“What can we do?” Alyssa says, rushing toward us.
Half the bar is outside, checking out what’s happening.
“We heard the gunshots,” she says.
“Help Nina with Lanie,” I instruct, the man underneath me trying to wrestle his way out of my hold.
The bartender rushes up, helping me contain the man while I search his pocket for an ID.
“Austin Barlow,” I say, reading the name off his license.
“The police are on their way,” the bartender says, pushing a knee into Austin’s back, holding him in place.
“Do you have a first aid kit?” Nina directs to the bartender. “One of the girls has a pretty deep cut on her knee and a gash on her head.” She turns to look over her shoulder. “The other girl needs to get to the hospital. She was drugged.”
The bartender hops to action, racing off toward the bar, waving for the other patrons to get back inside and allow me to do my business.
Exhaustion is pressing down on me.
I’m getting too old for this shit.
Nina bends down, peering into my eyes. “Can I?” she asks, and I nod, giving her space to use her ability.
I watch as she bites her tongue, eyes narrowing, then darkening.
“He was contracted by a group known as KVS. He wasn’t part of it in the beginning. The woman was. He was just supposed to help dispose of the girls. Turf war,” she says, shaking her head. “He’s a nobody piece of shit.”
“Anything else?” I ask, and she touches him again.
“What the fuck?” he snaps. “Get your hands off me, she-devil.”
“If he didn’t do it, he’d be washing up to shore right along with her. Seems like our man here owed a lot of money to someone high up in the KVS.”
It’s going to be a long night.
“Nice work, West,”Chief Skiver says, patting me on the back. “How about next time you get a hunch, you call in for some backup?”
“I’ll consider that next time.”
He chuckles. “Get some rest. We’ll take it from here.”
I nod, standing to my feet and stretching.
Austin admitted to it all. He said he’d entered a poker game and bet money he didn’t have. So far, he’s agreed to give up the location of where this underground betting is happening and anything else he knows in exchange for a plea deal.
He doesn’t know who runs the poker games, but when he couldn’t pay up, he was dragged into a room where the woman, who we’ve come to learn is Olivia Rossi, told him he could die or pay off his debt. It was on him to kill and toss the bodies of those they deemed threats to their operations. He said that after the death of Sierra, they initiated him into the group, branding him with the outrageous tattoo.
Turns out that Olivia Rossi is wanted by the feds for multiple heists. The FBI is taking over the case, meaning I can finally gohome and tell the captain that I’ve brought Chelsea’s murderer to justice.
I walk out of the station to find Alyssa leaning against my car, looking down at her phone.
“You’ve been here this whole time?” I ask, and she looks up.
“Just got here. I’ve been at the hospital with Lanie and Nina.”
My eyebrow lifts. “Everyone all right?”
She nods her head. “They will be. Lanie has a fractured patella, and she’s not happy about it.”
