Page 19 of Badges
The first interaction I had from him was a short video of him standing over my sister as she was sleeping with a knife in his hand, but it never showed his head.
Wade stands, slinging the chair around him to land with a thump in its original place near the wall. “I’ll get started goingthrough your phone to see if I can track him down.” He takes a few steps, then pauses. “And I’ll send Billy in here with some food.”
“Thank you.” My empty guts would appreciate it.
“Elena? I’ll be careful how I check. You have my word.” He reaches up and tips his hat before disappearing.
I sure hope so, or I’m completely fucked.
May not want to, but gotta
Wade
I can’t believe Paigepulled that petty bullshit. She knows better.
Stomping through the office, I sling open the door to the breakroom hard enough the knob bounces off the cinder block wall behind it.
Paige and Billy both startle from their coffees. Her jaw drops, and his gray bushy eyebrows climb towards his hat.
“Did you take away her meal before she had a chance to eat?” My arms cross my chest as I look down my nose at her.
“Who?” Paige blinks innocently up at me.
Fuck, she’s pissing me off.
I suck in a breath through my teeth and turn to Billy. “Can you please bring some food to the holding cell?”
He clears his throat with a brief look of relief. “Sure, boss.”
It’s an Oscar-worthy performance to keep my temper in check as he pushes to his feet and leaves.
“What the hell, Wade? Embarrassing me like that was rude.” Paige’s lower lip juts out while she picks her cup back up.
“You’re doing it to yourself. We have rules we have to follow. Starving inmates is a hella big no-no.” My jaw tics watching her go through her petulant motions.
Her eyes roll. “She’s hardly starving.”
The image of Elena pops up unbidden. I swear she was lying on her cot so I could look directly up her full thighs and over her flat belly to the curve of her breasts poking towards the ceiling. She’s thicker than her momma. And those tits would make the perfect handholds—
Jesus H. Christ.
That was a line of thought I didn’t expect to wander down.
“Doesn’t matter. Can’t withhold meals, no matter how much of a pain in the ass they’re being.” I throw a scowl down to emphasize it.
Paige’s head tilts as her gaze narrows. When she stands, she does it purposefully, wagging her hips in an exaggerated saunter.
It used to turn me on. Lately, not so much.
“What is so different about her?” Her voice drops before she pushes the door around, closing us off from anyone walking by. “You’re acting…funny.” She sidles up to me and places her palms on my chest.
I clasp her hands in mine. “Why? Because I’m still expecting you to do your job?”
Her lips purse, then flatten. “No. You’ve pulled away from the moment you saw her, and you act like you know her. How?”
Maybe it’s all of the old emotions that seeing Elena has brought up. Or the fact that I would give anything to see Maria just one more time.
Backing away, I let Paige’s arms fall. “It doesn’t matter.”
