Page 67 of Anything Goes

“Very, and it isn’t something I’m really comfortable talking about. In fact, no one even knows the full story. My decision to leave the force had a lot to do with feeling like being a cop wasn’t for me, but I also made the decision to get away from anything involving Maxine. I had no idea when she was going to attempt to hang me out to dry, and I wasn’t interested in putting myself in a position for her to do so.”

“I still don’t understand how she was able to get close enough to shoot you. You didn’t see her?”

“Oh, I saw her. We were actually talking, and things just went left. One minute she was crying and blaming me for making her get an abortion, and the next she was grabbing my gun. We started tussling and a few seconds later, I was shot. She claims that it was an accident.”

“Really? That’s interesting. I mean, she wasn’t just grabbing your gun for fun. She was planning to do something with it.”

“I don’t know what her plans were. All I know was she shot my ass and I had to cover the shit up. So, while everyone thinks that I was shot by some random person that I didn’t catch, I was actually shot by the chief of police’s daughter.”

Lowering my head, I said, “Wow, I don’t even know what to say about all of this.”

“I told you there was more to the story, and there you have it,” he said. “I hadn’t seen or heard from her since that went down. I really thought that she felt bad for what she’d done and was just trying to steer clear of me. But, now, I know that she’s still on the same shit, which is why I felt the need to let you know what was up.”

“That’s a lot.”

“I know.”

Hopping down from my car, I said, “I’m just a drama magnet these days. I can’t get away from it.”

“Please, hear me when I say that I never intended to bring this your way.”

“I know you didn’t,” I replied.

“So, where do we go from here?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. Clearly, this chick is crazy. I mean, she tried to kill you. There’s no telling what she’ll try to do to me.”

“I don’t think she’ll—”

“No, you can’t even fix your mouth to say that. You don’t know what she’s capable of. Law, I have a daughter to think about. I can’t put her in danger like that.”

“I understand.”

“Do you? Really?”

“Yeah, I do. I would never ask you to put your daughter in harm’s way.”

“Good, because I don’t plan on it. So, until you can get this situation under control, we have to take a break on whatever this is.” It pained me to say those words, but I didn’t have a choice. My feelings for Law didn’t override the need to protect my daughter.

Nodding, he handed me my keys. “I’m going to handle it.”

“Good luck with that,” I said, making my way to the driver’s side door.

He didn’t follow me or make an attempt to talk me out of my decision.

I swallowed hard as I pulled out of the parking lot, hating that I was being forced to do this. But I couldn’t cave.

I didn’t know what Law was going to do, but if he cared about me the way that he said he did, I was sure that he would figure it out.

22

Law

“Damn, so you’re really going to act like I’m not standing here?”

“I sure am,” Tokyo replied before peering over her shoulder. “Hurry up, Keyon. Your uncle is here.”

“Okay, I’ll be out in just a second.”