Despite Justin's mood, the morning was bright and sunny. In fact, a sharp ray of sunshine had fallen across his face and roused him from his restless sleep. When he looked out his window, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sun couldn't possibly be any brighter. Reluctantly, he trudged through his morning routine, packed up the money and went to pick Adelyn up for their meeting at the station. Quietly, they walked hand in hand to Adelyn's car.
The station wasn't quite bustling that morning, but everyone who was there for the meeting was more than prepared. Justin held the door to the interrogation room open for Adelyn and watched her walk in. When he moved to walk through the doorway, he was met with Pertel's square jaw and angry eyes.
"Take a seat," the cop said in a gruff voice.
Justin went to sit down next to Adelyn.
"Not there," Pertel told him.
Justin turned around and glared at him. "Why not?"
Pertel looked impatient. "Because that's my seat," he explained, nodding to his coffee mug on the table. "You can sit over there," he said, obviously pleased with himself as he pointed to a seat across the table from Adelyn.
Justin looked at Adelyn with a pleading look, but she only shrugged her shoulders. He sighed as he moved to the other side of the table and sat down. He'd do anything to just hit the guy square in the nose! It was too bad that assaulting an officer was a crime.
The chief walked in and put down a huge silver thermos and a big chocolate chip cookie on the table. He pulled up a chair on Adelyn's other side, sat down and looked across the table at Justin. "You made it," he said, as if he were doubtful that Justin would even show up.
"Of course I did," Justin told him. "I want this guy behind bars as much as you do."
Everyone turned to look at Pertel as he choked back a laugh.
"Is something funny, Pertel?" the chief wanted to know.
"No, sir, it's just that this guy claims to want his boss in prison. I find that a little... weird."
Justin gave Pertel his usual glare. "In case you weren't paying attention, my ex-boss, Colby, has threatened me. Wouldn't that be a good reason to want him put away?"
Pertel snorted. "I just don't trust this guy," he said to the chief as if Justin wasn't even sitting there. "Are you sure we have to use him in this sting?"
"If you want to go up to that house, pretend to be him, and fool Colby, then be my guest."
Pertel sat back in his chair, silent.
"I do have a name," Justin reminded them. "And if you're going to talk about me like I'm not even in the room, then warn me so I can actually leave."
The chief leaned forward, looking Justin in the eyes. "Who's giving orders around here?"
It was Justin's turn to fall silent.
"Let's stop arguing and get to business," Adelyn spoke up. "When are we going in and what do we have to do to get this guy?"
"We?" Justin questioned. "You're not coming."
The way he said it, in command form, made everyone's ears perk up.
"Excuse me?" she said, her eyes widening. "Justin, we've talked about this before. This is my job and I'll do whatever I have to do get things done."
"Even if you get hurt in the process?" he wanted to know.
"Yes!" Adelyn's voice was loud.
Pertel flinched, then looked right at Justin. "Who are you to tell her what to do?" he demanded.
"I'm only looking out for her safety," Justin shot back.
"She didn't become a cop to be safe! She became one to protect other people from harm!"
Justin noticed that Pertel's face was an odd shade of red, but he didn't care. "Are you telling me that I'm not supposed to care whether she's safe or not? Is that what you're saying?"
"What? You think that it's your duty as her boyfriend," he rolled his eyes. "to make sure she's completely safe at all times?"
"Hell, yeah," Justin replied, thinking that if Pertel's face got any redder, he might explode.
"Well, you know what?" Pertel fumed. "You don't deserve her! Scum like you don't deserve to breathe the same air as Adelyn!"
"Stop!" Adelyn yelled. "I don't know why you two are fighting like this, but I'm really getting tired of it! We came here to discuss Colby, not my relationship with Justin, so put an end to it right now."
"I second that," the chief agreed as he looked over Adelyn and at Pertel. "Do you need to go outside and cool off for a while?"
Without a word, Pertel stood up, almost knocking his chair over as he stomped toward the door. When it slammed, Justin looked across the table at Adelyn.
"I'm sorry. He aggravates me," he explained.
Adelyn raised her eyebrows. "Looks to me like you aggravate him."
"He disagrees with everything I say," Justin tried to reason. "If I told him my eyes were blue, he'd say they were brown."
The chief sighed. "He'll get over it. Now, on with the case. Justin, you said you went to Colby a day or so ago before getting caught, and you wanted to end your business relationship with him. Is that right?"
Justin nodded. "I told him that I had different priorities in life, and I couldn't take the risks I'd been taking with a good conscious." He glanced over at Adelyn with a small smile. "Other things mattered more to me than his money."
"Did he know about..." the chief trailed off, gesturing toward Adelyn.
"He knew I was seeing someone, though he didn't know who, and he most certainly didn't know she was a police officer."
The chief nodded. "Good. Then my plan works."
Adelyn looked a little nervous. "Um, chief, what exactly is your plan?"
He smiled proudly. "You get dressed up in a cute outfit... you know, something un-cop-like, and you and Justin go knocking on his door. Justin explains that he got out of jail because we didn't have enough evidence to keep him here, then he introduces the two of you. He tells Colby that since you don't care about his lifestyle, he's decided that he's changed his mind about being in the business. After Colby invites you guys in, Justin distracts him while you take him by surprise. Whack him over the head with the handle of your gun and when he goes down, put the cuffs on him. Justin can carry him outside where we'll have officers stationed around the house."
Justin sighed. "Can't I take another officer with me? If anything were to happen to Adelyn, this would be all my fault and I could never forgive myself."
"You'll both be fine," the chief assured him. "This guy doesn't suspect a thing."
"How do you know?" Justin challenged. "Colby's literally a genius. How do you think he's been pulling this off for so long? He could very well be many steps ahead of us."
The chief went on, "Besides, Brady is the obvious choice here. You two are already comfortable with each other, and if Colby's as smart as you say, he'll pick on that no problem."
Adelyn reached across the table and touched his hand. "Justin, don't worry. I'll be perfectly fine. I know exactly how to handle myself in situations like this. It's what I was trained for."
Outside the room, Blake Pertel crumpled his empty paper cup and threw it into the trash can. Just looking at Adelyn's disgusting boyfriend made him want to be sick! He didn't want to go back inside, but knew that he had to. In a way, he wanted to make sure that Justin kept his distance from Adelyn.
He pushed the door open, and the first thing he saw was Justin and Adelyn holding hands across the table. They didn't even see him come in! Noisily, he sat back down in his seat and crossed his arms. He quickly glanced down at their hands, and then back up at the chief. "Hope I didn't miss anything too important," he said.
Chapter 22
Paying the Consequences
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