I pulled out my phone and dialed Coop, “What?”
“Next time you send a partner. Make them a smart partner,” was all I said before hanging up on him. I paid my tab with Jack and turned to Alex and Cara, “Ready to go guys?”
They nodded, “Woah. Wait. You can’t leave,” Sutherland said as he walked out of the backroom.
I turned to him, “The hell I can’t. I’ve answered your questions. What else do you want?”
“You need to come in for questioning for your connection to Devil’s Gate MC and Havoc Reapers MC.”
My eyes narrowed. “Detective, you might want to think about this,” Fletcher said.
“I have and she needs to come in for questioning now. Willingly or unwillingly. Her choice.”
I started to walk out the door, but Sutherland grabbed my arm and twisted it behind me, snapping one cuff on my wrist. Before he could get the other one, I slipped out of his grip, flipping us so that his wrist was in my hand and snapping the handcuff on his wrist. I pushed him against one of the poles in the room, easily popping the lock off my wrist and onto his. His eyes shifted from my eyes down to my lips. I listened to his heartbeat as it began to beat faster, his body hardening against me. I smirked, “I don’t do handcuffs, Detective. Next time try asking nicely.”
I took in a sharp breath as I walked out of the bar, trying to get my own breathing and heartbeat under control. I bumped into Coop a few feet outside the doorway. “Where are you going? I would’ve thought Sam would’ve wanted to question you.”
“And I would’ve gone with him, but he didn’t ask nicely,” I responded, causing him to curse under his breath. He rushed inside as I continued making my way home. I greeted the doorman, Timothy, as I walked in, “If Coop or any other local cop comes to the door, don’t let them in. Tell them they need a warrant or to come back when they’ve learned to ask nicely.”
“Yes, my lady,” he responded in Ancient Greek.
“Timothy, please, I’ve asked you just to call me Sephie. I’m not your queen anymore.”
He gave me a sad smile, “You’ll always be Queen of the Underworld, my lady.”
I sighed, but decided not to press any further, “Do you need anything, Charon?”
“No my lady, but thank you for asking,” he responded with a smile.
“Okay. If that changes you know how to reach me,” I gave him a pointed look.
He nodded as I headed upstairs. Cerberus, my dog, greeted me at the door of my apartment. After giving him plenty of pets and a late night snack, I got to work researching Sutherland and potential tenants for some apartments I own.
“Mom, are you home?” My oldest’s voice sounded in my head.
“Yeah Z, I’m home. Come on over.”
I wasn’t alone long before my trio ported into my living room. “Uncle says you killed someone tonight?” Mel, my middle child, said in Ancient Greek. “Do you think it will gain any attention?”
“Probably, but I can shut it down pretty easily, I think,” I responded also in our mother tongue.
“Are you okay?” Lu, the youngest, asked quietly from the floor where he was sitting with Cerberus in his lap.
“I’m fine. He wasn’t anyone who didn’t deserve it. Honestly he deserved more, but I was too irritated to execute a more creative method,” I said before shifting my gaze back to my research.
Z came up behind me, “What are you working on?” I quickly explained what I was working on, “Would you like some help?”
I shook my head, “You three are doing plenty, helping your uncle with the team.”
“What’s up with Coop’s partner?” Mel asked from the couch.
“He’s got a stick up his ass and is very quick to point a finger. I told Charon not to let him in.”
All three of them laugh, “Why are you keeping him out?”
“Because he tried to take her in for questioning, but she refused because he didn’t ask nicely. He tried to handcuff her so she handcuffed him to a pole and left him at the bar. Him and Coop followed us back here,” Cara said in Ancient Greek as she and Alex walked in, “You should’ve seen the looks on their faces when Timothy told them they weren’t allowed inside without a warrant.”
“You’re keeping Coop out too? That’s just cold, Mom,” Lu chuckled.
“He could’ve come down to the bar. He could’ve gone on shift, but no he sent his stick up the ass partner instead. He deserves it.”
“Are any of your kids coming?” Z asked Cara and Alex from the kitchen where he and Mel had set to digging through my cabinets for food and alcohol.
“Yeah, but they’re driving in with a few people from the company that wanted to see Sephie,” Alex answered.
“When will they be here?” I asked, looking over my laptop screen.
“Another hour or so. They left not too long after you ported us here.”
I nodded, returning my attention back to my research. “When’s our next job,” Lu asked Alex.
“Couple of weeks. We’ve been working pretty steady. I figured it was time for a break.”
