Page 86 of Hurry Up And Wait

“But you have no proof that Shawn was involved,” the captainsuggested. “Otherwise, I would have officers from your department banging down my door right now.”

“We don’t. We’re not here to lay charges against your detective.”

“Then what do you want?”

“For you to keep an eye on him. For you to be aware of what’s happening and ensure that he stays on the straight and narrow. It would be a massive hit to the department if one of your own was charged with the attempted murder of his own wife.”

The bite in Cash’s tone was enough to do the job. Now was the perfect time to relieve myself of the situation and seek out…a more colorful brand of justice. “Whew! These Funyuns are burning my mouth,” I chuckled. “I’m just gonna—” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “I’ll just grab some water.”

“Milk would be better,” the captain suggested.

“It would, but I didn’t bring a carton with me.” I frowned. “It’s a shame, really. FNG’s milk carton would have come in extremely handy right now.” I shrugged and headed for the door. “Anyway, I’ll catch up with you in a little bit.”

I ignored the look Cash shot me. There was nothing he could do about it, anyway. If he told the captain I was about to threaten one of his detectives, we’d be out on our asses without Cash getting to finish his conversation with the captain.

I slipped out of the room and headed down the hall, popping a few more of my tasty treats in my mouth. Yes, they really were hot, but I could handle it. After all, I was a man’s man, and Flamin’ Hot Funyuns didn’t scare me. I rounded the corner at the end of the hall and made my way to the locker room. Luck was on my side as I watched the detective stroll inside.

I shoved the door open and headed toward the sound of whistling. I bet he thought he was untouchable, that he could go after his wife and no one would realize it was him. Well, I had a leg up on him. I could tell by his shitty whistling that he didn’t really have what it took to fool everyone. I bet he couldn’t even tolerate my hot Funyuns.

I watched him primping in the mirror, taking his sweet time to check his reflection. The man wasn’t even that good-looking. He was aversion of a handsome male, but that was it. Then again, knowing that he tried to blow up his wife did take some of the swagger out of his step.

His gaze caught mine in the mirror and he stilled, his eyes narrowing on me as I stepped out from behind the lockers. “Can I help you?” he asked, not bothering to turn around.

“I just came to see what the douchebag looked like.”

That made him turn around. “Excuse me?”

I smirked at him, shaking my head slightly. “I can’t understand why a man like you would throw away someone like her.”

He stiffened as I walked closer. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are?—”

He stopped when I widened my eyes at him. I had this terrifying psychopath look that I embraced. Only my friends could see through it to the heart of me, but based on the way his breath stuttered in his throat, I could practically feel the terror coming off him in waves, though he tried to hide it.

“You tried to blow up my friend, Shawn.”

“I didn’t?—”

“Don’t fucking lie to me,” I growled. “I know what you did. I see your little mind whirling. You’re wondering if I know about the explosives in your garage. You’re wondering if you can get rid of the evidence in time.” His eyes widened infinitesimally. “You’re thinking about what this will cost you, what you’ll do if you lose your job because you made a rash decision. And you’re wondering why you spent so much time thinking about getting your revenge when you should have been focusing on your job.”

I was now toe to toe with the man. He was backed into a corner with nowhere to go. I had him just where I wanted him, terrified and on edge. People did stupid things when they were cornered. They made mistakes and lost their cool, and that’s precisely what I was counting on.

“Do you know what you should have been thinking about?” I asked, my voice nothing more than a whisper.

He shook his head just enough for me to see.

“You should have been thinking about…” I snapped my fingers once. It echoed around the locker room like a shot. I heard him swallow a deep gulp as he tried not to piss himself. “When you’re a jet…”

He sucked in a ragged breath, and I chuckled, then continued the song, snapping my fingers and letting the words rush from my lips in a low hiss. Then I slid back with one leg, thrusting my hands out as I spun around, whirling from one foot to the other as I belted out the song. I sang loud, letting the song spill from my guts, all the while keeping an eye on my target.

He was staring at me like I was insane. Little did he know how true those thoughts were. I spun one last time and stopped in a low crouch, my head hung low as I started snapping again. The sound thundered around us, sending a terrifying chill that gave even me goosebumps. As I slowly raised my eyes to meet his, I pulled a snack pack of Funyuns from my pocket and widened my eyes at him. I yanked the bag open and held it in my outstretched hand.

“Take it.”

He shook his head slightly.

“If you want to live, you will take my peace offering and eat it in front of me.”

His eyes flicked to the bag, then back to me. “It’s poisoned.”