6. Ava
6
Ava
K nock.
Knock.
"Come in."
I pushed open Whitney's door with a hitch in my breath and took my first step inside.
"Just the girl I wanted to see." Whitney pulled her glasses off her nose and placed them upside down on the desk.
I took a seat. "I'm afraid I don't have good news."
"Oh?"
"My FOIA hasn't come through—"
"We know those take time."
"Yes, but I was hoping for a little more information by now." I sighed and hung my head, tucking my hair behind my ear. "I'm not sure there is a story here."
Whitney mirrored my sigh and folded her hands. "What's changed? Your enthusiasm for this story doesn't match the way you walked into my office the other day."
I shrugged. "I'm coming up short. I was expecting to find something to bring you by now, but the only thing I have is a mysterious black SUV driving through a lower-income neighborhood."
Whitney raised her brow. "How does that make it mysterious?"
Leaning back in my chair, I flipped through the folder of notes on my lap. "It wasn’t mysterious or suspicious before—just a fixture in the neighborhood, arriving like clockwork—"
"So what made it something other than an SUV traveling home?"
"I followed it."
She raised her brow, her clasped hands dropping to the table. "Go on."
"There's no plate, blacked-out windows, and it tried to lose me."
"Anything else?"
I shook my head.
"What about the raids? Have you looked into that?"
"Not yet." Rolling my lips, I flipped through another page. "I was hoping I'd have more information on the drug—"
"The drug isn't the story, Ava."
I gave a subtle nod. "That's what Aria said."
"She's a smart girl." Whitney leaned back in her chair and placed her hands on her stomach, her blue polka-dotted romper standing out against her gold hoop earrings. "Follow the anonymous source."
"I'm trying to, but he hasn't reached out yet, and it's already been a week."
She shook her head. "No. What I mean is, your source didn't send you to a drug bust on the side of the road so you could find the drug. He sent you to a drug raid because those aren't usual. Correct?"
"I guess." My brows furrowed.
"How much more did you say they'd had lately?"
I flipped through another page containing my documented conversation with Liam. "Three in the last week."
"You don't find that suspicious?" Whitney leaned forward and typed something on her computer, her long, decorated nails clacking against the keys.
"I mean, yes, but—"
"Last year in Riverfield, we had twelve… twelve raids. And you didn't think to look into the reason why we've had such an uptick? Honestly, Ava. Why do I keep you around if you can't use critical thinking skills when they’re needed?"
My stomach bottomed out, and a leap of acid hit the back of my throat. "I'm sorry. I thought I'd investigate the new drug and see where it took me."
"It took you nowhere. Did you look to see if all of the raids were dealers of this new drug?"
Shit.
"No."
"I see." Whitney sucked in a deep breath through her nose and sat back in her seat, resuming her previous position. "I'll give you a one-week extension because I want to see where this story goes, but you need to do it on the raids, not on drugs."
I nodded and swallowed my heart in my throat. "Okay. I'll talk to my contact at RPD and see what I can find out." Standing, I closed my folder. "Thank you. I won't let you down."
"See that you don't. I'd hate to lose such a talent."
Unease settled in my bones, wracking my body with a frostbitten chill as I left her office.
"Well, how did it go?" Aria said as she bounded up to me. "Oh God." She paused, dipping her head down. "Not good, I'm guessing, judging by your pallor."
"My pallor?"
"Yeah, Ava. You're pale as hell. What did she say?"
I looked over my shoulder as I made my way back to my desk. "She threatened to fire me if I didn't come up with something in a week."
"Okay, that's nothing new. She threatens me at least twice a week."
I plopped my folder onto my desk, dropped into my seat, and snagged the bottled water, downing half.
My mouth remained parched, and a slight twinge in my temples signaled a pounding headache on the horizon.
"So, now what?"
"Now I’ll talk to Liam and find out what's going on with the raids."
"Wait, you haven't done that already?"
I glared at her. "Don't lecture me too, Aria. I was working on a different angle."
She raised her hands in defense. "I'm not judging. I thought we'd discussed this already."
I brought it on myself.
"You did. But…"
"Don't let this get you down. I've got to go. I'm working on my own story." She raised her brows with a smile. "Wish me luck."
Aria grabbed her purse off her chair and spun around.
"Luck."
I picked up my phone, grimacing at the cracked screen when she sauntered down the walkway between cubicles and touched Liam's face on my screen.
"Hey." Liam's familiar voice filtered through my phone's speaker, setting a certain calm within me.
"Hi. I was curious if you had a spare moment so I could ask you a few work questions?"
"Is that all you need me for these days?" He chuckled, and I bit into my lip, guilt twisting in my gut.
"No. I'm sorry. I've been so consumed—"
"It was a joke, Ava. I'm finishing up an interview at Oakgrove Park. Meet me here."
I let out a stagnant breath. "Okay. I'm on my way."
"See you soon."
I am the worst friend ever.
Ditching my worn keyboard, I tucked tail and hit the exit, walking down the sidewalk for a few blocks until a small but quaint park surrounded by a black metal gate loomed ahead of me. Oak trees and trimmed bushes lined the oval concrete walking path littered with benches.
"Ava." Liam's booming voice settled over the preschool-aged children running around the playground.
I swirled around and saw him walking towards me in his black uniform, his shoulders set back, his smile broad.
"Hi, Liam."
"What's going on?" He reached out one arm and gave me a hug. The Buddhist tattoo he'd gotten in a small village in Indonesia stared at me as though judging through the eyes of the statue surrounded by flowers, burning incense, and traditional temples.
"Whitney's up my ass about this story, and I need something good."
We meandered down the path together, our shoulders brushing on the occasional step.
"What else is new? She did it with your story for the dentist's office."
