Joke’s on You by Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,51

off.

No.

Just no.

I couldn’t do it.

I worked way too many dog bite cases.

Sure, I knew that some of the dogs didn’t show signs of aggression. That some of them just bit without any warning.

But the dog that Laric, the crazy ass biker, had brought around? This one, I knew in my heart, was fucking bad news.

Hell, even Laric had said that the dog was aggressive, not good with kids.

She sighed. “Can I come visit him?”

Laric nodded his head once. “Of course.”

Dillan’s shoulders slumped, and she looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

“He really did save my life,” she whispered to me.

I caught her back up in my arms, and then gestured toward the back door to her place that was now open wide, spilling yellow light out into the alley.

“Let’s go inside.” I looked at the detective that had likely been there asking questions. “Detective Brown, would you like to accompany us inside?”

“I think the little lady needs checked out,” someone said from behind me.

That was when I saw my father’s good friend, Tai.

“Tai.” I nodded my head. “Do you need her in the ambulance, or can you do that inside, too?”

“Inside is fine, as long as I check her out,” he said. “Lead the way.”

I did, right inside the back of her building, past the kitchen, and to the sectioned off area of the front room that she used as seating for her patrons.

“Looks like all bluster,” Detective Brown said, sounding pissed as hell, but controlling it. “I can’t wait to bring that motherfucker in to the station.”

I, on the other hand, wasn’t controlling it. I was losing it.

One fucking word at a time.

“No. I’m not filing any charges, officer.”

Brown looked at me as if he couldn’t quite understand what had just come out of her mouth.

“She’s not pressing charges?” he asked incredulously.

I explained her thought process.

“She doesn’t have to press charges, but we can still file them all the same.” He said. “It’d help if we had her cooperation, but we don’t need it.”

I looked back at my girl.

That’s when I got my first good look at her throat.

And what I saw wasn’t good.

It wasn’t good at all.

“Son of a bitch,” I said, belly clenching.

“Are you sure about not filing charges, ma’am?” Brown asked as we both moved closer to her.

Her words chilled me to the bone.

“What about other women that may come into contact with him?” I found myself asking her quietly. “What if next time it’s worse?”

Dillan’s eyes came to mine. “He’s only interested in me for some reason.”

That was true.

“He needs to pay,” I said gently.

Not just for this, but for everything.

She crossed her arms over her chest.

After Tai had checked her out, he’d made sure to give her an ice pack and told her to use it.

When I noticed it’d fallen with her arms in a defensive posture, I caught it up and pressed it back to her neck.

She took it and held it there.

“He’s not going to pay,” she said. “He’s rich, has the lawyers to fight this, and will drag me through the mud. I’m not pressing charges.” She narrowed her eyes. “Do you know what it’ll mean for my business if he does that? Or Delanie’s? I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to find another way. I was drunk off my ass that night, and though he might’ve slipped me something, I was well on my way to being too fucked up to care. He only helped it along.”

“You think you were drugged?”

She looked away. “Yeah.”

Anger and turmoil roiled through me at the speed of light.

What the fuck was it with this guy? Did he think that he could play God or something?

Even worse, I fucking hated that she was right.

Not about the last part, but about the part that Kerrie’s influence could mean harm to Dillan and Delanie’s businesses.

“What about not saying no permanently?” I asked. “We can keep it on the back burner. I can keep looking.”

She pursed her lips.

“I’ll make sure that it’s okay,” I said. “We won’t throw you to the wolves until we know for sure that you can fight back and survive.”

She seemed to deflate in front of me.

“Thank you, Booth,” she said softly.

There was a soft knock on the door, and I looked up to find an older woman there.

She was waving at Dillan but looking quite concerned while she was at it.

“I’m guessing this means,” she said as an officer let her in, “that we’re not going to open today?”

Dillan shook her head and