Chapter 26
Tucker
I head back to the station at the end of my shift, but all I want to do is go home, eat and sleep. Tomorrow is my day off, and I know how I want to spend it. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to go as well as I’d like it to.
It’s been a week since everything happened with Nick and I feel like I’m going crazy.
All I want to do is be near him. I want his touch, his smell, to listen to his voice. And he wants nothing to do with me.
It hurts, I won’t lie, but at least he’s not trying to kill me anymore.
I’ve spent all of my free time over at his place hanging out with Nova. Sometimes Nick is there, sometimes he’s not. I’m not there just to see him, though, I love spending time with Nova.
She’s quickly becoming my favorite person. We’ve done a few video calls to my parents, who adore her, and I’m really starting to feel like I’m a part of this pack.
Ian and Will have been accepting, we get along fine. It’s just Nick who doesn’t seem to want to accept me as a new part of his life.
I can’t exactly blame him. It’s a big life change, to not only find out that he’s mates with a second Omega, who’s a cop when he himself is a criminal. But also to find out he’s scent matched to a man, when his whole life he thought he was straight. It’s a big pill to swallow.
I’m trying to be respectful, to give him space, but it really doesn’t help that I find him staring at me, the heat in his eyes makes me squirm and I have to excuse myself from the room before I start to perfume and show everyone that I’m very much turned on by this man simply breathing.
“Hey.” Chris greets me as I head into the station.
“How’s it going?” I give him a head nod as I head towards the staff changing room.
“Officer Wells and Officer McDolly were asking if they need to book any time off work.”
My brows furrow as I push the door open to the changing room and look at Chris over my shoulder. “Why would they need to ask me that?”
Chris raises a brow. “Because your heat should be any day now.”
I blink, doing the math in my head. Fuck, it should have actually started yesterday, or today. But since finding out about Nick, I’ve taken some temporary heat blockers. They’re not meant to work long term, only to push my heat back by a few weeks, or hold it off until next month.
The idea of having anyone who isn’t Nick or Nova help me through my heat made me uneasy. And I didn’t want to risk being put in the position that I’d have to take whatever help I could get.
There’s always the option of doing it alone with toys, but I’ve never spent a heat on my own and I don’t plan on starting.
“Ah, let them know I’m good.” I turn away. “I’ve decided do this one solo.”
“Why?” Chris asks and annoyance fills me. I know he’s my friend, but he doesn’t need to know the personal details of my life. I’ve been a private person for the most part. No one but my parents and old co-workers know about the details of my past.
“Just feel like it.”
“Why would you want to do it alone when they’ve been helping you for months? Sounds like a nightmare.” Chris chuckles.
“Toys are fun too.” I tell him, changing out of my uniform and into my regular clothes.
“I’ll take your word for it, man. So, I’ve been meaning to ask you, have you gotten any new leads on the case?”
My brows furrow. “I told you I was dropping the case. It’s a dead end.”
Chris stares at me. “You can’t be serious. You had everything you needed to get them locked up. You know they are the men, the ones who’ve been robbing the malls for years. What do you mean you’re dropping the case?”
“Leave it be, Chris.” I warn him, my heart pounding. I should have kept to myself, I shouldn’t have gotten him involved with helping me bring Nova in for questioning. He knows too much and doesn’t seem to be as quick to drop it like everyone else.
“Fuck no, I’m not leaving it.” he gets in my face, his eyes blazing with furry. “Don’t tell me you’re going to be just like everyone else here? Fucking let that MC, those men, get away with everything?”
“There’s no proof, Chris. I don’t know what you’re talking about. All I had was they were coincidentally out of state every time a robbery happened. There’s no video feed, no camera feed, nothing to prove they were even in the same town at the time of the incidents.”
“Because they had someone working for them to wipe everything!” Chris growls. “You don’t think it’s convenient that they aren't anywhere to be found at the times of those events?”
“I don’t know about that, but the fact is we have nothing linking them to the case, just suspicions. Now I know why everyone kept dropping it. It’s a dead end, just let it die.”
“No.”
My stomach sinks. “What?”
“If you don’t want to keep looking into this case, fine, but I will.”
“Chris. Leave. It. Be.”
“Or what?” He laughs. “What are you going to do about it? When will you see you’re nothing here Davis?
