The Same Place (The Lamb and the Lion #2) - Gregory Ashe Page 0,81

to stop you, and as usual, you ignored me and did whatever the fuck you wanted.” Ammon was still clutching Tean’s arm, and now he shook him. “Don’t you dare act like this is somehow my fault.”

“Let go of him.” Jem didn’t remember standing, but he was on his feet, and he was patting his sides, trying to find his tools. A part of his brain distantly remembered locking them in the under-seat storage. “Take your hand off him, or I’ll fuck you up.”

Ammon dropped Tean’s arm.

“Get lost,” Jem said.

Instead, Ammon turned, squaring up with Jem.

“No,” Tean said, trying to move between them. Ammon used one hand to shove Tean to the side. “No, absolutely not.”

“Why not?” Ammon said. “This has been coming since October. He thinks he’s your boyfriend. Let’s get this out of the way.”

Jem didn’t say anything. Talking in a fight was only good if it got the other guy to do something stupid, and Ammon already looked plenty stupid, thanks very fucking much.

“Here?” Tean whispered. “Are you out of your mind? You’ll be fired. And you’ll both get charged. Ammon, come on.” He caught Ammon’s shirt, and Ammon’s gaze broke away from Jem and slid to Tean. “Come on. I want to talk to you for a minute. Come on.”

Slowly, by inches, Ammon let Tean usher him to the other side of the lobby.

Jem watched them go. He rolled his shoulders, bounced on his toes, cracked his neck. He thought the best plan was to start with a big, telegraphed roundhouse, the kind of punch that Ammon would see coming from a mile off. Then, while the detective was watching the roundhouse, he’d knee him in the balls so hard they went up into his stomach.

But after a few minutes of conversation, Ammon turned and left, passing through the same door he’d come out of. Tean made his way over to Jem and said, “Let’s call Caleb and see if we can get some more information from him.”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing.”

“No lies. That goes both ways with best friends.”

“All he’d say was that they had enough evidence to arrest Hannah, and they only do that when the prosecutor is convinced they’ll get a conviction.”

“That’s not all he said.”

“No, he said a lot of bad things about you too. Big surprise. Come on. And quit flexing your muscles.”

“I’m not flexing my muscles.”

Tean just stared at him, and after a moment, Jem felt his face heat. He tried to even it out with a grin, but the doc just rolled his eyes and walked out of the lobby.

When Jem got outside, the day smelled like warm asphalt and diesel exhaust. Tean was on the phone, but he pulled it away from his ear and shook his head. “Caleb’s not answering. You try.”

Jem placed a call. It went to voicemail, and he left a brief message. Then, to Tean, he said, “Caleb told me he’d continue to pay me to investigate. He wants us to clear Hannah.”

“Which is perfect because that’s what we were going to do anyway.”

Jem’s phone buzzed with a call from an unknown number. He answered.

“This is Lynn Ellen Lytle,” a woman said in a clipped, professional tone. “I’m providing legal counsel and representation to Hannah Prince.”

“Oh,” Jem said. “Great, I just—”

“Per Mr. Prince’s instructions, I am canceling your outstanding contract with him.”

“Wait, what?”

“Your services are no longer needed, Mr. Berger. Please do not contact my client or his family. If you need anything, you can reach me at this number. Please send a finalized invoice for your services to my firm. I understand that you were paid a retainer; if you have not earned the full amount, Mrs. Prince wants you to keep the balance as a bonus. If you are owed money, I will see that you’re paid.”

“Hold on,” Jem said.

“Goodbye, Mr. Berger.”

The call disconnected.

“What was that?” Tean asked.

“I just got fired,” Jem said.

24

When they got back to Tean’s apartment, Scipio pranced around them, licking Jem’s hand, oblivious to Jem’s flinches. Jem walked straight to the couch and collapsed face-first onto it.

“Leave him alone,” Tean whispered. He grabbed a rubber bone and squeaked it a few times. Scipio charged him, got his teeth into the bone, and began growling and whipping his head back and forth in an impromptu game of tug of war. That went on for a while, with Tean moving around the kitchen, checking the fridge, noticing that Jem probably needed more milk, and all the while getting his arm ripped