but there’s no way the Chief of Police would agree to us being his security. Don’t know the guy well, but he seems like he’d want someone slicker and more known. And wouldn’t he have plenty of protection?”
“He does. He has plenty of police security at his home and work. This isn’t for him. He’s not the only one being threatened. His kids have also been included. Marlin, his son, is a detective. He’s just moved back here and the Chief put him and his partner on the case. Which just happens to be me.”
“So you’re already getting closer to him,” Stone said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re partnered with his son.”
“Yes, but I have to move very carefully. I don’t want to end up like the cop that went to IA. So the Chief has his son, Marlin, and two daughters. Maisy lives in New Zealand on a large sheep station. She and her husband have been informed of the danger. But it’s unlikely that anyone is going to travel that far to get to her. Which leaves us with the Chief’s youngest child, Maya.”
Ink frowned. “Why does that ring a bell? Maya . . . Maya . . .”
“Livvy,” Brody said without looking up. “Livvy was helped by Maya.”
“That’s it.” Ink clicked his fingers. “Sometimes Brody forgets to shower and change his clothes, other times he can remember bits of information that no one else can. One moment.”
Reeves frowned while Ink brought out his phone and tapped out a message.
“What are you talking about?” Reeves asked.
“Yep, Sav confirms that’s the same Maya that came to Livvy’s aid.”
Ink shared a look with Stone.
“Who is Livvy?” Reeves asked.
“She’s a friend,” Ink said. “She was attacked and Maya stopped to help her.”
Reeves nodded. “That sounds like Maya. She seems to think she’s indestructible. The other night dispatch received calls from some concerned members of the public about a cop being abusive toward a young woman. She was lucky there were people willing to put their neck out for her. Because it’s going to get to the stage where people will be too scared to speak up and that’s when the city gets into real trouble.”
“Everyone will start to fear the police rather than seeing them as a place of safety and order,” Ink said.
“It’s already happening,” Stone added. “People are scared. It’s mostly happening in the poorer areas, but the filth is spreading.”
Reeves winced. He probably didn’t like hearing his fellow police officers labeled as filth. But that’s what they were. Attacking a young woman on her own?
Matthieu clenched his hands into fists.
That wasn’t happening.
So are you going to do something about it?
Merde.
This wasn’t his plan. He’d agreed to the meeting because he considered Ink a close . . . colleague.
But he’d also planned to refuse to get entangled in this, to leave Billings and head off somewhere else.
For some reason the image of the young woman he’d just seen outside entered his mind. What if a corrupt cop pulled her over and attacked her, tried to threaten her, demanded that she give him a blow job in return for not arresting her on false charges?
Fils de pute.
He didn’t like the idea of that at all.
“What happened to her?” he asked. “The young woman.”
“That’s the weird part. It was Maya,” Reeves said. He shook his head. “Of everyone in this city, you’d think she would be protected, off-limits. But Vince, the asshole cop, was manhandling her for no reason. That bastard probably thinks he’s untouchable because the Chief likes him. But it makes no sense. If Maya would just tell her father about what happened . . .” Reeves broke off, sounding frustrated.
“You don’t think she will?” Stone asked.