“Finding anything interesting?” Cara asked from behind me.
“Not really. Sutherland’s sister has been missing for a few weeks. She’s presumed dead, but from the look of things he doesn’t think so.”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t think she is either. It looks like she was picked up by sex traffickers. She was living on the streets at the time, on drugs, despite his best efforts, so she got lost in the shuffle.”
“Any ideas on who might’ve grabbed her?” Z asked through a mouthful of food.
“He has some ideas, and from the looks of it he might be right,” my fingers slid across the keyboard, bringing up images and documents that support his theory, “Devil’s Gate MC. It looks like they grab people off the streets, favoring women but not exclusively, and sell most of them overseas or down south.”
“Are we going to intervene?” Lu asked, playing with Cerberus on the floor.
Alex and I exchanged a glance that told me he would back my play, “Not yet. I’ll talk it over with Fletcher and maybe Coop.”
“So maybe not a couple of weeks until our next job,” Lu said, looking over at Alex.
“Probably not. It’ll be worth it though and maybe we’ll get Detective Stick Up His Ass to relent in the process.”
“Not likely. He’ll probably arrest us all, his sister included,” I responded not looking up from my computer.
“Man this guy rubbed you the wrong way,” Mel said with a laugh, “Do you want me to drop into his apartment and give him a not so nice present or no?”
I smiled, “As tempting as that is, Mel, I’m going to go with no.”
She flashed a wicked grin, “Just give the word when you want it done.”
I laughed, “Thanks, Mel.”
I finished collecting the last bits of information on Sutherland, his sister, and potential tenants and closed my laptop. “Z, do you want to help me make dinner?” I asked him, stretching as I stood.
“Sure. What did you have in mind?”
I looked through my fridge, “Chicken souvlaki, tzatziki sauce, and orzo pasta salad.”
Z started on the orzo and cut up the veggies as I worked on the kebabs. As I closed the oven, removing the kebabs, the front door opened. “What the hell? Did you guys bring the whole office with you?” I asked, moving around the bar to embrace Alex and Cara’s kids, our twin brother and sister, Goldwin and Alessa, and a few other people from the office.
“Just the important parts,” Iphi, Alex and Cara’s oldest, responded as she bent down to scratch Cerberus.
I gave Vander, Alex and Cara’s youngest, a pat on his cheek. “How was the drive?”
“It was good. Weird thing happened when we tried to come in though. Some cop tried to badge his way in with us. He tried to convince us you were wanted and he should be let into the building,” Galen, the third child and oldest of a set of twins, responded as he wrapped his arms around me.
“He was really cute. I might have a run at him if we stay in town long enough,” Vander said from the floor where he and Lu are playing roughly with Cerberus.
“Not if I get to him first,” Mel said.
“Annnnnnnaaaaa you’ll eat him alive,” Vander whined.
She chuckled evilly, “But it’ll be so much fun.”
“How about none of you go near him until after everything is done with his sister?” I said, giving them both a pointed look.
“Sephie!” They both all but shout at me.
Ferris, number five, rolled his eyes, “What’s going on with his sister?”
“Are we moving on it?” Alessa asked once I was done giving them an overview of what Sutherland had on his plate.
“Not yet. Sephie wants to talk to Fletch before and maybe Coop,” Alex responded.
“So wait, why is this guy trying to badge his way in? Why won’t you just let him up if you’re thinking about helping him?” Nova asked, speaking near fluent Ancient Greek which considering she had only been speaking it for a few years was impressive. All members of Tsitak Solutions, whether they were like us or not, learned to understand and speak Ancient Greek.
“Because he’s got a stick up his ass and doesn’t know how to ask nicely. Coop isn’t allowed in right now either, so don’t let him sell you a lie that he is because he’s not,” I said in a huff.
Everyone chuckled and we fell into a pleasant conversation as we ate. Alessa and Goldwin cleared the plates once everyone was finished eating. “What time are we training in the morning, boss?” Mason asked in broken Ancient Greek, looking at me instead of Alex.
I smirked, “Let’s start around seven.”
Nova stretched, “It’ll be nice to sleep in.” She looked over at Alex, “This is why we let Effie call the shots when she’s around.”
He barked a laugh, “You don’t like the 4am starts?”
“Oddly enough, I could do without them, boss,” Nova retorted with a smile, causing everyone to laugh.
We kept chatting for a while longer before everyone wandered off to their various apartments or hit the bars to find company for the night.
Author: Kailan Counahan 