Bad Behavior (Bad in Baltimore) Read Online Free PDF Page B

going down with you, and you still think you should walk free because you know how to shake your ass?”
    “I never knew you’d noticed,” Beach cooed.
    “You disgust me.” Jamie stomped away.
    Beach smiled at his short-legged progress. He had his answer. Nothing Jamie had said meant things wouldn’t go exactly as Beach planned.

Chapter Three
    The next time Bob decided to go on a bender, he could fucking well get some paperwork out of the way first. After the adventure with Beauchamp this morning, Tai’s day had been quiet. His spot-check on his teenagers found them both in summer school where they were supposed to be. With only him and DiBlasi, they couldn’t do much out of the office, so Tai gritted his teeth and started clearing through Bob’s files.
    At six thirty that night, Tai slammed the drawer on his filing cabinet and punched the lock. Before he could get the hell out, Sutton popped up in his doorway.
    The field director looked like shit, and Tai could almost feel sorry for the bastard, if it wasn’t his own damned fault for enabling Bob’s fuckups until everything hit the fan.
    Sutton pinched the bridge of his nose, shoving his glasses sideways. “What was that case you were bitching about this morning?”
    “David Beauchamp, some asshole with more money than brains. He—”
    Sutton held up a hand. “I don’t give a shit what’s got your panties in a twist. You wanna switch it with one of DiBlasi’s, tell him I said to do it.”
    Tai nodded.
    “You’re welcome, Fonoti. They don’t do manners where you come from?”
    “Washington Hill?” Tai squared his shoulders.
    “Really? Thought you were Hawaiian or something.”
    Or something fit. Tai had been checking the “Other” box under ethnicity all his life. Black, yes. White, yes. Pacific Islander, yes. “Samoan.”
    “Yeah? How they say thank you in Samoan?”
    “I don’t know. I grew up in Washington Hill.” Other than when he’d been hired, this was the longest conversation Tai had ever had with Sutton. And he hoped they never had another one go on this long.
    “You said.” Sutton hoisted the strap of an overstuffed business case to his shoulder. “Okay. That’s it. Aloha, Fonoti.”
    “Still not Hawaiian,” Tai muttered under his breath.
    As Tai pulled his head out from under the shower, he heard the last of his ringtone cut off as his phone went to voicemail. He finished rinsing and hopped out, drying enough to grab his phone. Four missed calls in a six-minute shower was pretty impressive.
    He played his voicemail.
    DiBlasi first: “Who the fuck is this asshat you’re dumping on me? I’m sticking you with both of Bob’s JD girls for this. Did you fucking forget my daughter’s getting married tomorrow?”
    Whatever. No one liked getting stuck with the female juvenile offenders, but it was better than dealing with Beauchamp after what had happened.
    His mom was next: “Hi, la’u tama . Phillip and I both have the Fourth off for a change. We’d love to have you out for a barbecue. You know I’d love to see Sammie, and Gina is always welcome. Or if there’s someone you’d like me to meet…”
    The word boyfriend might not be something his mom found it easy to use in connection to her only son, but she’d accepted his explanation for why he’d be supporting Sammie as his daughter but not marrying the baby’s mother. He couldn’t help but wonder if his mom had harbored some hope he’d have an epiphany of normal. But her hopes—and Tai’s illusion of family—had all gone to hell when Josh came back in the picture. Josh and the damned paternity test. Tai couldn’t wrap his brain around that. For three years Sammie’d been his. She would always feel like his, no matter what the DNA said. With that ache nice and fresh, he should have predicted the next message would be from Gina.
    “Having a barbecue tomorrow if you want to stop over.”
    Yes, stop over and see Sammie and Gina snuggled in with Josh’s family.