"I honestly never expected you to know Chief Cleary personally."
Seeing Cliff return unharmed while Thomas and his family were hauled away, Autumn Lee's expression turned complicated. She'd been locked in a power struggle with Thomas for years, and the man had always leveraged the Lee Family's accumulated connections to gain the upper hand. Yet Cliff had managed to topple him in a single move. It made her feel like she understood him less than ever.
"He just happened to owe me a favor," Cliff said with a dismissive wave. A city-level Chief of Police wasn't worth bragging about, and bragging wasn't his style anyway.
"Getting someone like Chief Cleary to owe you a favor is no small thing." Autumn studied him for a long moment, tapping one finger against the table. "Still, you'll need to b
