Page 27 of Follow Your Instincts (Fairview City Omegaverse)

Soren

H arcourt was about to put Jacobs on my case. I could feel it. It had been weeks and we had nothing on the actual robbery. And only a few shreds on where the hell Greta was. I had officers working on finding her, combing pawn shops for any of the missing jewelry and - nothing.

I’d checked out the bars Maggie’s sister suggested, and they did all have exposed brick walls with neon signs, but none of the staff I’d interviewed said they knew Greta or had seen her or the men in the photograph around.

To make matters even worse, the Internal Affairs investigator looking into Phillips’ attack on Maggie had finally decided to show up, and he looked like a total dick.

Harcourt had given me a heads-up he’d be interviewing me, so at least I knew who he was.

He was lounging on my desk when I walked into the precinct.

His suit was perfectly tailored, his shoes shone, and his hair was tidy. I hated the pompous shit on sight.

“Detective Murray?” he asked as I approached.

“Yep,” I said shortly.

“Sergeant Broad,” he said, giving me a punishingly strong handshake. Another Alpha that wanted to show a Beta like me who was in charge. “Do you have a few minutes to talk regarding the incident that occurred in the precinct between Officer Phillips and Officer Carter?”

“Gladly,” I said.

“Wonderful, let’s find an interview room away from any distractions,” he said, looking around with distaste at the shabby bullpen. “Lead the way, please, Detective.”

I led him to one of the interview rooms. It had taken this asshole over a month to investigate anything and his demeanor was already rubbing me the wrong way.

We sat across the table from one another, and Broad took out his phone and started a recording. “You don’t mind?”

“Of course not,” I said.

“Sergeant Frederick Broad interviewing Detective Soren Murray regarding case number 04746. Detective, please explain in your own words what occurred the night that Officer Carter, who is currently on medical leave, alleges an attack occurred on the premises of this precinct.”

I didn’t appreciate his tone, which heavily implied he thought Maggie was lying, but I kept my face and voice as calm as I could when I explained what happened that night

“But you didn’t see the assault take place?” Broad asked.

I kept my rage contained for Maggie’s sake.

My testimony was important to nail Phillips.

“No, but as I said, I saw evidence of the assault on Officer Carter’s throat.

Phillips was feral. He called her a bitch as I walked him out of the room and said ‘I’m not finished with you.

’ It was clear an assault had occurred, and Phillips was the perpetrator. ”

Broad hummed. “You are making quite a few assumptions for not witnessing an actual altercation. You said Phillips was on the floor? He was also injured, if the arrest report is accurate,” he said, producing the document.

“You wrote here that Officer Phillips had sustained an injury to the head, a superficial wound that had ‘stopped bleeding by the time of booking.’”

“Yes, that’s accurate,” I said, seething. “But -”

“Thank you, Detective. And you said Officer Phillips was ‘feral.’ How often have you encountered feral Alphas to make that judgment based on only a few seconds before Tasering the officer?”

“I’ve encountered several and taken the mandatory training in de-escalating situations with feral individuals, both Alpha and Omega. I’m confident in my assessment of the situation.”

Broad hummed again, then gave me a nasty smile. “And is it true that you are officially courting the Omega in question, Maggie Carter?”

Fuck. Well, I knew it would come out eventually, but I didn’t know they’d use this against her case.

“Yes, my pack is courting her,” I said, my tone clipped.

“Can you see why that might be seen as a conflict of interest? How can you be unbiased when you are… intimately connected with one of the parties?”

“When Officer Carter was attacked, we were only colleagues. We did not start courting until a week after, and that was a coincidence,” I said, clenching my teeth.

“I see. Thank you for your account, Detective,” Broad said and switched off the recording.

“We done?” I said, standing up.

“Yes, thank you so much for your time,” Broad said with an oily smile. “It was a pleasure speaking with you.”

I grunted and made a beeline right to Harcourt’s office. If Broad knew about Maggie, Harcourt probably did, too.

She beckoned me in, looking grim. “Over a month you’ve been courting Officer Carter, and you didn’t think it might be worth mentioning to me? I had to find out from that idiot,” she said, nodding to the retreating back of Sergeant Broad.

“Sorry, Captain. It was just a coincidence,” I said.

Harcourt grimaced. “It doesn’t look good.

The only witnesses are you, her, Phillips, and me.

Of course, I believe that Phillips assaulted Maggie, but I didn’t see what happened.

If this becomes a ‘he said, she said’ case, then your testimony coming into question based on a conflict of interest is not going to help. ”

I sighed. The politics of the job always annoyed me. “Is he going to interview Maggie?”

“Of course. You’d better warn her.”