Cash and the Sorority Girl

by Ashley Bartlett

  “Obviously. Here.” Andy held out both items. “Suit up. We’re only twenty minutes into The Hunger Games.”

  “And pizza will be here any minute,” I said.

  Laurel’s smile dropped. “I can’t. I wish I could. I need to go back to the station.”

  “Oh, man.” Andy frowned dramatically. “It’s okay. You can come to the next sleepover.”

  “Which will be soon, I hope. I’m not waiting to wear this bad boy.” Laurel took the cowboys onesie and held it against herself.

  Andy leaned forward and held the sticker pack high on Laurel’s chest. “Rad.”

  Lane nodded enthusiastically. “You’re going to be the best sheriff.”

  “I’m not now?”

  “No, but that’s not your fault. You didn’t have the proper equipment,” I said. Andy and Lane nodded. We all agreed that it was quite tragic Laurel hadn’t been set up for success until now.

  “I’ll let you guys get back to your evening. I just need to grab a few things.” Laurel pointed down the hallway to my room. “And can I steal Cash for a second?”

  Andy shrugged. “Sure.”

  “Come on.” Lane led Andy into the kitchen where they started getting out plates and napkins for dinner.

  I followed Laurel to my room. She shut the door behind me.

  “Have you seen my big shoulder holster?”

  “Your big shoulder holster?”

  “Yeah.”

  “There’s a big one?”

  “Yes. Usually I carry the smaller one because it’s easier to conceal, but the bigger one holds extra clips.”

  “Umm, you left a holster here a couple of weeks ago. It’s in the closet. I don’t know if it’s the big one.”

  “Thanks.” She went to the closet and came back out a minute later with a leather holster the color of espresso crema. “This is it.” She set it on the bed.

  “Something going down tonight?”

  She nodded. “We’re just backup, but I prefer to be prepared. Plus, Reyes still isn’t cleared for active duty so it’s me and Duarte.”

  “What are you backing up?”

  “Fenton and Blackford. They are arresting two Safe Streets drivers tonight.”

  “That was quick.”

  “Yeah, we didn’t expect the organization to be so cooperative, but they were extremely helpful.”

  “I’m sure they want to maintain their reputation.”

  “Yep. And a rapey driver targeting their riders is terrible optics. No one will use them once word gets out.” She set her gun on the bed, then shrugged out of her jacket and shoulder holster. “They have a huge pool of drivers, but they also keep amazing records. The time and date narrowed it down to three pairs, but they also have GPS to track driver locations. The whole program runs just like Lyft.” She pulled on the bigger holster and started adjusting the fit.

  “Can they tell which car the victims rode in?”

  She grinned and nodded. “Yep. The first name we ran confirmed the timeline.” She put her gun in the big holster and clipped it in. “So at the very least, we can place the two operators’ cell phones in the same vehicle as the victim’s cell phone at the time Locus was installed. Brika is running all the rest of the names to confirm.”

  “But you guys have him?”

  “Yep.” She sat on the edge of the bed. Her posture was an imitation of casual, relaxed in everything except the obvious rigidity of her muscles. “The judge already approved our arrest warrants.”

  “Why tonight? Wouldn’t it be better to wait until you have all the information possible?”

  She shook her head. “They are scheduled to drive tonight so we’re picking them up when they report for their shift. We can’t risk them going out this evening, obviously.”

  “Shit. Yeah. Got it. Who are they?”

  “Grant Osborn and Malcolm Darby. Both in their third year at Sac State. Neither is a fraternity brother, but Duarte says their social media suggests they have friends who are. We don’t know which one is our guy, but the warrants give us access to their apartments, vehicles, laptops, phones, the whole deal.”

  “Dope. The laptops should give you a better idea about why he installed Locus.”

  “Yeah. That’s the one piece none of us can figure out.”

  “Well, whatever motivated him, I hope you fucking bury him.”

  “We plan to.” She stood and put on her jacket. “It’s going to be a long night. I’ll call you in the morning.”

