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You jumped-up little whore! The last word came out as a
roar as John lunged for him.
Lucas had just enough time to dodge aside. Fenton crashed
through a nearby rack of clothing instead of into Lucas. There was
something to be said for rage because Fenton recovered quickly.
I ll have your ass canned for this, son.
Good luck with that. You re the one who attacked me,
jackass.
Your word against mine. Fenton grinned coldly and stalked
out.
Fan-fucking-tastic. Lucas knew he couldn t have made more of
a mess of this if he d tried.
Ten minutes later, he was called to Aileen s office.
What the hell happened?
It was just a pissing contest. I hit a nerve with John, and he
came at me.
He says you attacked him.
Only his male pride.
You didn t shove him into a clothing rack?
No, he did that all on his own. All I did was get out of the way
when he lunged at me.
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Aileen sighed and leaned back in her chair. I figured as much.
John s temper is as notorious as, well, everything else about him.
I m pretty sure he was trying to bait me into throwing the first
punch.
She rubbed her forehead. Taking that man on has been more
of a curse than a blessing. You aren t the first one to get into a
fight with him. She sighed. But I can t let it pass.
The investigation
I didn t mean you, sunshine. No amount of profit is worth the
aggravation he s caused. I should have let him go after he got into
that fight with Colin Wills.
Aileen, no. You know I m just temporary. I don t want to cost
you two actors.
I ve lost more than that since he came on. No, I need to clean
house. Pushing her chair back, she stood up. Go home, Lucas. I
think we re going to be shutting down for the day anyway, once
I ve done what needs to be done.
Aileen, I m sorry. I ll stay on to finish this project.
That s very generous of you, Lucas.
I like you. I don t want to see you get screwed.
Isn t that what I got into this business for?
I figured you got into it to watch other people get screwed.
Her smile was fleeting. Yeah, I ve always been a voyeur. How
better to scratch that itch than start up your own porn studio?
Anything I can do to help, Aileen, let me know.
Oh, I ll be taking you up on that, don t you worry. She gave
him a gentle shove. Now go home.
Yes, ma am.
When he kissed her temple, she swatted him away, blushing.
He went to find Scotty.
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And found her cursing at her computer in the accounting office.
God damned son of a bitching piece of Lucas!
Thanks. As if my ego hasn t suffered enough today.
She frowned. What s going on?
We need to talk. He nodded to the door.
Right, gotcha.
There were already mutters and whispers in the hall as they
made their way to the back door. Scotty picked up on it. What s
going on?
Not here.
He didn t see Mike on the way.
Lucas shut the door behind them and leaned against it. John
Fenton is about to get fired.
What? Why?
For being a jackass.
That s not new. Why now?
He took a swing at me. Aileen s had enough.
Well, shit.
Are we screwed?
Let me think. Damn it, we were so sure the killer was
targeting Fenton. If we lose him, it s going to be harder to keep an
eye on him.
But he s not the one being murdered. The guys he takes on
are. And they re not getting fired.
Unless they walk out in a show of support.
Have you met Fenton?
Okay, you re right. She chewed on the edge of a fingernail.
Mike s on his list now. Whoever s doing this may still have their
sights on him, whether Fenton s here or not.
Or maybe the killer s targeting guys who cross Fenton.
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Scotty clenched her fist. There s not much we can do about it
now. What s happening in there?
Aileen s firing John and closing up shop for the day.
Okay then, go home. I ll take this to Lieutenant Logan and
figure out our next steps. And She caught his arm as he started
to open the door. Watch yourself. If it s someone taking out
Fenton s rivals, you ve definitely put yourself on that list, too.
It wouldn t be the first time I was a target, he said. Keep me
posted if anything comes up.
Mike was in the hall with the others when they came back in.
Aileen s fired John.
We know.
Mike looked directly at Lucas for the first time in days. Did
you do this?
Not on purpose.
What do you mean?
Fenton tried picking a fight with me. When that didn t work,
he lunged for me and got a face full of wardrobe for his troubles.
All I did was not rise to his bait and then step out of the way.
Christ, you know what this does. The inv
Lucas clamped a hand over Mike s mouth. Yeah, I know.
Already talked with Scotty. She s working on it.
Mike s eyes went wide, and Lucas cursed himself for noticing
the flush that pinked the tops of his ears. God damn you, Michael
Finesterre.
For the second time that day, Lucas forced himself to walk
away. I ll see you around, Mike.
Lucas, wait.
Lucas kept walking.
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CHAPTER 21
The thought of a long afternoon idle didn t appeal to Mike. It
left him too much time to think. He would have liked to go into the
office, but they were still undercover and he had to protect his
story. Hell, sometimes it was hard to remember he was even a cop
and he hadn t even been undercover a week.
He could call Barry, he supposed. They d had a good time the
night before, but it wasn t the kind of relationship where you could
just call up and hang out together.
His relationship with Lucas had been heading in that direction
until he got cold feet.
Although, now was as good a time as any to discuss things with
Lucas. They needed to talk, to either fix things or make a clean
break of it. He pulled up Lucas number and put the call through
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before he could think twice.
Mike wasn t sure whether to be relieved or not when Lucas
didn t pick up. It was tempting just to hang up, but caller ID would
tell Lucas he d called, so&
Hey, it s Mike. I just wanted to& Hell, I don t know. I m not
sure what s going on between us, but they aren t good right now
and I don t want them not to be even if& And I m not making any
sense. Just call me, all right?
Lucas didn t call him back.
The longer Mike s phone didn t ring, the more determined he
became. He tried again at three, and by four he decided to go over
to Lucas apartment. The sooner they got this resolved, the sooner
they could both get on with their lives, one way or another.
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