Chapter 12
Tucker
One Month Ago
My fingers tap the desk as I scroll through the files in front of me, eyes squinting as if I could find something that was previously missing.
I’ve read every single word so many damn times, but I still pray something I haven’t found yet pops out at me.
“Fuck,” I groan, leaning back in my seat and closing my eyes as I scrub at my face. If I look at this computer any longer, my eyes are going to fucking bleed.
Maybe I should throw in the towel and give up, just like everyone else did. There’s a reason this case is closed. No matter how many people work on it, some-fucking-how, these men fall through the cracks.
There’s something more at play here. My best guess is that fucking piece of shit who runs the MC here has something do to with it.
It’s like any time the Steel Devils or anyone related to them is mentioned, people shut down and avoid eye contact. I fucking hate it.
I moved to a smaller city to get away from the crazy that is New York and better my chances at progressing my career, but I’m starting to see it might have been a mistake.
I’ve been here a year, and I’m damn good at my job. Yet, just like every other police department I’ve worked at, I’ve never been enough to make it past junior detective. Every time I’m close to cracking a case wide open, the lead detective does the last bit of work and steals my fucking win.
It’s the biggest reason why I left New York.
My father knows people here, said he swore the Atlanta police department was the best choice, only they weren’t looking to add anymore officers to their sector, and instead sent me down here to Savannah.
For the most part, it hasn’t been bad. The people seem chill, except for the way they turn a blind eye to that damn MC.
Why? From what I've heard, the whole fucking lot deserve to be locked up.
“Holy mother of god!” Chris, one of my co-workers and probably the only person here who actually talks to me, bursts into my little makeshift office. Okay, it was a supply closet, but it works. Once I get promoted to detective, I’ll have a real office.
“What?” I ask, jumping to my feet. “What's wrong? What’s happened?”
“You will never believe it,” he laughs, eyes wide and wild, a grin stretched across his face.
“How about you tell me what's going on and we can see if I believe it or not?”
“Oh, right,” he chuckles, running a hand through his wavy blond hair. “The Steel Devils...” he starts and my heart begins to race. “They’re dead.”
“What?” My brows furrow. “Like all of them?”
“Okay, well, not all of them. But like a good chunk of them. Their prez and VP for sure. We just got the call from the LAPD about it. It was a big fucking mess.”
“Holy shit.” I blink at him in shock. “Who did it?”
Chris snorts. “Like anyone would know. Dirty cops covering shit up, like always.” He rolls his eyes.
“Of course,” I mutter, running a hand over my smoothly shaven jaw.
Chris is a good guy and loyal Beta. He has the same mindset as me with being annoyed by people turning a blind eye to the MC, so it’s no surprise that he’s so thrilled about their downfall.
“Also, thought you might want to know...” He grins wider, “If that wasn’t good enough news, your Mall Bandits are back.”
My spine straightens. They are? Fuck. I haven’t been able to get a location on them for weeks.
A small mall in North Dakota was robbed a few weeks before Christmas, and while I can’t prove it, I know it’s them.
Unfortunately there just so happens to be no security footage of the incident, the cameras either magically malfunctioned, or there were no cameras anywhere nearby picking them up.
Still, I just know it’s them. They’ve always stuck to big cities, never sticking to a pattern. Never caught on camera, and never stealing enough to make a big deal, apparently.
But just because they aren’t stealing millions at a time doesn’t mean they aren't stealing a lot. Over time, it adds up, and they’ve been doing this close to five years now.
No one had any leads, or any idea on who they could be.
That was until I looked into it. The more I dug, the more I realized that the sons of Craig, the now dead president of the Georgia chapter of the Steel Devils, were coincidentally absent from not only St. Mary’s, but the entire state of Georgia.
Our precinct doesn’t have the funds to track them like I’d like to, and my boss keeps saying it’s a waste of time and resources.
Maybe he’s right. But this is a case that no one can seem to crack, and maybe they don’t want to. Still, if I can be the one to crack it, to prove these men are the Mall Bandits, this could be the case that gets me that promotion.
“They are? Did you see them?” My brows furrow.
“No. But I heard some of the guys talking about it at the same time, mentioning the downfall of the Steel Devils. I guess everything went down a week ago and we’re only hearing about it now.
