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The way my heart was racing, you’d think I was chasing after someone even faster than I had chased Michael hours ago.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Michael,” I said, standing up to put my jacket on. I could feel my cheeks flushing. “My colleagues will take a sample of your blood in a minute, and then you’ll be taken to a holding cell for tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
His grin never left his face. “Sure, pixie. I’ll see you tomorrow.” The threat in his words was unmistakable, but it was easy to ignore it when my mind was already consumed with Dominic and that syringe sticking out of his chest.
Once you crack, there’s no going back.What the hell did that mean? And why was I so sure that Dominic was going to try to get that drug again? He was a grown man, for God’s sake. He wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t put himself in danger like that. He wasnotan addict, just like he told me himself this morning.
It was just a little past eight p.m. when I made it back to my desk. Only ten agents worked second and night shifts, and most of them chose to. Plenty of supernaturals preferred the dark. The ODP didn’t employ many vampires, though their gifts would have definitely made all our work easier, but they were too unpredictable. Too hard to control. They craved blood, and when they went without, they turned into animals, basically. But they still employed a couple, and those were the ones who were always around only after nightfall.
Hunter had left about an hour ago, and Michael Sullivan was probably in his holding cell. When I’d left, the research crew had been going into the interrogation room to take a sample of his blood. By now, I didn’t really believe that they’d find anything that would get us closer to figuring Crackdown out, but it was a possibility.
I didn’t really have the energy to fill out the report right now, so all I did was take the folders with me, turn my computer off, and leave. I needed food and chocolate cake, and then I could lie down on the couch and rest while I wrote the report for the Chief. He probably wouldn’t even see it until morning, but I’d rather have the day free tomorrow, to go check that address.
I ordered pizza on the way back to my apartment, and by the time I got there, the delivery guy was already knocking on my door. I’d taken the ODP car with me this time because my legs still hurt from all that running. Maybe I needed to take Eva’s offer and go to the gym with her in the morning before work. Except…who wakes up atsixa.m. to go to the gym?
I ate the pizza like I was racing again, then took the fastest shower of my life. There was just something about having work to do that wouldn’t let me relax, even for a second, until I had it done. It annoyed the hell out of me, but I couldn’t help it. And the moment I was sweat free, wearing clean clothes, had food in my stomach and a slice of cake on my coffee table, I instantly felt a million times better. Putting on some music, I took my laptop and started to work on the report.
That pier on the Hudson. What would I even find there? Would it be better to take officers with me? Maybe Hunter and Patricia? Or would that only work against me? It could warn whoever was at that place. They could walk away before we got to them.
And there was always the possibility that Michael Sullivan had lied through his teeth. I wouldn’t put it past him. I could visit him tomorrow with McKinley, too, and ask him about the address again. McKinley would know if he was lying or not.
If he was, how much longer would I need to put up with him before he actually told me something useful? Unless…I asked the Chief to go a bit harder on him. Michael was afraid of those men because they would kill him. He was afraid of death. So, what if he saw thatwecould kill him, too? Not that we would—the ODP didn’t work that way. But we could scare him into thinking it.
Too many possibilities, and the more I thought about them, the more sleep escaped me. By the time the report was finished, and the chocolate cake was in my system, I could hardly sit in one place for longer than a minute. I tried turning the volume of the music up and dancing to the beat, but as soon as I started, the memories of Dominic’s hands on me at that club that night came back to hit me in the face.
The moment I thought about lying in bed and giving myself release so I could fall asleep instantly brought back the memories of seeing him there, in front of the bedroom door at the hotel, my fingers in front of his lips, him begging me to tell him how I thought about him while I touched myself…
No. Definitely not going there.
So, I did the next best thing. Possibly the most stupid thing I could think of, but oh well. It was ten p.m., and a movie wasn’t going to cut it. I had plenty of time to get to that address, just look at it from a distance and see what I would be dealing with in the morning.
Tying back my still wet hair, I grabbed my jacket and my gun, didn’t change out of my leggings at all, and walked out the door.
The pier stretched overfive thousand feet along the others lining the foreshore, the water of the Hudson splashing against the pillars beneath. To the right, ships were berthed to the pier, and to the left was the transit shed that led to a large white container.
The heavy smell of the river overpowered every other scent out there, and there were plenty of people around me, even though I’d hoped to be alone while I explored. What I was looking for was somewhere to the other side, judging by the numbers on the pillars. My jacket was zipped all the way, the gun secured in my pocket, and I was a bit cold, but the excitement didn’t let me feel it all that much. I looked like I was just out for a walk, so maybe that’s why nobody paid me any attention.
I kept as much distance as I could from everyone, and the closer I was to the other side, the more excited I became. A large space at the end of the dock was empty, and it looked big enough to berth five ships. A single light over one of the pillars shone yellow in the dark sky. The sound of the river tried to calm me, but my heart was already racing. The last three ships were huge—cargo ships, each with two rows of green and red containers on them. Not half as big as the one I’d been held captive in in San Francisco, but the sight of them still raised goose bumps all over me. I hated containers.
Turning back to look at the people behind me, I made sure that nobody was looking my way before I stuck to the shadows and moved farther up. The numbers were printed on blue signs on the railing, and I found number seventy-four in no time. My heart skipped a long beat as I looked up at the last monstrous black cargo ship and the containers on it. Nothing moved. No light shone anywhere near it. Four thick ropes stretched from its deck all the way to the large steel rings on the floor of the dock. I could easily use them to climb. It didn’t look like anybody was there to even see me.
I knew I should go back. Just take a picture of the ship and go back, write down everything I saw, and prepare a crew for tomorrow morning. Come back prepared, ready to take on whatever was in that ship. If we were lucky, all those containers would be filled with syringes with that orange liquid in them. If we were lucky, all the supply they’d brought to the City would be in here, and the ODP would confiscate, test and destroy all of it, after we found out where it was coming from.
If we were lucky…
The curiosity roared inside me, as if the idea of turning my back and walking awayoffendedit.
What could possibly go wrong if I just climbed those ropes, anyway? That way I could see better inside the ship, could see if there was someone there guarding it, have a clearer picture of what we’d deal with once we came back here in the morning. From down here, I couldn’t really see anything.
Just a peek, that’s it. And if somebody came out, I’d say that I lost a bet and my friends made me climb these ropes, so here I was. Whowouldn’tbelieve that the second they saw my size and my pink hair? I could totally pass for a teenager looking to get in trouble. I didn’t look like an agent at all—and for once, I really appreciated that.
Besides—if things got out of hand, I had my gun with me. So, taking in a deep breath, I forced myself to look around, make sure nobody was close to me, and grabbed one of those ropes.
I’d climbed trees and ropes back home with my brothers every day when I was a kid. Always trying to keep up with them, always trying to impress my friends with other things since I couldn’t do magic. And I wasreallyglad for it right now because my body hadn’t forgotten. The fact that I would fall straight into the river if I couldn’t hold myself up for as long as I needed to made it easier. I wasn’t going to die. That was all the encouragement I needed to keep on walking on the rope for a couple of feet, then slowly lean down, hands wrapped tightly around it. A loud sigh escaped me when I let go of my body and my feet dangled in the air, the water as black as the night sky just a few inches under me.
“I got this,” I told myself. I could climb. All I had to do was keep my eyes on the destination, just like we did back home.
That’s exactly what I did now. The fear was completely overthrown by my excitement. It was harder than I thought, especially that last part just before I could reach the metal railing of the ship’s edge, but it was alsofun.Much more fun than I’d had in ages.