  “Do I need to be worried? I don’t know how this whole dating a cop thing works.”

  “You know enough to realize I’m only going to lie in response to that question.”

  “Awesome,” I said with exactly zero conviction. “Try not to get hurt or anything because I’ll be fucking pissed.”

  “Noted. Don’t get hurt or Cash will throw a tantrum.”

  “You’re a dick.” I pulled her close and kissed her.

  “Romantic as always.”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  “Hey.” I tried to fight my grin when I answered my phone, but quickly realized that was pointless. I’d missed her.

  “God, I’ve missed you.” Laurel sounded tired.

  “We haven’t seen each other for almost twenty-four hours so that probably explains it.”

  “That’s definitely it. I’ve been missing you for about twenty-three hours.”

  “I know you’re being sarcastic, but I’m going to take it anyway,” I said smugly. “So how’s it going? Did you figure out which one of them is the rapist?”

  “Fuck. Umm, a lot has happened.”

  “Okay.”

  “Neither of them is the rapist.” Her tone was matter-of-fact but lacked the ire I would have expected.

  “Shit. Fuck. How? Do you know who is?”

  “Yes. It’s a long story.”

  “Can you come over? Or are you still tied up?” I asked.

  “Actually, I’m calling for an official reason. There are a couple of frat houses we need to get into quietly tonight. They are having parties, but they’re effectively invitation only.”

  “Uh, yeah. Sure. Which frats?”

  “Kappa Kappa Tau, Sigma Epsilon, and Pi Tau Gamma all need invites. And Delta Delta Theta isn’t necessarily exclusive, but they might not let in randos.”

  “I’ve got an in at all of them except Kappa Kappa Tau, but Nate might know someone there.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that. Reyes is calling Nate right now. Can we all meet in like an hour?” she asked.

  “Sure. Here? Or do you need us down at the station?”

  “God.” She groaned. I didn’t hate it. “I’d love to go to your place. I’ve been here since six this morning.”

  “Cool. Come now.”

  “Is Lane there? Or Andy?”

  “Lane is at a study group.” I glanced at the time. “For another couple of hours. Andy is being all social like a teenager on a Saturday night.”

  “Perfect. I’ll be there in twenty.”

  “I’ll start the coffee.”

  It wasn’t that long before Laurel showed up. She even beat the coffee maker.

  “Hi, how’s it going?” I asked.

  Laurel didn’t answer. She just kept walking into me. I wrapped my arms around her.

  “Fuck, I’m tired,” she said into my neck.

  “Physically or emotionally?”

  “Yes, both.”

  “Did you actually sleep last night?” I squeezed her shoulders.

  “That feels good.” She melted into me. “I went home for about two hours.”

  “That’s not enough sleep.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “What do you need right now?”

  “Twelve hours of sleep, a shower, a meal that isn’t fried or made of cheese, all of the coffee. Failing that, maybe I just need to try cocaine. Everyone says it’s great.”

  “It is great, but it doesn’t last long and you apparently have a long night ahead.”<
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  “I’ll just keep doing more blow. That will make me fit in, right?”

  “Totally. Solid plan,” I said. She chuckled. “Or how about you drink some water because hydration is good. And then jump in the shower. I’ll order non-fried food and you can drink coffee while it’s delivered.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “Go jump in.”

  She nodded and started down the hallway. “Gosh, I wish I had some fresh clothes. Maybe someone could pick some out for me.”

  “You’re fucking needy.”

  She tossed her shoes into the bedroom. “I know.” She closed the bathroom door behind her.

  I debated what food to order before realizing that fried food and cheese were a large portion of my diet. I landed on deli sandwiches and judged myself for having memorized Reyes’s and Duarte’s orders in addition to Laurel’s and Nate’s.

  Thankfully, there wasn’t much effort needed in order to pick out Laurel’s clothes. She only had navy boxer briefs and white T-shirts in her drawer so that narrowed the options. Detective Kallen did not mix her base colors.