Just a wannabe detective. You don’t have what it takes to move up the ranks, but I do.
I have the drive and I’m willing to do anything it takes to prove myself.
I’m not a sell out, I can’t be bought off.
I will be the one to arrest the Mall Bandits and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. ”
“Why?” I ask. “Why is this such a big deal? It’s a case that’s been cold for pretty much the whole time it’s been open. It’s dead. Let it die.”
“Dead!?” he shouts. “They just robbed another fucking mall in North Dakota a few months ago! It’s not dead.
It’s alive and well and they will do it again next year unless someone stops them.
It’s the Emerson brothers and I know it.
You fucking know it. You think it’s a coincidence that their new Omega is from the same fucking town that got robbed? ”
“What?” My brow furrows. How the fuck does he know anything about Nova?
“You didn’t think I’d look into Nova Brooks, did you?
” he laughs. “She’s the golden ticket to blowing this case wide open.
You didn’t try hard enough to get information out of her, but I will.
I’ll make her talk. I might not be able to get anything from her Alphas but I’ll make the little bitch sing. ”
“Stay the fuck away from Nova.” Fury fills me as I get in his face, shoving at his chest. “If you go anywhere near Nova, I will kill you.”
He gives me a cruel smile. “You got a little crush on the pack whore now?” Chris laughs. “Davis, you’re stupid, man.”
“Don’t fucking call her that.” I pull my gun, chest heaving, and point it at his head. “Stay away from them. All of them.”
“Fucking sell out.” Chris spits. “Fucking dirty cop just like the rest of them.”
I don’t care what he thinks. I know what I am, and unlike the real dirty cops, I wouldn’t ever hide the real criminals of the world. Pack Emerson has never hurt someone innocent.
“I meant what I said Chris, stay away from them.” I lower my gun and return it to its holster before grabbing my things and shoving my way out of the dressing room. I don’t stop until I’m in my car.
I’m shaking, fucking trembling with fear and anger.
Chris is going to be an issue. What the fuck do I do? I could try and talk to my superiors and see if they can get Chris to back off, but that would have them asking too many questions.
“Fuck!” I shout, slamming my hands against the steering wheel.
I thought Chris was a good guy. And I’m not saying that he isn’t, because he wants to do his job, but it was the way he acted.
I don’t like how he spoke about Nova. He made it clear that he’d be willing to do anything to solve this case, even putting Nova in danger.
I can no longer look at any of this through the eyes of the law. My job doesn’t come first, my pack does.
I send Nova a text, asking where she is. She responds that all of them are at the compound.
Well shit. That's the last place I’ve ever wanted to be, but I need to see them, to let them know about Chris.
Is that something I should do, though? The moment they find out, I know Nick is going to act.
If I tell them, I’m signing Chris’s death certificate.
I’m not sure I can live with knowing I’m the reason Chris is dead, not if he doesn’t deserve it.
He does deserve it if it means putting your pack at risk.
Looking up, I see Chris storming out of the station and to his car. He gets in and speeds away.
Debating it for a moment, I get out of my car and head back in.
“Hey.” I nod to Debby the receptionist. “Is Officer McDolly in? I need to talk to him.” I clear my throat. “About my heat.”
She smiles. “He’s out on patrol right now but if you want to wait in his office, he should be back soon.”
“Thanks.” I nod and head to his office.
Closing the door, I take a deep breath before going to his computer. I know nothing about Chris, and I only went on how he acted and treated me. Something isn’t right and I’m going to find out what.
Ricky, Officer McDolly, has let me use his computer for research on pack Emerson before, so I know his password. This time, I’m using it to look up Chris.
I pull up his file and read through it. For the most part everything seems fine, but then I spot something. His records before he turned eighteen are sealed. Why? What is he hiding?
I don’t have the clearance to open them on Ricky’s computer.
Voices sound outside the office, getting my attention. “Shit.” I exit out of everything, leaving it how I found it and quickly move to take a seat in the chair in front of the desk.
A moment later, Ricky walks in. “Tucker.” he greets me. “Debby said you were wanting to talk to me?”
“Yes.” I clear my throat, standing to my feet. “I just wanted to let you know I’ll be booking the week off.”
“Your heat.” he nods. “Let me book some time off too.”