24. Aus
AUS
Why am I so pissed?
By all accounts, these cops are doing everything by the book.
They got a warrant—albeit a quicker one than I’ve ever seen Chicago’s bureaucracy dish out—and are searching the home of one of their suspects.
Circumstances alone placed Thea in the crosshairs of this investigation. I know she didn’t do this, but the cops can’t operate solely on instinct. They have to follow each lead, and Thea is a significant one.
But I’m still angry as hell. Because I know the Chief of Police. Until about a year ago, he was dancing to the tune of one Rouge Montrose.
Just like I did back in Vegas.
They don’t have enough to implicate Thea.
At least, I don’t think they do.
They had enough to get a warrant to search her home. Hell, she wasn’t even here to let them in. They forced their way inside.
Thea has told her story to the cops, and she wouldn’t have left anything out, at least not intentionally.
But Wick should be able to corroborate her story. Why aren’t they talking to him?
This feels targeted.
Was Thea in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or has someone been steering this investigation in her direction?
So many questions, and no fucking answers.
Maybe that’s the real reason I’m pissed.
Nothing makes sense anymore.
Nothing’s made sense since I got to Chicago. Since the day I made the lady in green disappear, never to see her again.
It’s weird. We barely spoke, but I felt this connection with her the night she stood on my stage and zipped herself into the child’s tent.
Maybe she and I were just two sides of the same coin flipped by Rouge Montrose.
But there was something more.
She was a very pretty woman, yet I felt zero attraction toward her. Normally I would have flirted with her, but with this woman it felt forbidden.
Maybe it’s because I knew something was going to happen to her.
Something unpleasant at best.
I shake the thoughts from my head. This is not the time to be reminiscing.
Wick.
I need to tell the detective about Wick.
But…
Fuck.
He has a record. He was busted for selling—and likely using—drugs in the past and made some kind of bargain to avoid jail time.
The woman who ran the club before me—before Rouge—hired him. I did not. I wouldn’t have hired Wick Blackwood if he paid me. Though he had served his debt to society, anyone with a history of drug abuse doesn’t belong behind a bar.
But he was very popular by the time I was in charge, and I couldn’t get rid of him.
Wick’s past has followed him his whole life, and it would follow him into this investigation. So his word might not help Thea get out of this.
I snap to attention as Thea descends the stairs to the main floor, a small duffel bag in her left hand, her cat cradled in her right arm, and tears flowing down her cheeks.
I rush to her, cup her cheeks. “It’s going to be all right, baby. I know it will. They don’t have anything on you.”
She shakes her head. “They have something.” She sniffs. “The sneakers. It’s not a good look for me.”
“A pair of tennis shoes isn’t enough to implicate someone.”
“A handkerchief was enough to damn Desdemona.”
I narrow my eyes. “What?”
She rubs at her head. “Nothing. It’s Shakespeare. Othello.”
“That’s a story. Not real life.”
She wipes a tear from her cheek. “I hope you’re right. Anyway, I need a place to stay tonight. I hate to ask because I’ve already ruined your evening, but…”
“You’ll stay with me, of course.” I caress her arm and give the cat a scratch on her neck. “As long as you need. And Dodo can come, too.”
Her lips tremble. “Thank you so much. I just can’t be alone right now.”
“I’m not trying to eavesdrop,” Detective Wheeler says as he cuts between us, “but you should plan on staying at least two nights somewhere else, Ms. Storm. We want to keep any potential crime scenes sterile until we’ve collected all the information we need.”
Thea snaps her head over to Wheeler, her face reddening. “You have no right to kick me out of my house. What if I didn’t have a friend to stay with?”
“Ma’am, I’m just operating on my orders. We’re to sweep this house top to bottom. That’ll take a few days. The warrant says—”
“Fuck your warrant. I don’t care. I packed for three nights, so we’re good. Are we done here?”
Wheeler nods. “Of course. My apologies for the inconvenience.”
“A flat tire is an inconvenience, Detective. This is a flagrant disregard of common sense.” She stares daggers into Wheeler’s eyes. “I can tell you right now you’re wasting your time. I had nothing to do with Kin’s death.”
“If that’s the case, ma’am, you’ll be compensated by the city for your displacement.” He extends his hand. “Have a good evening.”
Thea rolls her eyes and turns toward the door. “Let’s go, Aus. I can’t stand to be here another second.”
“Of course, baby.” I nod to Wheeler. “You guys better know what the hell you’re doing. Because she’s innocent.”
“If she is, then—”
“Yeah, yeah. She has nothing to fear.” I close the distance between the two of us. “But you and I both know the laws twist when the right person wants them to. I hope you’re one of the few remaining people in this city with a shred of honor.”
Wheeler crosses his arms. “I’m here to uncover the truth. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“The actual, honest-to-God truth? Or the truth that people like Rouge Montrose want you to believe?”
“Rouge Montrose has been dead for over a year, sir.”
