Read Chapter One of FRAUD

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CHAPTER ONE

Reese

When Reese decided to drown his sorrows at Shooters, one of his favorite dives, he didn’t plan on witnessing a drama. But from the moment the strange couple walked into the place, the show was on.

The guy was at about five-eleven, and his muscles bulged beneath his shirt as if someone had inflated him with a bicycle pump. The blonde who came in with him wore a scowl that said she was ready to pull his plug. They had already managed to turn heads, including the bartender’s, by bickering above the music as if they were the only two people in the room. 

Despite the commotion, the bartender was too busy hitting on a woman at the other end of the bar to do his job and break it up.

As their spat continued, it grew more heated. 

“I told you I didn’t want to come here,” said the girl, whose skin-tight dress and studded heels were more suited for the crowd at Tracers. “This place is a dump. It’s trash, just like your friends.”

The man, who had apparently come there to drink his weight in beer with his buddy, had already downed half a pitcher, and now he was racking the balls at the pool table across the room. “Shut the fuck up,” he said. “I’m going to play one game. Can I do that without you bitching?”

His buddy, who was ready to play him, wore a cocky grin as if he loved seeing the two of them fight. He was the only one.

The girl wrapped her arms around herself as if she were cold, and in that dress, it wasn’t surprising. But Reese noticed something else. The way she pulled away from her man when he touched her was the same way his mother had cowered away from his father.

He couldn’t help but wonder just how tough the man thought he was. How many times had he put his hands on the girl, who, despite her heels, was much shorter and petite?

That was all it took for Reese to keep his eyes on the situation. And sure enough, before too long, things got physical.

“I’m ready to go,” she said again, pushing her luck. “I’m calling a ride.” She got her phone out of her clutch and put it to her ear, but her boyfriend wasn’t having it.

“Who are you calling?” He snatched the phone from her hand, nearly knocking her down as he crowded her. He loomed over her, squaring up like he was spoiling for a fight.

“None of your business,” she said, trying to keep a hand on her phone. She pushed the guy back to defend herself.

That was all it took. The guy grabbed her arm and threw down his pool cue. With his free hand, he grabbed her wrist and forced her to let the phone go.

When she screamed, Reese had had enough. He got up and stormed over. “Let her go,” he said, wishing he still had his badge to pull out. It would keep the situation from escalating, but then again, Reese needed to blow off a little steam.

“Who the fuck’s going to make me?” asked the inflated bastard.

“I am. You don’t put your hands on a woman,” said Reese. He was ready to light this guy up. “Let her go.”

But being the overly muscled chump with an ego to match, the man wasn’t backing down. “She’s my girl. I can do what the fuck I want. You should mind your own business.”

“You’re right,” said Reese. “You can do what you want, and so can I.” He swung so fast and hard that the man was taken by surprise when it landed on his jaw. And as soon as Reese’s hand connected to his fat head, the woman screamed.

His buddy, who had gone ahead and finished his shot, decided he was going to get in the middle of it. He swung the pool stick at Reese, landing it flat across his back like a cane, but Reese wasn’t fazed. Although he would probably feel it later, he was too pissed to care or to let it distract him. Instead, he ducked the big guy’s retaliation punch and laid him across the pool table.

“If you don’t break it up, I’m calling the police,” said the bartender, who crossed the room with a long stride. He seemed to care more about the pool-table felt than his patrons’ faces. But that wasn’t Reese’s problem.

He didn’t care about the bartender. There wasn’t a man on the force that would blame him for what he was doing. He hit the guy again. And again.

By the time he got good and wound up, everyone was screaming for him to stop, including the blonde. But only one voice got his attention.

“Reese! Stop!”

He looked up to see Oliver Hebert coming his way. Reese dropped the man, who fell to the floor with a thud. Reese looked down with his nostrils flaring, his chest heaving, and he spat on the man. “You’re lucky I didn’t finish you.”

All the emotions from his childhood and what he had always wished he’d done to protect his mother came flooding back.

“Fuck you,” said the guy through bloody lips.

Reese looked up at the blonde as he tried to catch his breath. “Do yourself a favor. This one isn’t going to change.” He wished he—or someone—had helped his mother. All those times his father had beaten her, she kept going back to him. “It only takes one time of him going too far.”

The girl’s eyes were wide with fear as she retrieved her phone, which had been dropped in the scuffle, and she hurried out of the bar without looking back. Her boyfriend was too dazed to stop her, and his friend went to check on him.

Oliver pulled Reese aside. “What the fuck has gotten into you?”

Reese shrugged it off as he straightened his shirt. “He assaulted his girlfriend. I can’t sit by and let that shit happen.”

“Don’t you think you took it too far? Are you trying to get yourself arrested? You could have killed him!”

Reese wasn’t going to dignify that with an answer. “What the fuck are you doing here anyway?” He had never seen Oliver there before or anyplace after hours outside of work. In fact, it was the first time he had seen him wearing something other than a lab coat and lanyard.

Oliver’s expression was clouded with anger. “Well, I certainly didn’t expect to find you handing out a beatdown. Jesus. We should get out of here.”

Reese glanced at the guy he’d pummeled. His friend was carrying him out. He wouldn’t be back.

Reese turned his attention back to Oliver. “Let’s get a drink.”

“Fine, get another drink. That’s just what you need.” 

Reese shook out his hand, which felt like he had hit a brick wall. “He was a hard-headed motherfucker.”

Oliver gave him a look. “I might say the same thing about you. I heard Sallie sidelined you. I thought I’d come to see how you were. I figured you’d be drowning your sorrows, not losing your freaking mind.”

“How’d you know where to find me?”

