Settling Down with the Alpha

Chapter 19

"Reaux, I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to go on this bust."

The detective glared at the lieutenant before him. When he got to the station the next day, everyone had asked how Jak was. His vitals had been stable all throughout the night so Karen had urged Reaux to return to work. She would stay with Jak and would call if there were any changes.

There had been a rumor rolling around that narcotics was planning a bust on the Domingo Cartel and their known businesses. They had chosen the task force and had been preparing the operation. Reaux hadn't wasted any time and had gone to ask who was in charge. Everyone had given him the runaround, but he'd been persistent so he'd gone to Napier.

He had told him all the information but hadn't said yes or no immediately when he'd asked to join. For two days, Reaux had pestered him. For two days, Napier had ignored it. He had the patience of a saint because the detective did not back down.

Tiffany tried to get him to ease up on his persistence. She'd told him he was wound up because Jak hadn't woken up yet. More information had come out, and word on the street was Dante's drug ring had beaten a young man for missing his payment. He'd ended up at county with severe injuries that luckily were not life threatening.

With that tidbit, Reaux had demanded to go with Napier. But the lieutenant had simply walked away. Tiffany had to hold her partner back before he made a mistake and had gotten both of them in trouble. She knew his head wasn't in it, and if he went off half-cocked, he'd get hurt.

They'd had a new case come across the desks. Two college students - freshmen girls- had gone to a party and had woken up without their clothes and no recollection of how they'd lost them. They'd come to the police who'd immediately sent them to get rape kits done. Their rooms had been searched to see what they had been interested in and why they'd gone to the party.

Upon further investigation, they found the party had been thrown off campus in a hotel suite. It would be difficult to figure out who had been there. They had to find out who'd thrown it first. Hotel staff had given them access to security cameras on the floor. Guess who had thrown the party?

When Reaux had heard that, he'd doubled his efforts to get on the task force. Then the rape kits and toxicology reports came back. The girls hadn't been raped but they'd been drugged with ecstasy and GHB. They hadn't had the mentality to consent or not. They were smart to come to the police for help even if it meant they had to tell they had taken drugs or not.

"Napier, you have to let me go. This may be linked to a slew of other cases," Reaux said.

The lieutenant finally stopped and looked at him. "I know all about Jak's accident and who was involved. I've been keeping up with your most recent case. Because of all that, I cannot in good conscience let you go on this bust. You are too close to this, and if anything were to happen, I'd be reliable. And there's no way in hell I'm telling this to Jak when he wakes up. I'm sorry, but you're not going."

Cooper stood just inside his office door. "Grant, I'm sure Napier will let you question whomever they bring in."

Reaux looked between the two. One wasn't going to let him find his mate's attacker, and the other was trying to find middle ground for the both of them. Napier was right. He would do whatever he could to find Dante and the other dude. Cooper knew if he couldn't go, he would at least want to question them.

Napier finally nodded then left to finalize his team's plans. Cooper and Reaux shared a very long look. Reaux was grateful for that. Cooper didn't have to put his neck out on the line for him. Whatever persuaded the captain to do so didn't matter. He had given Reaux a chance most grieving lovers didn't get to have until trial.