Page 28 of Duress (Birch Falls #3)

DANE

“Shit, yeah, sorry. I was just…”

“In your head. Yeah, I know. You’ve been there all week.” Serena rolls her eyes at me as I shift the cruiser into gear and head to the address on the computer.

My stomach dips when I realize it’s an address in Everly’s gated community. I stare at it for a long moment, trying to remember her exact address, trying to assess how close this disturbance is to her.

“Watch the road, not the computer.” Serena snaps out a command just as the passenger wheel touches the edge of the road, causing the cruiser to bump onto the shoulder. I correct my course slowly, careful not to jerk the wheel and send us into oncoming traffic.

“Seriously, what’s with you? If you’re gonna be so distracted you can’t drive, then I’m taking the wheel.

Kai will be pissed as hell if you get us in an accident, and I won’t stop him from kicking your ass.

” I can feel Serena’s irritation radiating from her.

It’s almost palpable how annoyed she is with me.

I’ve been keeping her at arm’s length since sleeping with Everly.

Between that and Bryce trying to get me to help him with Dom’s case, which I still haven’t mentioned to Serena, the secrets are taking their toll on our partnership.

In our line of work, if you can’t trust your partner, you’re going to wind up hurt. Or worse.

I decide to give her a partial truth. I don’t want to worry her about Dominick just yet.

I remember the toll his trial took on her, and I do not want to bring that stress on her unless it’s necessary.

And if I have any say in it, Dominick will never walk out of prison as a free man.

I tell her about Everly instead. I know she won’t tell anyone about us, and I need someone to talk to.

As a woman who’s been in a similar situation, Serena might have some useful insight.

“I slept with Everly.” In my periphery, I see Serena whip her head around, eyes wide in surprise.

“I’m sorry, you what ?”

“Everly and I slept together. Spent the night in the same bed. Had sex.”

“Everly your sister-in-law, Everly? Everly the woman married to your brother, Everly?”

My jaw clenches at the judgement in her tone. “You got a problem with it? Because I could use your advice.” I turn to look at Serena, giving her a pleading look.

She narrows her eyes at me, studying my face, searching for sincerity. She must find it because she shakes her head. “I don’t guess so. I know you. I know you wouldn’t fuck a married woman for kicks, so what happened?”

Before I can get into the full story, the house we are heading to comes into view. I recognize it as the Harrington’s house. Great. Another knot in the tangled web that is my life now.

I park the cruiser in the driveway and radio in that we are on the premises and will check in if we need backup. From the outside, everything looks normal, but I’ve been on too many calls where respectable family homes held dark secrets to trust outside appearances.

As we approach the front door, it swings open, Skip Harrington standing there looking every bit the slimy, glad-handing politician he is.

He’s got the small town awe, shucks, I come from humble roots act down cold.

It’s how he keeps getting elected. Qualifications or policy don’t actually matter if people can see themselves having a beer with you.

“Officers. How can I help you?”

“There’s been a disturbance reported at this residence.

Do you mind if we come in and check things out?

” Normally I’d put on some bullshit charm with a man like Skip, knowing it’s the easiest way to get someone like him to cooperate, but I’m not in a bullshit with a piece of shit like him kind of mood.

Not when I know what he’s trying to do behind the scenes and the kind of shady deals he makes.

“I’m sorry; you must be mistaken. Everything is all quiet here.”

I notice he doesn’t even glance in Serena’s direction when he speaks. As far as he’s concerned, I’m the only one on this front porch worth addressing.

“Someone called in a report of a woman screaming and a man yelling at this address. We would like to come in and speak with any other occupants of the house just to confirm all is well. If it’s quiet, as you say it is, then this won’t take long at all.

” Serena speaks up this time, projecting her voice in that no-nonsense, brooks no argument tone that can quell an entire frat house of drunk pledges.

She doesn’t take her laser focus off Skip, her dark, honey-gold eyes narrowed in a try me, please expression.

She’s not in the mood for bullshit either.

Skip finally cuts his gaze toward Serena, his smile faltering at her icy stare.

If looks could kill, Skip would be in dire need of emergency resuscitation.

He blinks, taking his time responding, calculating his odds of Serena backing down.

He must realize they’re not in his favor.