  I was sorting through my flannels to find one for Laurel when she swaggered into my bedroom with a towel slung around her waist.

  “Okay, that’s just not fair.” I tossed the two flannels I was holding onto the bed.

  “What?” She looked down. “Calm down. They’re boobs, and Xiao, Reyes, and Duarte will be here in ten minutes.”

  “While I see your point, I’d like you to consider mine.”

  “Is your point boobs?” She arched an eyebrow at me, dropped the towel, and, in an extremely unfair move, put on her underwear.

  “It was, but now that I’ve seen your ass, I think I have a much more nuanced argument.” I crossed the room in a few long strides, kissed her, and used my momentum to take us down to the bed.

  Her lips, damp still from the shower and tasting of the clean purity of water, slid against mine. She opened her mouth enough to suck my bottom lip between hers. I palmed her tits, which were just as exquisite as I remembered.

  I groaned. “I missed your boobs.”

  “Who the fuck says shit like that?” She grabbed the waistband of my jeans and pulled me tight against her crotch.

  “Me?” I lifted up just enough to take her boxer briefs off.

  She took a deep breath. “You have to be fast.”

  “Not a problem.” I kissed down her neck. Her skin had a hint of salt and cedar like it always did. I’d thought it was her soap when we first started up, but I knew now that she just smelled that good all on her own.

  She arched up into me to try to move my hands. I was all for teasing, but I really didn’t want to get caught by Laurel’s colleagues. That was a little too much danger for me.

  I slid my hand between her legs. She was slippery. Thick wet strands clung to my fingertips as I pressed on either side of her clit. Her hips started to shift, thrusting against my hand. I only teased her for a moment before pressing inside her. She laced her hands behind my neck and pulled me closer. We kissed as her muscles clenched around me. With my free hand, I grabbed her ass, held her just still enough to fuck her slowly.

  She moaned into my mouth. Her breathing sped up and she dug her fingertips into the muscle in my shoulders. I curled my fingers forward, pressed the spot I knew would make her come. She went taut beneath me.

  When she started to relax, she pulled me against her. Her rapid breath was warm against my neck. Her muscles slowly loosened, but she just held me tighter.

  “We have to get up, don’t we?” Laurel asked.

  “Yeah, about five minutes ago.”

  “Time is a bullshit construct.”

  “Agreed. But, you know, until the rest of the world agrees, maybe we should go with it.”

  She chuckled. “Fine.”

  I slowly rolled away from her but took her hand. “I missed you.”

  “Same.” She lifted our joined hands and kissed mine. “Did I see you picking out a shirt for me?”

  “We are currently lying on them.”

  Laurel half sat up and looked at the two shirts I’d picked out. “You’ve stolen four of my flannels, but you picked out two of yours for me to choose from?”

  “I have not stolen four of your flannels.”

  “The marine blue one, the red and yellow, the one with the bright orange, and the olive.”

  “Yeah. I don’t have any like that.” I grinned at the lie.

  “So none of those are hanging in your closet right now?”

  “Nope. I don’t even wear flannel. I don’t look very good in plaid.”

  Laurel started laughing. “You’re the worst.”

  “I know.” I kissed her and jumped up. “You’ve got like two minutes until they get here. Get dressed and I’m going to go out there and try not to think about your boobs.”

  “That’s admirable.”

  I nodded solemnly. “I know.”

  * * *

  Nate and Duarte and I piled onto the couch. Reyes and Laurel took the chairs that bookended either side. Reyes and Laurel looked like they very much needed their coffee. Duarte’s eyes were overly bright and his hands were shaking. He’d already clearly had too much coffee.

  “So what’s the deal? You said neither of these guys were the rapist.” Nate leaned forward like that would get the detectives talking.

  “They aren’t. In fact, there isn’t just one rapist,” Laurel said.

  “What?”

  “Seriously?”

  All the detectives nodded.

  “Each rape was committed by a different perp,” Reyes said.

  “Holy shit. So Fenton and Blackford were right initially?” Nate looked at me wide-eyed.

