Page 129 of A Little Jaded
“Of assault? Not at all.”
“He’s stalking her,” I argue, waving my hand around. “He hurt her in the past?—”
“I’m sure he has, all right? I’ll do my best to see if we canconnect the video to him, and we’ll file a restraining order as well, but I have to be honest with you…”
When he hesitates, I know I’ve already heard enough. I want to stand up. I want to throw everything off his desk. I want to yell and scream and force him to do his fucking job and keep my girl safe. Instead, he only sits there.
“With the other open case against you and your friends, this is a…delicate situation,” he adds. “We need to tread lightly. I suggest only pursuing what we have solid evidence for.”
“What case?” Raine questions.
McDonnell’s jaw clicks, but he doesn’t answer her, and I can’t decide whether or not I appreciate his silence.
Shifting in my seat, I grab her hand, placing it in my lap. “Reeves’ dad was on the force?—”
“Ison the force,” McDonnell corrects me.
My gaze snaps back to his and narrows. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“He’s on a forced leave of absence, but he still has his badge until they conclude the internal investigation,” McDonnell explains. “Which is why you being here and seemingly interfering with it is…a little precarious.”
“I’m not interfering with shit. This isn’t related?—”
“But you are,” he warns. “And unfortunately, so am I.”
Shifting forward in my seat, I rest my elbows against my knees and continue cradling Raine’s delicate hand in mine as I pin McDonnell with a stare. “Let me get this straight. Because of your involvement in ratting out one of your own, your hands are tied in general, or at least when it comes to any kind of association with me and my friends.”
I can tell I’m right by the glint of pity in his eyes.
“Not absolutely,” he offers weakly.
“Then find me another officer to work with,” I snap.
“Not sure that’s in your best interest at the moment, either.”
“So we’re fucked.” My molars grind. “You can’t stop Raine’s ex from stalking her or filming her without her consent or sharing it with her friends and family. Am I hearing you, right?”
“Let me explain something to you.” McDonnell drops his voice low, scanning the bullpen as he shifts even closer. “I’m a rookie, Mr. Taylor, and I stuck my neck out for your friends, calling out my superior officer for some…”—he hesitates again and grits his teeth—“nefarious decisions. And even though we both know my partner was in the wrong, there’s a ripple effect we’re dealing with until the internal investigation proves what we already know. Now, it does not mean I’ll leave you two high and dry. I’ll hand your phone to a member of my team who will run some diagnostics on the video to see if they can pinpoint the person who filmed it, let alone sent it to everyone without Ms. Raine’s consent. If we can at least identify the sender, we can charge him with distribution of pornographic material, even if we can’t prove your ex filmed you together. I will also grab the paperwork for her to fill out so we can file a restraining order. Other than that, there’s nothing more we can do except wait for the results. However, storming in here and causing a scene won’t help either one of you, let alone your friends Dylan and Oliver. Do you understand?”
“What if he comes around?” I demand. “What if a single piece of paper doesn’t stop Raine’s ex from bothering her again?”
He settles back in his chair and folds his arms. “Then we go from there.”
“Go from there?” I scoff. “A piece of paper isn’t gonna do shit to a guy like Drake!”
“Careful, Mr. Taylor,” he repeats. “Things are alreadydicey enough with your friend group as it is. Don’t do anything rash.”
My expression turns to fucking concrete as I read between the lines and all he isn’t saying. Yeah, his hands are fucking tied, and there’s nothing he can do. Not without concrete evidence.
Meaning if push comes to shove, I might need to take shit into my own hands.
Carefully.
“Don’t do anything rash, Mr. Taylor,” McDonnell repeats as if he can read my fucking mind.
I lean back in my chair and give him a blank stare. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE