Chapter 34
NOELLE
The storm that had been brewing all day broke as I pulled into the precinct parking lot.
Sleet hammered the windshield like a barrage of tiny bullets.
I sat still, the quiet interrupted by the pelting sleet, and rested my forehead on the steering wheel.
Each splattering drop echoed in my heart.
I’d driven all night to get back to the city, my mind replaying Bishop’s blood on my hands and Rafe’s cold dismissal.
I’d listened to our conversation, my confession, on repeat until I felt sick.
The wire sat in an evidence bag on my passenger seat.
Such a tiny thing that had destroyed everything I’d come to love.
No.
Not so tiny.
I couldn’t blame the device.
I’d chosen to wear the wire.
This was on me.
I took a fortifying breath, grabbed the wire, and crossed the parking lot.
The precinct buzzed with its usual early morning energy when I walked through the doors.
I’d washed up and changed clothes, but nothing could remove the feel of Bishop’s blood.
Conversations died as I passed, replaced with whispers, snickers of laughter, and sideways glances.
“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.” Detective Morrison leaned back in his chair, a smirk twisting his lips. “How’s our undercover superstar doing today?”
I kept going, but his voice carried across the bullpen.
“Hey, Hart. Heard your big operation went tits up. Literally.”
The snickers turned into uproarious laughter.
I stopped, even though I knew it was pointless.
I was sick to fucking death of this bullshit. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, Noelle.” Detective Rodriquez joined in, his tone mocking. “We all heard the recordings before your wire went dead. We heard you getting cozy with the bikers.”
“Detective Hart.” I ground the title out between clenched teeth. “And I was doing my job.”
“Is that what we’re calling it now? Because it sounded like you were spreading your legs for information. How’d being the slut work out for you?” Morrison stood up, his chair rolling back with a squeal.
Heat flooded my cheeks but I refused to back down. “Go to hell, Morrison.”
“Did you at least get some good intel before you blew your cover? Or were you too busy playing house with the whole damn club?”
“That’s enough.” I stepped toward him, my hands clenched into fists. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re jealous because you didn’t get shit.”
He laughed.
The cold, cruel sound would have bothered me a month ago. “Word is, you got so deep undercover, you forgot which side you’re on. I believe you started thinking with your pussy instead of your brain.”
“Afraid even if that were the case, I’d still be a better detective than you.”
“Ooooh.” The sound from multiple men ricocheted around the bullpen.
Men I’d spent years working alongside.
They never respected me.
And I understood now that they never would.
“Morrison.” Captain Delaney stepped out of his office. “Get back to work.”
I was so shocked a feather could have knocked me over.
The bullpen fell silent as Morrison’s face flushed crimson.
He shot me a look full of venom and turned away.
“Hart. My office. Now.” Captain Delaney turned away without a backward glance.
Fuck.
I followed Delaney, my stomach churning.
The captain closed the door behind me with a soft click.
“Sit.” He pointed at the same chair with a resigned sound.
I did as I was told.
It would be the last time I sat in this office.
No matter what happened today, I would never step foot in this office again if I could help it.
Captain Delaney studied me for a long, calculated minute. “We need to discuss your spectacular failure.”
“Sir.” I considered my words.
Delaney held up a hand to stop me from continuing.
I allowed him to control the conversation more out of curiosity than obedience. “Three weeks, Hart. You spent three weeks embedded with the Vipers, and what do we have to show for it? Nothing.”
He slammed a fist on the desk. “Less than nothing. Because of you, they know law enforcement is watching them.”
“Why didn’t you show up last night?” I launched the question before I had a chance to regret it.
Delaney rubbed his fingers so hard into his forehead that he wrinkled the skin. “It served no purpose.”
He seemed ready to say something else but stopped.
Was there any way I could convince him of my beliefs? “Captain, they’re not—”
“Not what? Not criminals? Is that what you want me to believe?” He dropped his fists to the desk, pounding it once more.
The man sure did enjoy banging his fists and making enough noise to make it sound like a fighting ring in his office.
I almost smiled at the thought.
Delaney’s lips twisted into an expression so vile it took me by surprise.
“You’re out of line, Hart.”
He still refused to call me Detective. “The last transmission suggested you’d gone completely native. You can’t expect me to believe a word out of your mouth when you confessed in front of all of us that you love them.”
The words could not have hurt more if they’d been bullets.
“They’re not drug dealers. They run a Christmas toy drive for underprivileged kids.”
I propped my hands on the edge of his desk.
“Robin Hood bullshit.” Delaney shook his head in a slow wag. “You’ve bought their bullshit rhetoric hook, line, and sinker.”
He waved one hand in a dismissive gesture. “I don’t care if they’re feeding orphans and saving puppies. They’re criminals, and you were supposed to bring them down.”
“I won’t arrest innocent men.”
“Innocent?” He barked out a laugh. “You’ve been compromised. Completely and utterly compromised.”
I’d felt enough shame in the last few days to sink a cruise ship.
I was done with it all, but Captain Delaney had more to say.
“A good detective doesn’t fall in love with her targets.”
I’d let them down.
Fuck Captain Delaney and the whole team of detectives waiting for me to fail.
I didn’t care that I’d failed them.
Not even a little bit.
I’d failed Bishop. Ash. Rafe.
I’d failed them and I couldn’t stand that.
“A good detective doesn’t ignore evidence because they’re prejudiced and want to take down a club based on their emotions. Sounds like some emotional bullshit to me. Sounds like I’m the only one who’s thinking clearly.”
“Watch it.” He pointed at me, that derisive look twisting. “One word from me and I’ll have your badge.”
If he thought that was a threat, then I had the upper hand.
I controlled my breathing and tamped down my anger.
Every part of me wanted to fling my gun and badge on the desk and tell him where he could shove both.
But as long as I stuck around, I had a chance of learning their next steps.
“You’re off the case.”
I pushed to my feet and hurried out the door without looking back.
Three days later, I sat hunched over my desk in the middle of the night.
I’d been given a murder case from a decade ago, and working late had become my refuge.
The precinct was quieter after hours, and the judgmental looks stopped fazing me.
The punishment of being relegated to cold cases didn’t faze me either.
Maybe I could do some good here where others had failed.
A low voice drifted through the department.
The hair on the back of my neck lifted, and I peeked beneath my computer screen toward Delaney’s office.
“The Christmas Eve operation will be the perfect time.” My vision swam with the rush of understanding that sent my heart flying into my throat.
I knew that voice.
The leader of the gang that had tried to shoot me stood in Captain Delaney’s office.
“They’ll be out in the open and vulnerable. My boys can hit them where it hurts.”
“I want your guarantee the Steel Vipers will be done.” Captain Delaney’s tone held a dangerous edge I’d never heard before.
Christmas Eve. Steel Vipers. A chill ran down my spine.
They were talking about the toy run.
“The detective served her purpose when she confirmed their operation schedule.”
My stomach dropped.
My purpose?
Oh, God. I’d been a pawn.
All the nonsense I’d endured and it was all for nothing.
He’d made me a pawn in their game between law enforcement and the rival clubs.
“Too bad she went soft on them. Could have saved us some trouble.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
I stopped listening, grabbed my coat, and crept from the room.
My legs trembled, and I almost second-guessed what I’d heard.
Captain Delaney conspired with another club to destroy the Steel Vipers.
Did he hate them that much or did this go deeper?
Was the captain dirty?
The thought made me sick, and I pressed a hand over my stomach to ease the nauseating whirl.
All the work I’d put into proving their innocence didn’t mean anything.
I had to warn them.
Despite everything.
Despite Rafe’s dismissal and the way he’d looked at me like I was something he’d scrape off his boot, I had to warn them.
Tonight.
Tomorrow was Christmas Eve.
That would be too late.
I checked my watch and bit my lip.
Even if I drove all night, the man in the captain’s office might be right behind me.
I had to reach them before they headed out from the warehouse.
After sliding behind the wheel, I stopped long enough to fuel up, grabbed enough coffee to keep me up through the drive, and I locked in on my goal.
I didn’t stop until I pulled outside the clubhouse.
It looked different in the predawn light.
Three men standing on the front porch recognized me as soon as I left my car.
One moved to block the steps and crossed his arms. “Sorry, Noelle. You’re banned.”
I’d worked through a dozen possible scenarios as I drove.
I’d texted and tried to call all three of them.
No one answered.
And none of them responded to my text messages.
“It’s important, D.” I kept my hands loose and open by my sides. “Please.”
“Nothing you have to say is important to us anymore. Go back to your police friends where you belong.”
But I didn’t belong there.
My heart screamed at me.
I belonged here.
I had from the minute I met Rafe’s eyes. I blinked back tears. “It’s about the toy drive.”
All three men shared a look. “What about it?”