Chapter 12

Iowed past me a pat on the back for getting ahead on schoolwork because not having to worry about writing the five-page paper that I needed to turn in on Wednesday meant that I got to enjoy my weekend with Kendrick. We spent a fair amount of that time in bed, much to Snowball's disgust. Luckily, my spoiled ball of fluff took a liking to Scout and Cat, so he was happy to hang out in their room when we needed a little privacy.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay cuddled up in bed together today. Not when I had classes and Kendrick had some kind of run he needed to do for the club. One he couldn't give me any details about because it was club business. I had a feeling I'd hear that phrase more often than I would appreciate.

"I don't like the idea of you going to campus while I'm out of town," he grumbled, pulling me against his chest after we both finished getting ready for our day.

I patted his broad chest. "Nobody saw you at the courthouse, and the security guard told me to have a good night when I left. There's no reason for the judge to think that you're looking into him yet, and nothing to connect us even if he was suspicious. But if I miss my classes, there's a chance that would raise a red flag because I never skip. I won the perfect attendance award all four years in high school, and I would've gotten the same every semester since I got to college if they had them there too."

Kendrick didn't look impressed by my logic. "Your safety is a fuck of a lot more important than a perfect attendance record nobody is even keeping track of."

"Why am I not surprised you ignored the entire first half of what I just said?" I shook my head with a sigh. "Would it make you feel better if someone came with me to school? They wouldn't be able to come into the lecture hall with me, but they can keep an eye out while they wait outside."

He flashed me a cocky grin. "I already have a prospect who's going to be on you. Carter has been instructed to take you to campus and make sure you're safe."

"Okay, then you don't have anything to worry about." I jerked my chin toward the door. "So get going. The sooner you leave for your run, the sooner you'll get back to me."

He kissed me breathless before whispering, "Be good, baby."

I watched him walk out the door, wondering how I could follow through with my plan while a prospect was watching me.

"I'm not sure how Doc missed it, but I sure didn't."

I'd been so focused on Kendrick, that I hadn't realized anyone else had come into the large space where everyone hung out. "Missed what?"

"How disappointed you looked when he said he put Carter on you." Cat strolled over and bumped her hip against mine.

"Now that you mention it, I noticed the same thing." Harlowe's brows drew together as she turned to look at me. She was Link's wife, and I'd just met her this morning at breakfast. Her husband was the club's treasurer, and she'd been on the back of his bike when he'd come to the clubhouse to get some work done while their kids were at school.

My mind blanked under their scrutiny. "I…um…"

"Oooh, now I really want to know what's up." Harlowe rubbed her palms together with a grin. "Whatever she wants to get up to has to be good if she's that nervous about a prospect keeping eyes on her."

I heaved a deep sigh and scanned the room to make sure we were still alone. "Okay, so this is probably going to sound like an awful idea to you two, but I was thinking I could pop into the office to see if I could find something that would help Kendrick with the judge."

"The judge?" Harlowe asked.

I explained how I came to meet Kendrick while he was breaking into the judge's office. "I'm worried that he used up all of his luck on Friday night. If Judge Timkins is crooked and he gets caught next time, they'll throw him in jail for years."

Cat tapped her finger against her chin. "You've had your internship there for a while already?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I started two months ago."

"And you're in the biometrics system?" Harlowe asked.

"Uh-huh," I confirmed.

"With access codes and everything?" Cat wanted to know.

"Yup."

The two women turned to look at each other, grinning widely.

My eyes widened as the implication of their friendly grilling and smiles hit me. "Wait…do you not think it's an awful idea? Even though the thing with the judge is club business, and Doc wants me to stay out of it?"

Harlowe got serious as she explained, "Normally, I would never urge one of the women to stick their nose into club business, but it sounds as though you're kind of already in the middle of it since you work in the judge's office."

"When you really think about it, all you're planning to do is pop into the office, where people expect you to be anyway," Cat added. "And if you go when the judge is in court, you won't even run into him."

Harlowe pursed her lips. "But you said that the judge keeps his door locked when he's not in his office, so how will you get in there without anyone noticing?"

"Miss Stuchy keeps a key in her top desk drawer." I thought about it for a minute. "If someone could create a distraction and get her into the hallway for a little bit, I could grab the key and sneak into the judge's office to give it a quick check."

"How long would you need us to keep your boss busy?" Cat asked.

I pressed my lips together while I thought about the most likely hiding spots in Judge Timkins' office. "Kendrick was near the wall behind the judge's desk instead of over by the filing cabinets. Which would not be the best place to hide anything since he's had me do some filing in them. If there's a hidden safe or something like that, I will probably not be able to find it. But I should be able to search the desk in like…five minutes."

They grinned at each other again before turning back to me with a nod. Then Cat said, "We can keep her distracted for that long."

My eyes widened. "You guys want to come to the courthouse with me?"

"Yup." Harlowe's smile widened. "That's the beauty of this plan. You'll never really be alone, so that should help soothe the wild beast when Kendrick finds out what you did."

"If anyone asks, you can say that you forgot something in the office when you went in to make copies on Friday night, and you decided to stop by to pick it up while you were out with us since we were already downtown." Cat waved her hand between the three of us. "While we're waiting in the hallway for you, we'll get into a loud disagreement. Your boss won't be able to stop herself from coming to see what all the ruckus is about, and that'll be your chance."

Her plan sounded better than anything I'd come up with. "What about the prospect that's supposed to take me to campus?"

"I'm the treasurer's old lady"—Harlowe jerked her thumb at Cat—"and she belongs to the VP. Poor Carter isn't going to question what we say."

"Poor Carter." Cat gave me a sheepish grin. "He's the sacrificial lamb on our outing. After we talk him into taking us to the courthouse, he's going to be in deep shit with Doc."

I bit my bottom lip and nodded. "Yeah, I hate that he's going to get in trouble, but do you see any other way around it? I was hoping Kendrick would tell me that I'd be fine on campus when I suggested he send someone with me. I wasn't expecting him to tell me that he'd already set it up."

"Because you've only been with Doc for a weekend." Cat patted me on the back. "You'll soon learn that if you give our guys an inch, they'll take a mile."

Harlowe nodded with a laugh. "And they'll do the same even when you don't give them an inch."

"But they sure do make their bossiness worth the while," Cat added with a wink.

Harlowe wagged her brows. "Their punishments, too. Which is why you can count me in on this. It's been a while since I've earned myself a spanking."

I really hoped my search of the judge's desk yielded something that Kendrick could use…and maybe even earned myself a spanking, too. Because the spark in Harlowe's eyes when she talked about Link spanking her made me curious as heck about how it would feel if Kendrick did the same to me.