Page 76 of Secret Baby for Mr. Grump

“I need the documents for the Clancy murder,” I ordered. “Yesterday.”

“You have some nerve coming in here,” he spat, and I grinned in the face of his animosity. I knew Officer Evan didn’t like me even before he had to arrest me. As with most people, I didn’t give a damn and wouldn’t even be talking to the bastard if I could help it.

But since Sean had tried and failed to get much information from hacking their antiquated system, it seemed I would need to do things the old-fashioned way.

Good old bullying.

I tapped the table in front of him. “The documents, Evan.”

“Hey, I was talking to him,” Vernon grumbled, sounding grouchy as he stood up. I spared him a cursory glance and watched fear flash across his features.

“Hey.” One scraggly finger reached out and pointed at me. “You’re that kid who murdered Old Man Clancy, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I answered simply, giving him a sarcastic smile. “Do you want to be next?”

He gulped, shook his head, and then immediately turned around, heading to sit in the waiting area.

Well, that was easy.

With that taken care of, I turned back to Evan, who was still glaring at me.

“What do you want those documents for?” he questioned.

“Humor me.”

“I’m not in the business of humoring murderers,” he said in a tone he’d meant to be insulting. Unfortunately, I was too bored to rise in anger.

“You are today,” I responded.

There was a tense silence as we both engaged in the standoff. I knew everyone in the small station was now watching us, not that they bothered to hide it. A hush had befallen the place since I walked in, but I didn’t care. They could watch all they fucking wanted. They weren’t important. My family was.

Today, I was determined to retrieve information that could get us to the bottom of all the bullshit.

Evan cocked his brow. “I’m still waiting to hear why I should do anything you’re saying and not throw you in jail for disrupting the peace.”

“How about if you don’t show me the folder right now, I’ll have the governor descend on this place for all the pardons you’ve given the Mayor’s son over the years?”

Evan first gaped in shock, then grimaced in disbelief. “You’re bluffing.”

“Go ahead,” I said. “Call me out on it.”

He was silent for a few seconds, and I could see the battle on his face. He wanted to maintain his bravado and keep pushing me, but there was a distant sense of self-preservation that was telling him I was right and would do exactly what I said I would.

“He’s buffing, Evan,” the other officer called out, alternating between eyeing me cautiously and going back to his phone screen. He never once met my gaze. “Can’t you tell? It’s the Peters boy. Of course, he’s a born liar.”

It was strange that just a few years ago, a phrase like that was enough to spur a deep-seated rage from me, borne from the injustice of the situation. Now it barely even registered.

I leaned forward in the seat, letting Evan see the threat on my face. “Call the bluff then.” Subtly, I let the mask slip, letting him see the savage that truly lay beneath and just how far I was willing to go to protect my family.

I would turn this entire town upside down if I needed to.

Fear flashed on his face again.

“Because I can assure you that while I may have been Washington Peters’ son, I’m no longer still the same man who left this town.”

“He’s fucking Marcus Peters, the billionaire!” It was Sean’s exuberant voice that emerged from the doorway. I turned around to find his lean frame striding into the police station like he owned the place.

I frowned. I didn’t ask for him to come.

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