Page 5 of Skin In the Game (The BlackWater)

The taxi dropped her right up the street and she narrowed her eyes. Holden was right, it was a shit show. Police were everywhere, so were the fire brigade. She could see agent cars too. A lot of them.

“What the fuck?” She muttered half sprinting despite the height of her god damn heels.

A cop moved to block her and she glared at him before ramming her pass in his face. And then she mentally calmed herself, she was Team Lead after all, she needed to look in control, to be in control.

“Cooper.” Holden said spotting her and nodding his head for her to join him and the group of men now congregating under a street light.

“Maddie…” Burke said walking up to her and she frowned.

“What are you doing here?” She asked surprised.

“Holden’s got me in. I’m taking over.”

“Fuck off. This is my case.” She snapped before she could stop herself.

“Just go with it Maddie.”

“What’s happened?”

“Cooper.” Holden half bellowed and she looked from Burke to Holden.

Taking a deep breath she headed over to them but Burke grabbed her arm and she frowned as he shoved his jacket at her. She looked down realising that she was still wearing the same, short, tight, bandage dress Kelsey had forced her in and she yanked the jacket on before making a mental note to kick Kelsey’s ass later.

“Nice of you to join us sweet cheeks.” Rab said as stood beside him in the only available space.

“Fuck off Rab.” She muttered and he laughed.

She looked at them all then realising that there were more people present than there should be.

“Anyone want to inform me of what’s going on?” She asked irritated.

“You’re Team Lead you should know.” Rab replied and she rolled her eyes at him.

“I called it a night for the main team. The Night Watch were here and I’m sadly not psychic.” She snapped back.

Rab smirked looking her up and down and spending an inordinate amount of time looking at her legs which she dearly wanted to kick him with.

“Your man Evans decided to breach all our protocols, to break down the door and storm the building.” Holden stated.

“What? But I dropped him off at his place only a few hours ago.”

“Oh yeah.” Rab muttered and she bit back the retort. How did he always have a knack for making everything sound dirty even when it wasn’t?

“Well he must have turned right back around.” Holden said.

“So what happened? He smashed the door in…” She began and Holden cut across her.

“And then he went inside, forgetting about the fact that our suspect was there. He found the girls.”

“Seriously?” She asked, feeling like she couldn’t quite believe it. They were there. They’d been there the whole time.

“Yeah and then he got himself stabbed…”

“What? Where is he?” Maddie asked.

“Blue lighting it to Tommy’s as we speak.”

Maddie clenched her fists and unclenched them. “What the fuck was he thinking?” She said shaking her head.

“Those are exactly my thoughts Miss Cooper.” Cole Black said behind her and she felt her stomach drop at his voice before turning to face him. He did a slow, deliberate look from her feet in those ridiculously high heels, up her legs, her thighs and then from Burke’s suit jacket that covered her dress and torso to her face.

She stared right back at him before turning to look at Holden. “Why is he here?”

“Emily’s family have brought him in. He’s a friend of the family.” Holden stated.

“What?” She gasped. Emily was one of the four missing girls. One of the four now found girls. “Why did no one tell me about this?”

“We’re telling you now.” Cole said with a smirk and she shook her head.

“This is a joke. It’s a clear breach of contract and a conflict of interest too.” She stated.

“How?” Cole asked taking a step towards her. God he was tall, she thought, but not too tall. Almost perfect height. She mentally shook herself, damn it how was that one vodka really messing with her brain that much?

“I am Team Lead. I should know of everything that happens on this case.”

“And yet you didn’t know what your man was doing while you were out enjoying your Friday night?” He asked and she gritted her teeth. He’d made it sound like she’d shirked off, like she was irresponsible.

“You mean to tell me you know what all your agents do every minute of every day?” She retorted right back at him and he smirked again.

“Of course I do Miss Cooper. I have full control of all my agents.”

“Oh really?” She stepped nearer, her chest almost against him as if they were now both bruising for a fight.

“Cooper, that’s enough.” Holden snapped and she turned looking back at him.

“Burke is taking over. It’s only temporary but he is going to review everything, all your decisions, all your paperwork. I know you don’t make mistakes but we need to be squeaky clean here.” Holden stated.

“Fine.” She said hoping she sounded calm now despite the resentment she felt. “How are the girls?” She asked realising that she should have been more focused on them.

“They’re alive.” Cole stated and she gritted her teeth. She’d hoped he’d buggered off somewhere but evidently he was still there, right next to her, close enough to reach out and touch.

“I want you and Burke in my office within the next hour. The papers are already all over this and we need to get on top of it.” Holden snapped.

She nodded. “Yes sir.”

“And Cooper, put some damn clothes on.”

She narrowed her eyes biting back the retort that she was actually perfectly dressed and that no one had commented on anyone else’s casual appearance but then she caught Rab running his eyes over her legs again it was all she could do to just walk away.

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