Page 33 of Rascal

“My cheek is the only damage. Guess I’m going to have matching scars. I think the other bullet…” I turned and, yup, it had missed me by an inch. It was embedded in the headrest next to my head.

“Christ, that was too close,” King murmured. “Babe, we need to get you safe.”

“Okay,” I replied in a daze.

King didn’t argue; he scooped me up and sent warning glares to Chance and Shane. Chance took the lead, and we followed him across the road to the building opposite. Some fancy law offices. As we entered, the receptionist gasped.

“Call the police. She’s been shot,” King stated.

“We had a room booked. Name of Michaelson and Milton. Point us in that direction,” Chance said.

“Over there. I’ll fetch the first-aid box,” the girl announced and stood up.

King walked towards the room, kicking the door open. It was a large conference room.

“This won’t do,” Chance said, entering. “Too many windows.”

“Do you have another room?” Shane asked as the receptionist followed us. “Without windows?”

“I can pull the blinds. They’re blackout ones,” she said.

“I’ll do that,” Chance said.

The receptionist flicked the lights on as King placed me down and opened the first-aid box. “This is going to sting,” King warned and began cleaning the wound.

“How deep is it?”

“Not very, but it will leave a slight scar.”

“What’s one more?” I murmured with a faint smile.

“The police are coming. More of your party has arrived; should I send them in?” the receptionist asked.

“Yes,” Chance and King replied together.

Harry entered first, his eyes narrowing. “What happened?” he demanded.

King explained as he placed butterfly stitches over my cheek. I didn’t recognise the other three individuals who entered, but I recognised the man trailing behind them. Kris. What the hell was he doing here? Were these his associates?

Two additional men entered, followed by a woman, before they all sat.

“Who are all these people?” Harry demanded as someone else arrived. “This is not what we agreed to.”

“Good question,” the newest intruder said. “I’m Lieutenant Jonas Richards, Internal Affairs, and I’m investigating the complaints against the SPD. I’m unsure why I was asked to attend. And he is on suspension,” Lieutenant Richards stated, pointing as Emilio Hawthorne entered the room.

“We’ve invited all relevant parties to get to the bottom of this,” Chance explained.

“On whose authority?” Harry demanded.

“My own. Problem? Considering Hallie was just nearly killed, surely you want this ended as much as we do,” Chance growled out.

“Let them sit, Harry, and they’ll explain who they are,” I stated. “If we don’t like them, we can walk at any time.”

Harry nodded as King stepped back and cleaned up the mess.

“I’m John Sutter, and this is Clive Dean. We’re lawyers here, and Mr Lynch asked us to attend for an impartial view. This is our note-taker, Jessie,” one of the men explained.

“I’m Artemis. This is Simone, Nigel, and Kristoff. They work for me. We’re an independent company that deals with private investigations.” Artemis smirked. I read between the lines. This woman was much more than that.