The Epilogues: Part I: Badge of Honor (The Potentate of Atlanta Book 6), Hailey Edwards [year 2 reading books TXT] 📗

“While he finishes up—” Hadley cut into his tirade about how nothing lasted anymore, “—I’ll head into the kitchen, and we can talk.”

One of Midas’s favorite things about their relationship was how their bond deepened over time. She could tell when he called just because, or when he was on business, or when he needed to hear her voice. It was a gift, to know someone and be known by someone on that level.

“Ford and I are finishing up lunch. If you don’t need us, we’re heading to clean up the obstacle course.”

A door opened and shut, probably the microwave, then curses rang out as she sipped a scalding drink.

“I can spare you guys for a bit,” she teased. “That was on my to-do list, so thank you.”

Seconds passed while she blew on her drink, but he read into her silence and knew she was stalling.

“Cruz blames me for Neely’s kidnapping.” She pushed out the admission in a ragged voice. “The vampire who took Neely left a message for me. He told Cruz I ought to reconsider my career choices.”

“This isn’t your fault.” Midas wished he could tell her so face-to-face. “You know that, right?”

“My brain and my heart are locked in an eternal struggle on the topic.”

“You’ve encountered no opposition to your instatement as potentate up until now.”

“Until the obstacle course, no. Then Sue came to town. She might be the domino that topples the rest.”

The sequence of events bothered him more as he lined them up in a row. “Do we have eyes on her?”

“Bishop has been watching her like a hawk since he read her petition for inclusion.”

“Good.”

“Better safe than sorry is the official OPA motto.”

Midas suspected their motto was actually better to one-click than regret what might have been…

…charged to your credit card.

More voices, her teammates, yelled in the background while Bishop cursed a blue streak.

Ears burning, Midas pieced together what he overheard. “Have you watched the footage from Marx’s?”

“We’re setting up to do that now. Reece’s monitor has been acting wonky, and of course it chose tonight, right now, to die. We should be ready in the next few minutes. Want me to send you a copy?”

“Yes.” Midas leaned against the door. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and recognize the vampires responsible.”

“Here’s hoping,” she agreed. “We need this solved fast.”

“Will you pull in the Atlanta Alliance to help?”

“There’s a vampire on the board who might prove helpful, the Clan Morton ambassador, but…”

“You don’t trust him.” Midas read between the lines. “Or you don’t trust him with this information.”

Clan Morton hadn’t given Hadley as much trouble as Clan Jefferies or Clan Van de Berg, but trouble was relative when it came to vampires who ran their clans like mafia dons.

“The three vampire clans most eager to join the AA are using their ambassadors as puppets, which is the exact thing we didn’t want. The ambassadors take anything I give them back to their masters, and their masters choose whether to help or hinder. There’s no vote, no discussion, no representation.”

“The masters have appointed proxies rather than true ambassadors.”

“Until we establish trust between the clans, let alone the factions, we can’t afford to be seen as showing favoritism. We’ll have to put faith in them going forward in order for the AA to work, but I can’t gamble with Neely’s life. There’s too much at stake, and yes, that was a vampire joke. Feel free to laugh.”

A chuckle slipped free of him before he caught it, which would only encourage her.

“You can always withdraw your invitation if the clans spend more time backbiting than governing.”

“I want the AA to stand on its own. That will never happen if I rush in every time there’s a squabble. I’m going to leave it up to the others to decide if the vampires are a worthy addition or merely a distraction from the issues at hand.”

“The others will follow your lead,” he realized. “You don’t want to influence them against the vampires.”

Whatever their reason for joining, she believed they ought to have a voice, and she wanted them heard.

“Nailed it in one.” She blew out a long breath. “Linus makes this look easy.”

“He also transforms into the next best thing to a Grim Reaper and claims heads to calm his nerves.”

“There is that.” She snickered. “He makes that look easy too.”

But it weighed on him, Midas knew. Linus did what he had to do, but that didn’t make it simple for him. He was a gentleman and an academic. His role as potentate surprised anyone who hadn’t watched him fight, who had never seen the dark side of his nature that had made him a kindred spirit to Hadley.

“Dawn is an hour away.” He put no emphasis on the statement. “Will I see you at home?”

The fitting had eaten up the start of their night and investigating Neely’s kidnapping consumed the rest.

A scuffle broke out on her end, but it didn’t sound serious.

“Yeah,” Bishop, who had stolen her phone, answered for her. “You will.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” she yelled from several feet away. “I’m the boss of you.”

“You’re going home,” he ordered her, “and you’re going to bed.”

“You can send me to my room, but you can’t make me go to sleep.” She hesitated. “Actually, you can’t even send me to my room. I’m an adult. And whatever your kinks, you’re not my daddy.”

“We’re going to watch the video,” Bishop addressed Midas again. “Then I’m sticking her in a Swyft.”

“Thanks.” Midas and Bishop didn’t often see eye to eye, but they both loved Hadley, and they each worried for her and what these latest developments meant so close to her trial. “I appreciate it.”

Bishop ended the call, and Midas pocketed his phone.

“Time to go.” He glanced over at Ford. “Let’s hit the obstacle course quick.” He set a timer on his phone. “Hadley will be home in an hour, and I need to get things ready.”

With the footage hot in her hands, she wouldn’t