I shrugged. "It's worse this time. I'm starting to doubt if I even have a story here."
"You doubted yourself on that one too." He chuckled. "You go through this every time you start a new story. It's like a ritual or something."
"I do not." I crossed my arms.
Do I?
"Of course you do." We paused in the middle of the walkway and he turned to face me. "When you started last time, do you know what you told me?"
I shook my head.
"You said you weren't good enough to find a crime even if it were right under your nose." He cocked his head to the side. "Do you remember what I said?"
"No." My gaze dropped to the ground.
"You're an amazing journalist who should have been a detective." His hands landed on my shoulders and pulled me in against him. "You're incredible at what you do, but the beginning is always slow as you try to put the pieces together. You need to remember that."
I wrapped my arms around him and breathed in his musky cologne. "Thanks, Liam."
"Anytime." He released me, and we continued our walk. "Now, why don't you tell me what this is about, and I'll see if I can help…off the record."
"It's always off the record with you, Liam."
"I know, but I feel like I need to reiterate that sometimes."
I smiled and tucked my hands into the cream-colored pockets of my dress pants. "Probably a good habit to get into when talking to the press."
"Is this about the raid last week?"
Puffing out a breath through pursed lips, I nodded. "You said there were three last week, right?"
"Four. We had another one right after it."
"You didn't say anything about that."
He shrugged. "We didn't know. The paperwork dropped the next morning and we jumped on it."
"Hmm." I wet my lips with the tip of my tongue. "How many tips are you working on right now?"
"Me personally? None."
"So if you're not getting the tips, then who is?"
"Vice gets them. Or if it's big enough we hand it over to the DEA. But we've only had to do that once."
A drug bust so big the DEA needed involvement?
"How did they keep that so quiet?"
He shrugged. "They have their own way of doing things. We're just along for the ride."
"Jeez." I swiped the hair out of my face, my reflection widened in his dark sunglasses. "Does anyone know who’s providing the tips?"
"No." He shrugged. "There are some theories—"
"Like?"
"What if the person is undercover and feeding us information?"
"Is there a pattern? Such as the same drug, a connection to the same crime family or drug dealer?"
"Didn't you write this down the last time we talked?" He shook his head.
"Yes, but sometimes new information comes about."
"Drug dealers don’t typically deal one drug. Most of the time, they have a plethora. But these guys, they’ve been dealing with the same one."
"Sourced the same?"
"No clue, but the suspects have the same theory we do—”
“Someone’s trying to weed out the competition?”
"Yep."
"Is anyone looking into this new drug?"
My mind flashed with Whitney's face filled with disdain as the words left my mouth.
Liam shook his head. "Higher-ups haven't ordered one yet."
"Why not?"
"Not important enough, I guess."
That night at the raid rushed to my mind, the man handcuffed on the front lawn had my brows together. "Do you think you could ask your detainee from that night?"
He cocked his head to the side. "I'll ask around, but I doubt I'll find anything useful. He's already in lockup."
"Great. Thanks."
"Don't thank me yet." A warm smile crossed his face as he peered at me. "Look." He paused at a bench, and sat. "I'm not crazy about you getting involved in the drug world—"
"Liam, I can—"
He rolled his eyes. "I know. You can handle yourself just fine."
I sat beside him and crossed my leg over my knee.
"All I'm saying is…this is more dangerous than finding a corrupt dentist or exposing fraud. I want you to be careful. You don't know the types of people you'd be pissing off by getting involved."
Frowning, I nodded. "I understand. Trust me, I do. But this is what I am good at. Finding a story where people don't want to go. People like comfortability in their circle, but they also want to know the devil is lurking in the shadows and what he's been up to."
Liam slipped his hand into mine, dangling off my leg. "I've seen what lives there, Ava. Just be sure not to venture too deep."
I gave him a squeeze. "I promise."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." I snickered.
"God, you're such a pain in the ass sometimes." His smile broadened as he released my hand, and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "If you're wanting to find more information on the drug, start with its users. You'll find a lot of them in the prison system. They seem to have a higher reoffending rate than any other drug user."
The jail is full of them?
"That's a start, but if they don't know anything about it, then how do they have statistics on this already?"
"It's conjecture at this point."
"Makes sense."
If the men and women were arrested, their information would be on the county site.
It's a smorg?sbord of potential leads.
"What about the men arrested the other night? Can I talk to them?"
He shrugged. "I don't see why not. Although, they probably won't talk to you."
"Because I'm a reporter'?"
"Because they've been conditioned to not say a word to anyone."
I sucked in a slow breath and leaned back on the stone bench, nodding. "Okay. It's worth a shot."
A bicycle bell dinged a fair distance away, filling the silence between us. The scent of fresh-cut grass lingered on the slight breeze, cooling my sun-kissed skin.
"Well, I better get back to work; otherwise, you'll be solving my murder." I laughed.
"I was thinking. If you ever want to relax, we could go out for a bite sometime."
Fiddling with the ends of my hair, I stood and Liam followed.
He leaned into me, placed his hand on my waist, and pressed a light kiss to my cheek. "No pressure. It was just a thought."
I gave him a tight-lipped smile, my stomach swirling as my chest tightened. "Yeah. I'll think about it. There isn't much time for leisure right now."
His hand fell away from my waist, and I cleared my throat, my heart quivering as though it might leap through my chest and whack him in the face.
"I'll see you later, Ava. Stay safe, will you?"
"You too."
I tucked my hands into my pockets, my matching cream-colored blazer tucking behind my arms.
Why did you have to go and make things awkward, Liam?
He moved towards his unmarked car, leaving me with a knot in my gut.
I couldn't date Liam. He was like a best friend intermingled with a brother who'd been around forever and never picked on me.
And besides, you never mix business with pleasure… ever.