19

Chapter 19

Anna 

Fucking in heels!

I growled, pacing my room.

Timothy had fucked up heavily. Shopping around had been a horrible mistake for him.

He'd been on leave the day I was assigned this mission. We'd skirted around the possibility of me getting this case for months, but he'd been against it.

Timothy was like the brother I never had.

We both grew up in the streets. Although, his life was way more glamorous than mine.

He'd run away from home when he was seventeen from his abusive parents, who were very rich but monsters with the fetish of beating and humiliating their son. 

We met in community college. He was a ladies man, and he'd tried to get with me, but I had told him he repulsed me, and we'd become thick as thieves since then. We both sold drugs together, and eventually we found ourselves enrolling in the police academy.

Timothy had always been reckless—too bold for his own good. But he was also the only person in my life I trusted completely. That's why his screw-up tonight has me pacing my room like a caged animal.

'What the fuck was he thinking?'

He should have known better than to come sniffing around. He should have trusted me to handle it.

Instead, he'd walked right into the lion's den, and now I was stuck cleaning up his mess.

I plopped onto my bed, rubbing my temples.

This was bad.

Duncan was suspicious. I could see it in his eyes.

In the way he watched me like a predator, sizing up its prey.

He might have gone along with my suggestion to keep Timothy alive, but I wasn't stupid enough to think we were in the clear.

He was definitely going to watch him like a hawk, and now the entire precinct would have to be careful.

One wrong move and Duncan would gut us both without a moment's thought. He didn't show it often, but I could see his ruthlessness simmering beneath the surface, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, and that scared me.

I had to fix this.

I reached for my burner phone, hesitating before dialling. Timothy was under Duncan's watch now, but I needed to get a message. 

"Stay the fuck in line and do as I say. Tell nobody about this, not even the chief. Do as Duncan says, or we are minced meat."

With that, I hung up, not letting him get a word in.

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to be calm.

Today was my initiation, and I had no idea what to expect, but all I knew was that today was the perfect time to find out the truth about why my mother was connected to a group like this and why they'd killed her.

My blood boiled over as I remembered that helpless night. Ever since then, I have dedicated everything I did to finding the rest of my mother's killers and to understanding what her connection was with a group like this. I knew she supplied some kind of drug to them. I had found it. 

Hidden beneath the floorboards of our old apartment -- a stash of small vials filled with shimmering, iridescent liquid. It wasn't like any drug you had ever seen on the streets.

The day I found them, I had just been a scared little teen, too broken to understand what it meant. I had kept them and sent them to the lab, and the results had come out inconclusive.

The technicians had no idea what it was and were amazed.

They'd asked for more of the liquid, but I had decided not to.

Just in case it was something that could get me arrested. I was already in the system. I couldn't afford any more problems in my life.

After chasing ghosts for years, trying to understand what was going on. I knew the truth was buried in places like this—in the heart of the Iron Vine.

And I was getting closer.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. No distractions. No mistakes.

I couldn't afford any of those.

Not when I was so fucking close.

Just then a knock at the door pulled me out of my thoughts.

I made my way to the door and yanked it open only to find Lucas, smirking.

"What do you want, Lucas?"

He feigned hurt. "So you are not happy to see me?"

I rolled my eyes. I was not in the mood for his antics.

"Do you want something?" I snapped.

He brought out a shopping bag from behind him.

*The boss wanted me to give you this!"

I eyed the bag sceptically, like at any moment, a snake could jump out and latch onto my eyes.

I had seen it happen before in one of my underground boxing fights.

I hesitated before taking the bag, my fingers crashing against the cool leather handles. 

Duncan was giving me a gift?

It didn't make sense. He didn't strike me as the generous type—not unless he was getting something in return.

"What's in it?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at Lucas.

"Open it up, Tooths. Are you scared?" He wiggled his thick, bushy eyebrows at me.

I snorted at his remark. 

Ignoring him, I stepped back into my room and placed the bag on the bed. Lucas leaned against the doorframe, watching me with amusement as I pulled out the contents.

A dress.

And not just about the dress; this was a designer. A sleek satin black dress with a halter neck that ran dangerously high up the thigh.

A matching set of shoes rests at the bottom of the bag along with a velvet box. I popped it open, my breath catching slightly at the sight of a delicate diamond necklace.

I inhaled sharply.

My first instinct was to return it.

"Guess the boss wants to make sure everyone sees you tonight."

Lucas remarked, staring at me with a knowing look.

"What does that mean?"

I asked.

"Relax, love," he ruffled my hair.

"You worry too much."

"Get dressed; the party starts by 10pm."

He said before walking out, leaving me speechless.