“Spare me. We both know her spirit lingers in the murkiest corners of this city. She had plenty of allies doing her bidding.”
“I’m not one of them, sir.”
“I hope to God you’re telling the truth.”
“I am.”
“Good. Have a good evening, Detective.” I turn and follow Thea out the door.
She gets in my car, staring ahead. The tears have stopped, and I’m guessing she just feels numb now.
We drive silently, but I make an unexpected turn off Lake Shore before I get to my place.
As we drive farther into the residential streets, Thea scrunches her forehead. “Wait. This place is familiar.”
“You’ve been here before,” I say. “In fact, this is where you woke up this morning.”
“You live by Wick?” she asks.
“No. But we’re going to pay him a visit.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “What? No, I don’t want to get him involved. He’s already lost his brother, and I really—”
I hold up a hand. “You can stay in the car. I just want to speak with him for a minute. He is my employee, after all. I should offer him some condolence for his loss.”
“Can’t you just, I don’t know, write on his Facebook wall or send a Hallmark card?” She crosses her arms. “I don’t like being back here.”
I draw in a slow breath. “You and I both know that’s not the reason I’m stopping here.”
She bites her lip. “Wick didn’t do anything wrong. He was with me the whole night.”
“Didn’t you say he slept in the other room?”
“He did, but…”
“Then it’s entirely possible he’s behind this.”
“You’re not going to beat him up or something, are you? He’s innocent.”
I laugh at that. “You haven’t known Wick as long as I have. He’s far from a meek little lamb. He’s shifty, and I’ve never trusted him. He very well could be the one behind this.”
“I don’t—”
“Sorry, honey. But I have to speak with him. It’ll just be a second.” I parallel park on a street catty-corner from Wick’s place, squeeze Thea’s shoulder. “Everything will be all right. I promise.”
She doesn’t respond, just stares ahead with glassy eyes.
I get out of the car, walk to Wick’s house, and knock on the door. Hard.
No answer.
I knock harder.
“Wick! I know you’re in there!”
A muffled “coming!” calls through the door. The sound of multiple locks unlatching, and then the door opens to Wick’s face.
His nearly black hair, normally slicked back, hangs in his face. His eyeliner is smudged and has deepened the already dark circles under his eyes. He’s wearing a white ribbed tank top and athletic shorts. He blinks several times and rubs his eyes. “Aus?”
I place a hand on the door. “We need to talk.”
“It’s late. Didn’t you close Jade tonight? I figured it was because of Kin.”
“In a way it was, and I’m very sorry about the loss of your brother, Wick. But I need to have a quick word.”
“It’s late,” Wick repeats. “I already told the cops everything I know.”
“And that led them to Thea Storm’s house. They’re ransacking it as we speak.”
He widens his eyes. “Thea?”
“The girl you took home last night.”
“Yeah, I know who you’re talking about. But why would they think she’s a part of this?”
“Apparently she grabbed a pair of your brother’s shoes on her way out this morning.”
He scratches his head. “What?”
“His shoes. The silver sneakers. She said they looked like they weren’t your size, so she figured you wouldn’t miss them.”
He squeezes his eyes and rubs at his temples. “She just…took my shoes?”
“Your brother’s shoes. She said her heel had broken off the night before?”
Wick furrows his brow. “Oh, right. Kin left them here a few nights ago. He’d gotten them dirty, so he changed into a pair of flip flops while I rinsed them off.
I guess he forgot to grab them on his way out.
” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “But I’ve got to level with you, Aus.
I’m super high right now. I’m having a hard time processing everything. ”
“All you need to process is this. You need to go to the cops and tell them Kin’s shoes were here last night. That there’s a logical explanation as to why they were here and why Thea grabbed them.”
“She stole my property. That’s not exactly good.”
“It’s a hell of a lot better than a murder charge. And you obviously won’t press charges for her borrowing the shoes.”
He cocks his head. “What if I do?”
“Then I’ll beat your ass.”
“Sounds like coercion.”
I grit my teeth. “Call it whatever the fuck you want. But it wouldn’t be right. You wouldn’t even have known the shoes were missing if I hadn’t just told you.”
“Yeah, well maybe the shoes were important. And maybe she should have thought twice before coming all the way over to my place and deciding at the last minute she wasn’t in the mood. Fucking bitch.”
Those last words make me see red, and before I can think anything of it, I land a right hook to Wick’s arrogant jaw.
He falls to the floor, crying out in pain. “What the fuck, Aus?”
What the fuck, indeed, Aus.
Because this was the wrong move.
He called Thea a bitch.
She has every fucking right not to want to sleep with him. I wish more women shared her sense. Wick’s a fucking creep.
But this wasn’t the right thing to do.
I back out of the house, slam the front door behind me, and get back to the car.
“How did it go?” Thea asks.
“Not well.” I throw the key into the ignition and careen out of Wick’s neighborhood, not looking back to see if he’s following.
And I can’t shake the feeling.
The feeling that I just made everything so much worse.