  I didn’t know what to tell him. I was just as surprised. “That’s crazy. How could so many dudes be buying ketamine without anyone realizing it?”

  “They aren’t. It’s just two guys,” Laurel said.

  “That doesn’t make sense,” I said.

  “Do you want to tell the story?” She held out her hand palm up like she was giving me the floor.

  “Sorry. We’ll try not to interrupt.”

  Nate nodded. “Promise.”

  “The two guys we arrested last night are Safe Streets drivers. They were dosing female riders and installing Locus to track their location post drugging. Then they were selling that information to their buddies,” Laurel said.

  I stared at Laurel. Beside me, I could feel Nate doing the same thing.

  “That’s fucking gross,” Nate finally said.

  “It really is,” Reyes said.

  “So the rapists are all guys who bought the location of a drugged woman to rape?” I asked.

  The detectives responded with a chorus of yeses.

  “Seriously. That’s disgusting,” Nate said.

  “Who the fuck thinks up something like that?” I asked.

  Laurel shrugged. “Grant Osborn and Malcolm Darby?”

  I fought an eye roll. “Yeah, but how does anyone conceive of something so sick?”

  None of them had an answer for that.

  “How does someone even advertise that?” Nate asked.

  “We have DMs discussing the transactions,” Reyes said.

  “Direct messages,” Duarte said.

  Laurel huffed. “We all know what DMs are, Detective.”

  “You didn’t three hours ago.” Duarte held her stare.

  Laurel half smiled and waved at Reyes to continue.

  “The messages suggest the guys don’t think of the interactions in terms of assault. Osborn and Darby are promoting it as a way to help out their buddies,” Reyes said.

  “The clients don’t seem to comprehend the implications either. At no point do any of them ask about consent or willingness. It’s just women who are easy.” Duarte kind of shrunk into himself as he spoke. “That’s by no means an excuse, by the way. They are all scumbags.”

  “Can you confirm the transactions from the DMs?” Nate asked.
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  Laurel made a semi-affirmative noise. “For the most part, they aren’t explicit.”

  “But they are very clear despite the lack of specific language. They aren’t exactly using sophisticated codes.” Duarte grabbed his iPad off the table and unlocked it. “Do you want to read some of them?”

  Nate shook his head and glanced at me. “I don’t need to read that shit.”

  “Same.” I had no desire to read a conversation where young men bought drugged young women.

  “Right.” Duarte locked the iPad and set it back down.

  “How do you know they were drugging them?” I asked.

  “Osborn and Darby were carrying five drugged water bottles when we arrested them,” Laurel said.

  Reyes chuckled without conviction. “Plus, Osborn had a stockpile of ketamine in his apartment.”

  “And their YouTube history was a bunch of videos on how to remove a water bottle cap without breaking the seal. Which made it real easy to identify the paraphernalia all over Darby’s table because he basically just had the supply list from the video spread out.” Laurel spread her hands to show the space occupied by said paraphernalia.

  “This is what’s wrong with entitled boys. They just assume no one will ever stop them or question them,” I said.

  Reyes slowly shrugged. “At least their arrogance makes it easy to get charges to stick.”

  “Yeah, these two aren’t getting off easy. It’s catching the others that’s the challenge now.”

  “Which is why you need to go to frat parties tonight,” Nate said.

  “Exactly. I assume from your presence at this meeting that you’re comfortable helping us out?” Laurel asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Yep.”

  “Cool. Reyes will be back at the station managing all the teams. He can walk you through the structure.”

  Reyes flipped open his notebook. “Laurel and Braddock will obviously be together since we have that relationship established, which means Duarte and Xiao are paired up. Fenton and Blackford are each heading their own team with an undercover officer. The remaining team will be comprised of uniforms since they will be going to private residences.”

  “Wow. You think that will cover us?” I laughed.

  “No, actually. Each of the detective teams will be assigned a pair of officers as backup. They will be plainclothes in case they need to enter any of the locations without arousing suspicion.”