Err on the Side of Violence: Terribly Acronymed Detective Club Series (Book 3)

Chapter Fifty-Five: Rachel, Monday

Once they couldn't see Joe anymore, Rachel turned to Lauren and said, "Jesus Christ, Lauren. Are you trying to antagonize him?"

Lauren blinked in surprise and said, "What do you mean?"

"Where do I start? Alluding to what happened between Joe and me out there in Aldergrove, right in front of the kids?"

Lauren crossed her arms and said, "You and I never did get into what happened. Did you want to talk about that?"

Rachel shook her head in frustration. "Not right now. We're talking about what you're doing to your marriage. What about when you told him you wanted to take Al with you, which you didn't ask me about first?"

Lauren's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, am I supposed to ask your permission to ask Al to come with me? I wasn't aware Al couldn't make decisions for himself."

"If it's something that might threaten his safety, I'd at least like a heads up."

"No one gave us a heads up when you went gallivanting off to Aldergrove to get beaten with baseball bats."

"And how were we supposed to do that when the two of you were out cold? We made a decision in the spur of the moment, and we thought we were leaving you with someone we could trust."

"But, as we all know, that turned out not to be the case."

Rachel flinched. She knew Lauren was right. The person they'd left them with hadn't had Lauren's and Al's best interests in mind at all. Looking back at how Ralph Rose had so subtly manipulated them into leaving them with him... first offering to go with Joe himself!... then being such a good husband, sending his wife home so she could go to sleep while he did right by his fellow partner... it made her feel sick with shame, remembering how thoroughly he'd played them, when they'd all thought they'd been pretty clever, the grown up Lawrence Street Detective Club unable to detect a predator in their midst.

"All right, you two, how about a truce?" Al said. "We're all on the same side here. Lauren, we just want your marriage to survive, and we worry for it when we see you deliberately provoking him."

"You didn't seem to worry too much yesterday," Lauren said, "or last night."

Al looked to the staircase. He was lucky Joe was still upstairs. Rachel had gotten the story from him in between worrying about Logan and trying to sleep on the thin air mattresses last night. He could never keep anything from her, and she appreciated his honesty, but she had to marvel at how stupid he'd been yesterday. That deadbolt had saved his life, giving him and Lauren time to dress as soon as they'd heard Rachel's first knock on the door. Of course they hadn't gone for a walk. Lauren might have intended to go for a walk in the beginning, but as soon as she'd seen Al alone in the lobby after he'd dropped off Logan, she'd led him back to their room and, fuelled by withdrawal from not having had access to him for longer than normal, and rage at her husband for his antics with Joanie, proceeded to fuck his brains out. Al had confessed he'd been a little afraid of the intensity of Lauren's lovemaking; it was as if she'd been mentally pummelling Joe with every thrust of her body, and it had been almost painful, not the sweet pain that normally accompanied sex, but the pain that left bruises.

Then, while Rachel and Al had still been discussing his infidelity, and Rachel's own, because she couldn't hide it anymore once Al had asked about what they'd heard through the door... and he'd been remarkably understanding that she'd left out the most significant part the first time she'd confessed to him, the day they'd reunited at the hospital... and then again, how could he be otherwise after he'd just told her he'd fucked Lauren without her in the room, breaking an unwritten rule of theirs... Lauren had chosen that time to walk down to the basement, claiming she'd chosen to sleep on the couch but couldn't sleep, and could she just cuddle with both of them for a while?