MASON (Second Chance Novels Book 2) Read Online Free Page B
Author: Kemmie Michaels
However, before I could buckle her knee, she back-sweeps with her foot and maneuvers out of my hold. Just for fun, I'm sure, she dead-legs me on the way around with her other hand. Not wanting to turn this into a genuine sparring match in the back area of the bar, I let her go with a laugh. Apparently I shouldn't chuckle, because she quirks her eyebrow at me right before she hooks her finger in my mouth and pulls me easily to the floor by the inside of my cheek.
Fuck. Me. Twice.
"Nice try," she smiles as she lets me go and makes a show of wiping her finger on my shirt. She turns toward the door again and I smirk. Unable to stop myself, and not really wanting to stop myself anyway, I check out her ass as she walks away. Damn .
CHAPTER THREE
A few short minutes later and we're standing together staring at the web that represents what we've gathered so far. Her eyes scan through the information, focused and determined. Working with her is effortless.
I plop my ass into my chair and she sets herself on the arm. She crooks her leg up to rest her foot on the seat beside me and I can see the shape of her legs even through her subtly-classy black pants. I need to stop noticing these things. Getting my mind back to the task at hand, I stare down the picture of her partner detective. "So, you said your sergeant is knee-deep with him?"
"Sure seems that way," she says. "In his eyes, Miller can do no wrong. He closes nearly every case, but that's because he's a power-hungry jackass. He does what he needs to do , so he says."
"What exactly does that mean?"
"I've seen him come back from his 'personal time' with scuffed knuckles and suddenly-acquired, crucial information more times than I can count."
"And your sergeant's reaction?"
"He's happy as fuck that his team has one of the highest close-rates in the city. He's got his eyes set pretty high up the food chain, too. Miller and Simms are quite a pair, like two little symbiotic jackasses," she says with disgust. I can see why she hates her partner so much. "And more people get sucked in all the time. Take Joseph Wells for example."
"Who's that?" I ask.
"From the City Treasurer's office. He's a standup guy in the office, but put a drink in his hand…"
"Then how's he connected?"
"First, Miller covered him for a DUI. Then Simms saved him from a drunk and disorderly. Then favors get owed, of course…the web widens, funds are discretely reappropriated, and bigger players get woven in. The original speeding ticket is the first domino. At this point, so many have fallen that they've smoothed over an assault charge for Wells, and no one will fuss because they're all roped in with him."
"If you're dealing with both Miller and Simms, who do we take down first?" I ask, my eyes flicking back and forth between the two.
We debate for the next several minutes the pros and cons of each as our primary target. When we get to the top of our priorities list, so to speak, we decide on Simms. As satisfying as it would be to knock Miller off his self-appointed pedestal as quickly as possible, we can do more overall damage by taking out Simms.
"Pin Simms front and center," she says, still shrewdly scanning the web of idiocy in front of us.
"Tomorrow, Dig," I say. "If I remember correctly, you may not need your beauty sleep as you are 'fucking beautiful enough', but you still have a full-time job to attend. I'll rearrange all this tomorrow before my shift."
"Then I'll see you tomorrow," she nods. "I'll try to catch a nap before I get here, but that means you'll see me in my jeans instead of my detective-wear."
"I can live with that," I say simply before I don my ornery grin. "Maybe I should dress up so at least one of us looks decent."
I smile at her and walk her to my front door and open it for her. She starts to walk through and then stops directly in the doorway and turns to look at me in an expression which is serious in a soft kind of way.
"Thank you," she says with
Fuck. Me. Twice.
"Nice try," she smiles as she lets me go and makes a show of wiping her finger on my shirt. She turns toward the door again and I smirk. Unable to stop myself, and not really wanting to stop myself anyway, I check out her ass as she walks away. Damn .
CHAPTER THREE
A few short minutes later and we're standing together staring at the web that represents what we've gathered so far. Her eyes scan through the information, focused and determined. Working with her is effortless.
I plop my ass into my chair and she sets herself on the arm. She crooks her leg up to rest her foot on the seat beside me and I can see the shape of her legs even through her subtly-classy black pants. I need to stop noticing these things. Getting my mind back to the task at hand, I stare down the picture of her partner detective. "So, you said your sergeant is knee-deep with him?"
"Sure seems that way," she says. "In his eyes, Miller can do no wrong. He closes nearly every case, but that's because he's a power-hungry jackass. He does what he needs to do , so he says."
"What exactly does that mean?"
"I've seen him come back from his 'personal time' with scuffed knuckles and suddenly-acquired, crucial information more times than I can count."
"And your sergeant's reaction?"
"He's happy as fuck that his team has one of the highest close-rates in the city. He's got his eyes set pretty high up the food chain, too. Miller and Simms are quite a pair, like two little symbiotic jackasses," she says with disgust. I can see why she hates her partner so much. "And more people get sucked in all the time. Take Joseph Wells for example."
"Who's that?" I ask.
"From the City Treasurer's office. He's a standup guy in the office, but put a drink in his hand…"
"Then how's he connected?"
"First, Miller covered him for a DUI. Then Simms saved him from a drunk and disorderly. Then favors get owed, of course…the web widens, funds are discretely reappropriated, and bigger players get woven in. The original speeding ticket is the first domino. At this point, so many have fallen that they've smoothed over an assault charge for Wells, and no one will fuss because they're all roped in with him."
"If you're dealing with both Miller and Simms, who do we take down first?" I ask, my eyes flicking back and forth between the two.
We debate for the next several minutes the pros and cons of each as our primary target. When we get to the top of our priorities list, so to speak, we decide on Simms. As satisfying as it would be to knock Miller off his self-appointed pedestal as quickly as possible, we can do more overall damage by taking out Simms.
"Pin Simms front and center," she says, still shrewdly scanning the web of idiocy in front of us.
"Tomorrow, Dig," I say. "If I remember correctly, you may not need your beauty sleep as you are 'fucking beautiful enough', but you still have a full-time job to attend. I'll rearrange all this tomorrow before my shift."
"Then I'll see you tomorrow," she nods. "I'll try to catch a nap before I get here, but that means you'll see me in my jeans instead of my detective-wear."
"I can live with that," I say simply before I don my ornery grin. "Maybe I should dress up so at least one of us looks decent."
I smile at her and walk her to my front door and open it for her. She starts to walk through and then stops directly in the doorway and turns to look at me in an expression which is serious in a soft kind of way.
"Thank you," she says with
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