Since that fucking awful first week that was full of heartache, hospitals, and King’s wrath, I have done nothing but focus on a future that definitely includes Raney. The first few days after they left it was clear there was shit we didn’t understand going on. Eventually, what they did was force my hand. I met with Hayes, told him some fucking hard truths involving me and him while I also disassociated us from our juvenile dreams. In fact, I ripped those romanticised goals to shreds, burnt them to ashes then scattered them in the wind before I sat our asses down, and stepped it out again. No shit, it was in the next hour we were gone. And from then, all we did was study and work. Since then, it hasn’t been all plain sailing, but it’s been not as murky either.
I can feel my private phone buzz against my chest, but I don’t risk answering while I’m on surveillance. A moment later, it’s like a parting of clouds in the biblical sense, when I see Siderno’s white Escalade hit the lights a couple of blocks down from me.
Tapping open my mic, I keep it short and sweet. “I have visual. Good clean visual of our target, Cap.”
There’s an echoing silence in my earpiece, which makes my adrenaline spike. Tapping my earpiece to hopefully hear Cap tell me to take what’s on offer, instead, I get him screaming blue fucking murder. No one in our unit makes a noise, waiting for him to give us the update.
“Investigation and Justice dropped their charges. They’ve told us in no uncertain terms to keep our distance. Jesus, fuck!”
In the background we can all hear him lose it. Shit, I know my team will be feeling the same level of frustration as Cap is too. It’s impossible not to. I stand, already knowing the next instruction will be to meet back at HQ for a debrief. And in my ear, I can hear Tommo, our 2IC starting to bark out commands. One minute I’m with them in that discussion, next I’m dragged into a separate comm with Cap and fuck knows who else.
“Jeffers, I want an address for him here. Fucking Justice can kiss my ass. This is my city.” Cap talks a mile a minute before he disappears from my comms unit. The silence after makes me question if I imagined him.
A moment later, I get an official direction from Tommo on the open comms channel. “Jeffers, I believe you have a Escalade approaching. They ran a red light. Please proceed with caution. Report in the second you can, but let’s do this straight down the line like the perfect gentleman we are. Don’t fuck it up.”
Opening up my jacket, I let my badge hang on my hip and shuffle around my holster so it’s more visible, and then I take a step out of the shadowed alleyway. And right into the path of Siderno’s Escalade, waving his vehicle down, directing it to the side of the road.
And as we anticipated, his driver is compliant. But that’s the thing with Siderno and every person associated with his empire, they are always compliant. He knows the boundaries and so does anyone who works with him, and they all follow the law implicitly, making it near impossible to pin anything on any of them. Although that’s the other mystery to all this, you only ever see two players, him, and his driver. No one can even get a name of who manages his money, but someone does. To date, they’ve managed to be as elusive as the actual accounts that hold his money.
I’d be lying if I said my pulse wasn’t hammering hard, I manage a steadying exhale before the car rolls to a stop, the rear passenger door is positioned right at my feet. The windows are blacked out, and I can literally feel his eyes as they sweep over me. But it’s not just his eyes, it’s his presence. It is like pulsing energy pushing against my defences, it’s a fucking weird sensation.
Flicking my chin up, I wave at the window. Like I figured, he’s been watching me the whole time.
Siderno’s file is full of the usual statistics; he’s about to turn forty-three, he’s six foot four inches and weighs 200 lb, his BMI is 12%. He’s fucking cut. An alpha, black hair, tanned complexion, weird ice-blue eyes, tattooed. I could list the tattoos if I needed to.
As soon as his eyes lock on mine, all the training, the years I have put into this future I’ve worked so fucking hard for evaporate, and I’m left shaking like a rookie coming eye to eye with my first celebrity criminal.
“How may I be of assistance, officer? I presume you pulled us over for a reason?” he asks overly politely, a conceited smile on his lips.
“Have you got some ID?” I ignore him trying to drive the conversation.
“Ahh, routine traffic stop, is it?” he offers dismissively before he holds out his ID. His hand hovers as he turns his full attention to someone sitting in the car with him, completely ignoring me.
“You busy there, buddy? Be good to have you focus on me for a couple of minutes.”
“My apologies, Officer?” He snatches his ID out of my hand.
“Detective.”
It’s fucking weird, but his smirk spreads over his fucking face until he’s full-blown smiling. Like he’s enjoying himself.
He drops his hand out of sight and a moment later the door opens, and my hand drops to my firearm.
“Don’t get twitchy there, Jeffers. I was thinking perhaps you’d like to hop in. I’m in a hurry and I don’t like to keep my woman waiting. Perhaps we can drop you to your car or your office as we chat, because it seems you’ve got something you need to speak with me about.”
I shake my head, stunned at him, “You think your what… girlfriend is more important than my questions? I’m an officer of the law.”
“Detective, apparently.” Siderno laughs. It’s low, it’s deep, and it’s fucking menacing. In the next moment, he sobers up and shows me exactly how menacing he can be. “And I know she is more important than you. Your questions can wait, Jeffers. But there is nothing in this world, or the next one, worth more to me than my woman. She’ll never wait, she’ll never go without, ever again. It makes me sick when little pups like you think being an alpha gives you the right to make a woman wait. Is that something you do? Make a woman wait? Make the one person who owns you heart and soul… wait?”
“I’m not sure what game you’re playing at, Siderno.”
“Ah, games. I’ve heard all about the games you like to play.” He snarls back. But everything he does is considered, thought out, slow.
“What the fuck. Get out the car!” And this time I purposely take a step back, draw my weapon, and take fucking aim. “Everyone in the car, out now.”
Siderno’s eyes glitter, and he seriously looks like he’s won the fucking prize. He smiles as he talks. “Are you sure you want us all out? Seems a little extreme considering you’ve not even alluded to what the problem is, Jeffers.”
“Last warning.”