” He rolls his eyes. “Anyway, I guess his sons are back in town, and not only that, they might be taking over the MC.”
“What?” My eyes widen. “No.” I shake my head. “They would never.”
I’ve done my research on the three of them. I know almost everything I can about them. They left that life behind years ago, and they’ve never been seen around that compound since. Two of them opened up their own businesses; Will starting his own mechanic shop and Ian a bakery.
As for Nick, I’m not sure exactly what he does other than odd jobs, but his pack mates make enough money to survive.
My body heats as I think of the man. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve stared at photos of Nick longer than I had any right to. Can you blame me, though? That man is fine. The whole fucking pack is with all their tattoos, and defined muscles. Fuck.
Chill the fuck out, Tucker. They are the enemy, the men you’re trying to get locked up. Stop thinking about how hard their pack Alpha makes your cock.
“Ah, Tuck? You good?”
I blink, shaking my head, cheeks heating. Fuck. Is it close to my heat? I just had it like two weeks ago. No. I shouldn’t be this worked up.
“Sorry, what were you saying?” I clear my throat, sitting down at my desk.
Okay, it’s not a desk, it’s a fucking folding dinner tray with a folding chair, seems to be the fucking theme around this place.
I need my own damn office. Sharing space with cleaning supplies can’t be healthy.
I should be doing this at home, but I can’t stop fixating on this case.
“I said, they’re not alone,” Chris continues.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“They brought a girl home with them.” Chris grins.
“Really?” My brow furrows. I’ve been trailing them.
Okay, stalking them, the best I can for months now and never have I seen any of them with a girl.
Not that I’ve ever gotten close enough to be sure, keeping myself confined mostly to my car or across the street.
I have no idea what they do when they go inside buildings.
So maybe they’ve been with some then, but any time they return home, it’s either alone or with one another. Never extra guests. Male or female.
So, if they’ve left and came back with a woman, then the only thing I can think of is they have an Omega.
A smile slips onto my lips. “Looks like I need to find out just who this woman is.”
***
It’s been a month of digging, but I finally have enough information for me to question the Emerson pack’s new Omega. Nova Brooks.
The same Nova Brooks whose mother put out a missing persons report for her.
I might not be able to get much information from the guys and their personal life, but oh boy, when I went on a deep dive of this little Omega, I found out a whole bunch about her.
Like she got fired from her last job, left her home after some sort of fight between her and her ex and after that, nothing. It’s like she just disappeared.
Thankfully, I have a nice thick pile of paperwork detailing her life before she vanished. Where she grew up, her parents, what schools she's attended, all her jobs, and anyone who was in her life.
Unfortunately, none of that helps me with my case against her Alphas. But, because of her mother’s missing persons report, I have a reason to drag her in.
And that's what's happening now. I’ve sent Chris to go get Nova for questioning.
“Get your hands off me!” I hear a woman outside of the interrogation room scream a moment before the door flies open and Chris heaves a tiny pixie of a girl into the room.
“What the hell is going on?”
She swings her furious glare over to me. Her blue eyes nearly suck the air out of my lungs, despite the murderous look shining back at me. What did Chris do? And what the fuck is all over him?
“And what the hell is all over you?” I ask a very pissed off Chris.
“This crazy woman popped a confetti popper in my face before spraying me with silly string,” He grunts, shoving her a little too roughly into the chair in front of me.
I’m pissed off about the way he’s manhandling her. There’s no need for the aggression. But the anger slips away, replaced with amusement when I notice the way she’s looking at me.
Is she checking me out?
When her eyes meet mine, I can't help but give her a little smirk. Her brows furrow into a scowl before looking back up at Chris. “I should have stabbed you with the fairy princess wand,” she growls. “Right in the fucking eye.”
My brows shoot up. Damn, she’s a feisty one, isn’t she?
I’m not surprised, her file says as much.
“You do realize you're threatening an officer?” Chris growls, getting in her face. The closeness makes me uneasy. I don’t like the way he’s looking at her. “Now, behave before I arrest you.”
Unless she has any involvement with the robberies, she won’t be arrested. I’m not here for her, just her pack.
“I got it from here,” I tell Chris with an overwhelming need to get him away from Nova. “Thank you.”
“You owe me,” he growls. “Big time.”