Nodding curtly, he steps to the side and gestures for us to enter.

Serena takes point and enters first, her keen eyes scanning the environment, looking for any signs of an altercation. I follow her, keeping my attention trained on Skip, watching for any tells.

“Is your wife home?” Serena turns attention to Skip, her expression warning him that she will not tolerate any lies.

“She’s in the bedroom, lying down. She has a headache.” Skip does a good job of keeping his expression neutral, but I can see how his shoulders tighten. Hear how his voice loses all of the previously affected charm.

“I would like to speak with her. Where is the bedroom?”

“I’ll show yo—” Skip moves to lead us to the room, but Serena steps in his path, blocking his way.

“You’ll wait here with Officer Wilcox. Tell me where the room is.” I can tell Skip wants to protest by the way his jaw clenches. He doesn’t want Serena to talk to his wife alone.

“It’s upstairs, third door on the right.

” Now his voice is cold. Irritated. Not nervous though.

It’s like he’s angrier about being inconvenienced than he is worried about what she will find.

Serena swings her uncompromising stare my way, and I see why Skip decided against arguing with her.

When she has that look on her face, you know you’re in the presence of an unyielding, uncompromising, individual.

How she’s managed to master this attitude by the ripe old age of twenty-four has a lot to do with why Dominick Reeves is in prison.

She is not a woman willing to back down in the face of adversity or scorn.

She is battle-hardened and unfortunately far too educated in the school of patriarchal bullshit.

Between Dominick using his position of power to abuse her, and her being a woman in a male dominated field—full of men like Dominick—Serena has developed an almost bulletproof level of armor when it comes to men.

“Keep an eye on him. I don’t want him coming up the stairs unless his wife says it’s okay.”

I nod, acknowledging her command. She might be a rookie but I am completely fine with her taking the lead here. I want Skip to know I accept her as an equal, not some silly woman playing cop.

Serena turns and jogs up the stairs. As soon as she’s out of sight, Skip turns to me, hands up in a placating manner.

“Look, Dane. It’s nothing. Veronica had too much wine, got mad about something stupid and threw a wine glass. She’s sleeping off the wine now. Can you please call your partner off?”

Narrowing my eyes at Skip, I shake my head and speak slowly, so he doesn’t misunderstand my words.

“My partner will determine if it’s no big deal. If your wife gives her the same story, then you have nothing to worry about.” Not a threat, just letting him know I’m not the cop to come to if he wants something swept under the rug.

He doesn’t try to push his luck with me. Smart man. Instead we stand in the foyer, in a silent stare-off. Eventually Serena comes back downstairs, frustration etched on her face, her lips turned downward in a frown. She’s not happy about what just happened.

She stops in front of Skip, her face a mask of barely contained rage.

“According to your wife, she had too much wine and dropped a glass, and it scared her. She apologized for worrying the neighbors.”

Skip’s lips twitch, threatening to smile. Unfortunately he’s smart enough to stop it before giving Serena a well justified reason to punch him.

“It’s no trouble, Officer Roberts.” Skip lets his eyes linger on her badge, making a show of acknowledging her name in some misguided attempt at intimidation. “I’ll be sure to let Captain Rogan know how diligent you are when responding to a call.”

We leave without acknowledging the implied threat to his words. Back in the car, I turn to Serena. “How was Veronica? You look pissed.”

“She was definitely drunk and had a cut on her hand she claimed was from the wine glass. I also noticed another, fainter bruise on her arm. I don’t think that happened today.

I’m not buying the accident thing at all, but she wouldn’t give me anything.

” Serena blows out a breath in a frustrated huff.

She knows better than most how hard it is to get a woman to leave an abusive relationship.

Especially when her husband holds some sort of power or higher position.

“We’ll keep an eye on her. Maybe we can get her to trust us or we can catch Skip slipping. ”

Serena gives me a flat stare, completely aware of how unlikely either of those situations are. At least of them happening before it’s too late. Men like Skip get away with far too many transgressions against women entirely too often.

Instead of focusing on the futility of the situation, she decides to change the topic. “So you and Everly, huh? Care to start from the beginning and catch me up?”

And so I do, because I know, if anyone will relate to Everly’s situation, it will be Serena.