12. Drug Lords & Whiskey #2
‘Just remember,’ Tim’s voice is filled with the authority I know he possesses but infrequently uses. His blue eyes are loaded with meaning as he assesses each male in turn. ‘This is our investigation. Keep your ears to the ground, but share any intel with the PPS. Let us do our jobs effectively.’
In other words, don’t fuck it up by getting in our way or trying to handle things yourselves. Which is exactly what I would have said, given the chance. Only less diplomatically. And with some lovely swear words thrown in.
Janus and Jake bristle, tension flaring through their bodies, but it’s an automatic reaction to being challenged.
Micah stands casually, hands in his pockets.
He’ll do whatever the hell he wants, but I know he won’t do anything to jeopardize this investigation.
Vincent Rodriguez is flanked by his sons, the veneer of pleasant businessman gone.
His face is a hard mask, grey eyes narrowed.
Not in threat, just gauging the others and their reactions.
He didn’t get to where he is and keep his hold on the largest cartel on the Eastern Seaboard through stupidity.
‘Noted.’ Janus’s voice is clipped, and I’m not sure he really cares now that he and his Pack aren’t under suspicion from a body turning up in their territory.
He leaves with Ruby and Tim, followed by Jake. My boyfriend looks unhappy at leaving me with Micah, but I can’t deal with his over-protective Alpha bullshit right now, so I ignore it.
Vincent’s sons depart after a short conversation with their father. He’s holding a glass of whiskey, and I notice Micah’s has also refilled. It feels a bit now the children have left.
‘What do you need from me?’ Vincent asks.
‘Don’t go rogue,’ I say with a slight smile as the tension of the last few hours drains out of me. ‘Thanks for waiting more than forty-eight hours.’
Vincent shrugs his designer-shirt-clad shoulders, taking a long swallow of his whiskey. ‘I’m not after petty revenge for the sake of it. I want Jason’s murder solved, and I don’t need to be the big man who does it.’
He smirks at me, flicking his eyes to Micah. The Vampire smirks back, saluting with his glass. Some guy thing passes between them. I think seriously about adding whiskey to my refilled coffee.
‘I also don’t want any more people killed in my city. So I’ll do whatever I can to stop it.’ Vincent’s words fill the space around us, and more weight slides off my shoulders at his genuine offer.
‘Get your men to ask questions. The low-level drug dealers, the pimps and prostitutes under your umbrella. Get the word out in the gambling dens. Someone must have heard rumors about what we’re looking for. You have access to places and people the PPS doesn’t. That the rest of the city doesn’t.’
‘As a legitimate businessman, I can’t acknowledge access to any of that. But consider it done,’ the head of the largest Cartel in New York tells me with a wink.
Vice won’t be too pleased with us. Neither will narcotics.
But that’s not my problem. They’ve been trying to take down the Rodriguez Cartel for years.
As far as I’m concerned, a rogue Vampire serial killer with an unknown accomplice trumps the network of illegal activities Vincent and his Cartel are involved in.
Besides, it’s not as if we would have gotten anywhere near this house if it contained even a whiff of his less-than-legal business dealings.
He’s far too smart to be pinned down to anything actionable, which is why he’s a free, very wealthy man, and not in prison.
Sure, many of his boys are, but only the lowest-level crims. The head of the Rodriguez Cartel keeps his nose clean, pretending to be a legit businessman, and he does it well.
I will do everything it takes to solve these murders and use anyone at my disposal to do so. And that includes Werewolves, Vampires, and criminals.
Lying in bed, trying to get some desperately needed sleep, I’m coming to some uncomfortable realizations about my relationship with Jake.
The way he behaved this morning seemed out of character.
His emotions were so close to the surface that everyone could see them.
An Alpha needs to be controlled at all times, but he seemed angry and jealous, sniping at Micah.
Maybe I don’t know him as well as I thought.
Or I only know the parts he’s let me see.
And clearly, he doesn’t really know all of me.
I thought he was proud of my being the lead detective for the PPS, but until this morning, had he really understood what it is I do?
That I have authority within the police, that I lead my Squad the same as he does his Pack.
Jake and I don’t live together, even though we’ve been serious for three years. I can’t help comparing his keeping his private and Pack life separate, with the life I shared with Micah. It suddenly feels as if Jake doesn’t want the two sides of his life to overlap.
I’ve never met most of his Packmates. As Alpha, I know he needs to have somewhere he can go and just be himself, just Jake, without all the pressure of leading the largest Pack in New York.
But I also never share my work with him.
He hasn’t wanted to know unless it’s Werewolf-related.
Yes, there’s help when needed on a case, but the same is true for the Vamps and Janus’s Pack.
The PPS is there to build bridges between all factions that share this city.
Yet…Micah never hid any part of himself or pretended to be anything other than exactly what he is.
A Vampire. He loves being immortal; loves the power and the responsibility that comes with it in a way that Jake doesn’t.
Jake sees his role as Alpha as a burden thrust upon him.
Sometimes I think he hates that part of himself.
The part that changes from a man into an animal. The primal predator within.
The night Micah rescued me, he took me straight to the Coven, where I lived for almost two years.
He never protected me from the reality of his life by isolating me.
The Coven became my family. Shouldn’t it be the same with the Pack?
How can we forge a cohesive life together if Jake believes he’s protecting me by keeping his life compartmentalized?
I don’t need to be treated that way, and Micah saw that. Why can’t the man I love?