Chapter 6: Deja Vu

"WHAT?!" I screamed.

She must have lost her mind completely.

Hannah shrugged, "It's not that absurd of an idea... He's actually a nice guy if you don't get on his bad side--"

"No, no, no, no. No. Never. Are you out of your mind, Hannah!? He's a member of the mafia. A killer. A MURDERER. He goes against everything that I believe in," I exclaimed. I jolted up and stomped to where Hannah was painting.

"I am a police officer, Hannah. And I plan on working my way up for as long as I can to make my father proud. Dating a mafia boss doesn't exactly fit in the list of requirements."

Hannah smiled slyly, "But you might find that all of that doesn't matter. I have a feeling that the more you get to know Danté and the others, you'll start to find who you truly are again, and you'll follow your heart."

"So, what are you? Can you read futures now? Is that another fact that you hid from me?" I asked, exasperated.

Hannah giggled, "Nope. It's just my gut feeling. And you know my gut feeling is never wrong."

My eye twitched. "Well, Danté makes my gut feel like I need to go take a nervous shit."

Hannah looked grossed out.

"The point is, I don't like him. He's a cunning monster. And he's literally going to kill me after he's done with me. That's not exactly on my list of the most romantic things a guy has done for me."

Hannah looked intrigued. "You have a list like that? Pooksie, you little fox, you. I thought you only had one boyfriend before."

"I did! But that's not the point! Danté and me will never happen. I don't like him, and I'm going to put his butt in prison," I said, making sure I sounded confident.

Hannah still held a little smile like she knows better. I wanted to slam her into the ground again.

"Well, I think you two had quite a vibe going on last night," Hannah said, adding some paint to Damian's buttcrack. I regret looking. "And who knows, maybe he doesn't kill you in the end."

"I would rather die than be with that monster." I was not going to let Hannah and her fantasies win. This was a serious matter.

"So, I still need to tell you about Damian..." Hannah started to say, after flashing me a grin.

"Oh brother. Just keep it PG, please."

Hannah snickered, "I'll still tell you all the TMI later. Anyway, we grew up together. I actually dated his brother, Luke, first. When we were in high school."

I stared at her in disbelief. "You mean Luke, the one you dated for two years? Luke, who broke your heart when he went off to college? That Luke?"

"Yes, that Luke."

"You mean he was a member of the mafia?" I couldn't believe I was that near to a member of the Inferno before I even knew of them. I was friends with him. I played games with him. I watched his basketball games. I never noticed a butterfly tattoo behind his left ear.

Hannah nodded, "Yes, he was. Still is, kinda. I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

Hannah tried to look indifferent, but I knew that she could never truly get over Luke. "He used to conceal his tattoo with makeup. I think he still does. He doesn't want to be part of the mafia. He's a lawyer. He likes working in law, and his younger brother, Damian, was placed under enormous pressure to take his place in the mafia."

No wonder Damian seemed so stoic. I wonder if he wanted to be part of the gang either, or if he, like me, worked hard to make someone proud. The only difference is that he seemed to be good at what he's doing, while I completely suck at my job.

"But why are you dating Damian now?" I asked her. Surely there was some kind of bro code between brothers where you don't date your bother's ex.

"I'm not dating Damian. We just... hang out sometimes," Hannah said without looking at me.

"I definitely know that your definition of hanging out and mine differ immensely," I said, pulling a face as I recalled their face-vacuuming of the precious night.

But the way Damian looked at her held much more emotion than the way she felt for him. She spoke about him like he was a new color highlights for her hair that she could wash out with her special shampoo when she got tired of it. But Damian looked at her like she was the most beautiful rose, afraid that she would wither and die.

We talked a bit more, and after she tried and failed to convince me not to go through with my plan, she agreed to keep quiet about it.

Nick took me home afterwards, and I gave him my number just before I got out of the car.

"Just in case," I said. I actually just wanted his number for when I needed to ask him something about The Inferno, but I didn't want to make it look like I was going to give it to the police to use it to track the gang down.

His eyes brightened, "Thanks. I'll be sure to send you a text soon, so you can save my number," he cleared his throat, "You know, just in case."

The next day I wanted to talk to William. But he was out on a big case, so I couldn't ask him anything. I also didn't want to ask lieutenant Bobby Parker about the mafia, because he'll immediately become suspicious. Who else could I ask about the mafia war?

My question was answered when Sergeant Marx found me in the hallway, on my way out for patrol duty.

"Officer Bellingham! Just the person that I was looking for!" he cried as he grabbed me by the shoulders. He looked extremely excited.

"Did you need me for something, Sir?" I asked. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't for the mafia case he was working on. Last time he made it very clear that he wasn't planning on recruiting me for it.

He let go of me, and held a case file out. "I know how disappointed you were for not being able to join my team for the mafia case. But I told you that I would help to get you on a different kind of case. Have a look," he said, tapping on the folder that was now in my hands.