“Davis told me that you come here from time to time.”

“Yeah, I do. When I like to be alone.” He doubted that Oliver would take the hint.

“Well, too fucking bad.” The lab rat wasn’t going anywhere. “I came to talk to you.”

“Okay, but only if you drink one with me. I’ll buy.” Reese wasn’t sure if Oliver drank or not, but he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Oliver didn’t protest. He went to the bar with Reese and bellied up. “So, do you want to tell me what the hell happened? Sallie isn’t talking to anyone.”

“Sallie got pissed and asked for my badge and gun.”

“There has to be more to it. What happened? Was it about the case?”

“Sort of. He told me not to do something, and I did it. And I don’t regret it. In fact, I’d do it again.”

“So, go talk to him. I’m sure if you try to talk to him, he’ll listen.” Oliver was a good guy, but he didn’t know the situation.

Even Reese couldn’t deny that he had been walking a fine line the whole time he worked for Sallie.

“Then you’d be wrong,” said Reese. “Because I did try to talk to him, and he made it clear that he wasn’t going to listen to me. Sallie was completely unreasonable, and if he would have just heard me out—” Reese stopped right there. He didn’t feel like rehashing it. 

He flagged the bartender over and ordered a beer, not surprised when the man was too much of a coward not to say anything about the fight.

When he walked away, Oliver nudged him. “Well, go on. What did you want to tell him?” He peeled the label on his bottle and turned it up.

“I have a theory about the Davenport case. It’s pretty big, and it could turn the whole thing on its head. But Sallie thinks I have a personal vendetta and wants me to leave it alone.”

“A vendetta against Davenport?” Oliver’s eyes narrowed. “What sort of personal issue could you have with him?”

“No, not him.” He waved his hand dismissively as if he’d really rather not talk about it. The only person who needed to hear it was Sallie.

“Then who?”

Reese turned and met his eyes. “His lawyer.”

“I don’t follow. You think his lawyer is up to something?” Oliver chuckled. “Most of them usually are, right?”

“No, not like that. I mean, I think she could really have something to do with the murder of Davenport’s wife, but since there’s a personal connection, he thinks I’m just trying to take out my past on her. Which is complete bullshit.” Reese took a long drink and tried to calm down. He didn’t need Oliver to worry about him.

“Wow, did you date his lawyer?”

“No way.” Reese cringed at the thought.

“Look, I know, Sallie. He gets pissed off at times and flies off the handle. Hell, he has done that with everyone in the office at one time or another.”

“Did he fire them? Did he take their gun and badge?” Reese still wasn’t sure how Riles had let him get away with it.

“Sallie is an animal when he’s angry. You must have really done something wrong.”

“I think I just broke his trust. He told me not to do something, and I did it anyway.”

“Nah, it’s more than that. You hurt his feelings. I can tell. He’s been a real pain in the ass, but he’s mostly mad at himself. Just give it a day or two and go talk to him.”

“I’m not sure if I want to go back, Oliver. There are plenty of other departments around this area that I could go to. And since my incident, all they do here is coddle me. It’s like they don’t have any faith in me, and Sallie proved that. He didn’t even want to hear me out. Fuck that. I don’t need it. Besides, he’s probably already handed the case over to someone else.”

Oliver picked at the label and shook his head. “No, he hasn’t. He’s dealing with it himself. Which is another reason I think he’s waiting to see what you’ll do.”

Reese sipped his beer before responding. “He’ll be waiting a long time. Because the last thing I’m going to do is go back to him with my tail tucked between my legs and beg for my job back. And the same goes for Riles. If he wants me, he’ll call me. But a whole day has passed, and nothing.”

“Don’t let your pride get in the way of what you love doing. Talk to them.”

“I love being a cop. Period. And I’m a damned good one. I can be a good one for any department.” It really didn’t matter to him. He had his pride.

“But you belong in our department. Come on. It sucked before you came along. Sallie didn’t ever give me a chance. Not until you convinced him I was ready.”

“You could have convinced him yourself.” Reese had told him to stand up for himself. And he had finally learned.

“See, you gave me more confidence too. And Sallie will get over it and wish he hadn’t overreacted. Come on, man. Come home.” Oliver tried his best to be convincing.

Reese chuckled. “That sentimental bullshit doesn’t work on me. But I give you credit for trying.”

“I just think you’re making a big mistake.” He let out a sigh and took another sip of his beer. “Anyway, I wanted you to know how Sallie’s acting. I really think you could come back. You just have to make the first move.”

“Nope. As I said, Sallie is going to have to make the first move. He did this. And now, if he wants to undo it, it’s his move.” He had other things to focus on. Like how to prove it was Kay who killed Lacey Davenport and planted the hammer to frame Daniel for the crime. Or how she must have had something to do with Finch’s arrest and his death.

“So, what happens to your theory? If you believe in it, how can you just let it go?”

Reese looked him square in the eyes. “Who said anything about letting it go? At least now I don’t have Sallie barking at me or telling me to stay away from it.” He could do his own investigation, and nothing could stop him.

“Maybe you should let it go before it gets you in more trouble.”

“Or I should use this time to try and find the proof I need for Sallie to believe me. Trust me, Oliver, if I can prove my theory, it’s going to be huge. Not only for Davenport’s case but for a few others as well.” 

It was too late for Finch, and Davenport probably wouldn’t get out, considering all the charges against him, but at least he could clear their names and put the right person away.

Oliver’s eyes widened as it sank in. “That does sound big.”

Reese sighed. “You have no idea. I just hope I can prove what’s really going on and find something that even Sallie can’t deny. By the time I’m done, he won’t have to hear my side of things. He’s going to see it.”