"There was another overdose last night," Liam spoke.
"Okay, and?" Val began to pour himself a cup of coffee.
"Gabriel was there as well," Liam starred in my direction.
Fuck,my chest instantly began to constrict at the mention of my brother's name.
"You want some coffee?" Val asked, his eyebrow raised in concern.
Giving a nod, I watched as he poured me a cup and slid it my way. The coffee mug immediately felt warm in my hands. The heat offered me a sense of warmth as I awaited what Liam had to say next.
“It was an eighteen-year-old who overdosed,” he rubbed his temple.
“And we think?” I asked.
“I think that Gabriel might have supplied her,” Liam stated. “But when I ran the private footage back, he was never near her. He spent most of the night in VIP.”
The hot coffee slid down my throat; I took several gulps.
“So there’s no proof that he did anything?”
Liam held up his hands in defence. “We’re not above the drug trade.”
“Then what are you trying to say?” Val questioned.
“The girl that overdosed was the mayor’s daughter,” Liam’s eyes hit both me and Val. “So, it is very imperative that we figure out who the fuck is trying to burn us alive. Two clubs in just a few weeks…I don’t believe in coincidence.”
“You’re right,” I stated. “I will speak to Gabriel, immediately.”
Valentin grunted, “This still could have been a text message.”
“Thank you,” Liam said to me and then turned to Valentin. “You needed to get the hell up anyway.”
I placed the mug down and shook my head at them. Pulling out my cell phone, I began to call Gabriel. He hadn’t texted me in hours and now I was starting to get worried. Something wasn’t right and the hair on the back of my neck was beginning to stand up.
“You’ve reached Gabriel, leave a message at the beep…”
Voicemail.
Shit,I thought.
“I’m going to head out, but I’ll check in with you later. I’m going to head to Gabriel’s and see if he has more information than he’s sharing.”
“We’ll let you know if we hear anything,” Val mumbled.
Giving them a nod, I left and let myself back out into the cruel winter weather.
On the ride to Gabriel’s apartment, the feeling that something was wrong still didn’t want to disappear. I found myself thinking back to when I’d been seven years old.
My father and I had been heading back from the movies. The streets of Saint Petersburg had been crowded. Christmas time had come and then we’d just been a few moments shy of being home and out of the cold…
Bang!
The sound had filled my ears as I watched my father drop dead in front of me. The killer hadn’t tried to hide his face, had just stood there with a smile on his face. His eyes had been cold and lifeless…for months those eyes had haunted my dreams.
Pulling into the parking deck that was connected to Gabriel’s apartment complex, I typed in the security numbers on the metal keypad. Once the code was excepted the yellow gate popped up and I drove inside.
It was quiet and cold as I left the vehicle and headed towards the stairs. A few cars drove by, and lights flashed by as I stepped onto the elevator before it finally spit me off on the tenth floor.