I obeyed him, feeling a strange sense of deja vu from the other night in Danté's office. The first thing I saw on the file was the words, "Supervising Officer: Lieutenant B. Parker."

Talk about deja vu.

"Lieutenant Parker needs your help in a noise disturbance case," Sergeant Marx explained. "I know, I know, it's no homicide or gang related case, but he's a good higher-up to have on your side. Who knows? If you prove yourself as a valuable asset in this case, you might be considered for a more important one later."

I was surprised that he asked for me personally, even if it was such an unimportant case. I never even really had a full conversation with the man. Maybe he was doing this to get in my father's good books.

"I mentioned you to him the other day, and he remembered. Isn't he just such a great guy," Sergeant Marx said. It almost sounded like he was swooning over the man.

This case was the perfect opportunity to find out what role Lieutenant Parker had to play with the gang war, and why Danté was after him.

"I'll take it, thanks so much for putting in a good word for me, Sir," I sincerely thanked Sergeant Marx. He was much nicer than Sergeant Lewis, the person in charge of the unit I worked for. I hoped that I could transfer to Sergeant Marx's unit soon. He always tried to do his best to help me when he could, since I was his best friend's younger sister.

"No problem." He looked chuffed with himself. "You are a bit lacking in the physical sense, but you do have your head screwed on right."

I looked at the file again, and saw that it was only me and Lieutenant Parker working on the case. Furthermore, the fact that it was such a small case, and Lieutenant Parker actually wanted to go out into the field for it was weird as well. An officer of such a high standing would rather send a sergeant, with a lower ranking officer to support him. Or even just two or three lower ranking officers. Why would he want to personally accompany me for a mere noise disturbance case?

I relayed my concerns to Sergeant Marx.

"Now that you mention it, that is rather odd," he replied. Then he remembered something, "Oh, but some officers told me once that he is known to go out into the field sometimes with his officers on smaller cases. He likes to lead them on the right path and give them tips and tricks." Sergeant Marx's eyes filled with stars. "He's such a good person, isn't he?"

Something still didn't sit well with me, but I smiled and decided to accept Sergeant Marx's explanation. Maybe Lieutenant Parker really just wanted to help me become a better cop.

"How is your search for a willing rookie going?" I asked Sergeant Marx. I still had to find a way to stop him from recruiting another rookie for his case. That might really throw my plan out of the window. And Danté will know that the person is working for the cops. He isn't stupid, and he has eyes and ears everywhere.

Sergeant Marx sighed and scratched his head. "No, there is no one willing to take up the task, and quite frankly I don't blame them."

I almost let my relief show. If it continued to go this way, they might need to rethink their plan. If I was lucky, they might completely abandon it as a cold case.

"What do you plan on doing now, Sir?" I asked him.

He looked rather frustrated. "I suggested that we recruit more experienced officers, but none of the senior officers are up for the task either," he flashed me a little side-smile, "It seems that no one is as brave as you. Not even the best, most experienced personnel."

My heart swelled at the complement. But I knew that my suggestion to join his case and go undercover was no choice made because of courage. It was more out of desperation than anything else.

"Me and the higher-ups are thinking of going back to the drawing board with this. Because there is no way the Chief of Police is sending his only daughter, who is an inexperienced rookie, on such a dangerous case where even senior officers are too scared to go on," Sergeant Marx said.

I'm glad that at least Sergeant Marx thought that my father cared that much about me.

I nodded, "Alright. But could you please keep me updated?"

He frowned, "Why are you so extremely invested in this case? Is it because of your brother? This is no competition. Your life could be at stake."

I shrugged. "I just find the gang stuff interesting. They are such cruel, brutal monsters, but they are actually very organized and think things through." I thought about Danté and how thorough his plans were. There was no way that the police would be able to guess all what he was planning. They didn't even notice Damian keeping an eye on me in this very building.

Sergeant Marx nodded in agreement. "I agree. That's why I always take gang-related cases. The mafia is so much more detailed than we know. And they get away each time."

Not this time, they won't. Even if it means that I sacrifice my own life, I will make them pay for all the lives they took away.

"Officer Bellingham, will you join the case?" Lieutenant Parker asked me from where he sat behind his desk in his office. A photo of his family hung on the wall.

"Yes, Sir," I answered. My hands were balled into fists on my lap as I sat in the expensive leather chair by his desk. It was such a small case, but I felt so nervous for some reason.

Lieutenant Parker had a friendly face. The grey hair om his head was decreasing, and I wondered if he would go bald any time soon.

He grinned and got up. He held his hand out so that I could shake it.

I got another feeling of deja vu, from when Danté shook my hand when we first met.

I got up and shook Lieutenant Parker's hand.

"It's good to have you on my team, Officer Venus Bellingham," he said as he shook my hand with a firm grip.

"Thanks for having me, Sir," I responded with a respectful tone.

With Lieutenant Parker's sweet smile, my gut twisted and I wondered why my instincts asked me what I was getting myself into this time.