Page 94 of Deception
“Turn up the volume,” Colt says.
“It was confirmed earlier today that officials have terminated Julian Black as Chief of Police and Travis Hall as Police Captain for corrupt and criminal behavior. The specifics and whether or not they will be formally charged for any crimes have yet to be provided. At this time, no one has been named to replace them.”
“How’d you do this?” Grayson asks, his eyes locked on Lex.
She leans back against the bar top. “What makes you thinkIdid this?”
“Come on,” Ashley says. “This has Lex written all over it. How’d you do it?”
Looking at his wife, Colt waits for Lex to deny it further, but she just smirks. “Baby? What’d you do?”
“Happy birthday?” she offers with a shrug.
“Did you pull information we have from Ramsey to give to her?” he asks Brock.
He shakes his head. “I had no part in this.”
“How?” Grayson asks. “What’d you do?”
“Well, first, I filed a restraining order against Julian. Then, I may have provided video of an altercation to the right people to show the unbalanced and volatile man they had in charge of protecting the city.”
“You filed a restraining order against the Chief of Police?” Ashley asks. “That takes some balls.”
Lex snorts. “Well, I did, but it never got filed. Which the powers that be learned when they looked into my claims. And then, when it was proven, I may have, you know, threatened to take the video I showed them to the various media outlets if nothing was done about him.”
“What video?” Colt asks.
Pulling her phone from her back pocket, she hands it to Brock. “Are you able to cast this to the TV?”
He takes the phone and nods. “I should. One second.”
A video from the outside of Colt’s house appears on the screen, and Lex stands with Julian on the porch. He gets far too close to Lex for Colt’s comfort, and his blatant threats to take what he’s owed from his wife pisses him off.
“I am the law! I am the law, and you can do whatever you want. It won’t do a damn bit of good because it’ll go nowhere. I’ll make sure your claim never sees the light of day. Keep pushing me, and maybe you’ll never see the light of day again.”
“Damn, Lex,” Brock says with a chuckle. “You knew he’d show up at your place, didn’t you?”
“Karmen and I set the stage, and it’s really not difficult to anticipate his every move. The cameras you suggested we install were worth it. I did edit the video a bit before I showed it to the officials, though. There isn’t anything that could be used against us later.”
Shaking his head, Colt looks at the others around him as more men run inside the clubhouse as news about Julian and Travis spreads. “I don’t like you making yourself a target.”
“Without the badge, he has nothing backing him up,” she says.
“Without the badge, he has nothing keeping him in check,” Grayson says. “If he wants to get revenge, he will. You just put a giant bullseye on your back.”
“The badge didn’t keep him in check, so let’s not pretend he’s any more dangerous now than he was before, okay? Besides, I’m a daughter of the club, and I’m married to the President. Hello, born with a target on me that’s only grown.”
“Wait, you did this?” Ky asks. “You got them out?”
“The bullshit raids are over?” Jennings asks.
As much as Colt doesn’t like how it happened, he can’t stop the pride filling him. His wife pulled this off. She had an idea, and she executed it better than any man in this room ever could. The second plan in weeks she’s pulled off flawlessly.
He just hopes that the new heads of the department will be willing to work with them. Or leave them alone. Either will work.
“Second best birthday present you could give me, baby,” he says. “But we’re going to keep an eye on you. Julian likely wants blood.”
“Does that mean you’ll stick to me like glue?” she asks with a cheeky smile. “Because I’m really not opposed to it.”
