World's Worst Boyfriend: A Romantic Comedy Adventure (Fake It Book 3) by Carina Taylor (books to get back into reading .TXT) 📕

“My ass is fine, thanks for asking,” I replied dryly. Sullivan and West both snickered. “Hey, I’ve got to go. But we’ll talk later, okay? Go home. Stop worrying about me.”

“Okay, Fletch, I’m just so glad you’re all right. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I hung up and turned to Sullivan and West.

“If you knew before you went to lunch with Saidy, why did you go with her?” I asked, trying to remind myself I couldn’t lose my temper if he gave me an answer I didn’t like.

“Morbid curiosity and it was a great cover for getting to my pickup zone. It was like fortune had smiled on me and handed her to me on a silver platter.”

I took a step toward him, but he turned to look out over the dark garden again.

“I was going to run. I had my transportation lined up. I’d taken care of all my affairs. But then I decided that I’m not much of a runner. Your girlfriend reminded me that there is always another option. I knew I’d rather not look over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”

He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “So, I came home to manage the rest of my affairs and get things in order for this.”

He lifted his cuffed hands awkwardly behind him.

Two officers walked into the room and motioned for Sullivan to stand.

“What happened to your fixer Jenkins? He up and disappeared one day.”

Sullivan shook his head. “I’m going to wait for my lawyer to answer that one.”

“You killed him. Why didn’t you kill me when you figured it out?”

Sullivan pulled back and looked at me as though I’d punched him. “Killed him? Kill you? When have I ever killed someone? Hmm?”

I shrugged and glanced at my watch as each of the officers grabbed his arms.

“I am not a killer, no matter what you think, Fletcher. Or whatever your name is.” He shook his head in disgust. “I’m a broker, not a murderer.”

“What’s the holdup here?” The police chief stopped next to me. Of course, he would be here for an arrest like this.

“We’re in for a long night at the station,” I muttered. Sullivan turned halfway toward us.

“I’d like to contact my lawyer before I answer any more of your questions.”

“That’s your legal right,” the chief admitted.

“Who’s your lawyer?”

Sullivan smiled. And it was a painfully big smile. “You’ll see.”

“I have a feeling we aren’t going to like this at all.”

Sullivan chuckled. “Actually, I know you're going to hate it.”

I followed them down the hall and outside to a squad car where they pushed him inside. I stopped them before they shut the door.

“The night you stopped and helped Saidy with her car, was that a coincidence?” I asked.

“You know it wasn’t,” Sullivan admitted. “Ironically, meeting up with Saidy only convinced me that you were exactly who you said you were. And that you were dating someone out of your league.”

It still made my heart jump a few beats to think of Saidy being alone with him. “I didn’t like that you went to lunch with her.”

“I know.” He leaned back in his seat. “For what it’s worth, I like her. She’s one of the good ones.”

I nodded.

Saidy was the painfully honest type. There was something beautiful about her openness.

“Okay, let’s get this car moving,” an officer said as he closed the door. “We’ll see you down at the station.”

The station. Where I’d probably not get a chance to ask him my questions anymore.

“I can’t believe that guy.” West shook his head as we stared through the one-way glass into the interrogation room down at the station. “Hardly a slap on the wrist.”

“Millions of dollars’ worth of stolen goods, and he’s going to practically be a free man.” I agreed.

Sullivan had been right. We hated who his lawyer was.

The best criminal defense lawyer in the state. Rarely lost a case. If he couldn’t get the charges dropped, he worked deals that anyone would be happy to have. And now he was working his magic on Sullivan’s behalf.

West grunted. “Do you ever feel like a hamster?”

I cleared my throat. “You know, sometimes I don’t. That’s all you.”

West glanced away from the interrogation room and glared at me. “You know what I mean. We spent months doing undercover work, and this guy isn’t even going to spend a day in prison.”

“Yeah, I hear you, man. He cost us a lot. But you have to think about everyone else we stopped. All those other guys? They’re going to be spending a long time in prison. And Sullivan? He might be the sleazy guy who fenced everything, but he’s got a lot of information that’s going to help us.”

“I’m just glad I won’t have to work with him,” West chuckled.

The deal that Sullivan worked out included consulting the police department and the FBI on the case. He would be turning over evidence of dealers and anyone else connected to the case. He would be under a very strict parole and would be a criminal consultant for the duration, helping with any future cases that fell under his expertise.

Which meant he was going to have to have a shadow. Some unlucky detective was going to have to monitor him.

“I wonder who they’re going to stick him with,” I mused, thinking over the handful of the detectives they could pick from.

“You.”

We both spun around to see the chief standing in the doorway behind us.

“What?”

“You’ll be Sullivan’s handler.”

If I’d been the fainting type, I would have fainted right then and there. It hadn’t seemed like a bad deal until I knew I’d be the one dealing with him. Hadn’t I done my time with the guy? Paid my dues?

“You’ve run point on this case ever since you went undercover. You know Sullivan best. You know how he operates. You know who he operates with. I don’t trust him to not double-cross us some way with this case.”

“That’s a very accurate observation. Starting with who his lawyer is.”