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The first person I spotted was Agent Marshall. I cornered him by the coffee pot, and he greeted me with a warm, professional smile.
“Officer Ellison, what can I do for you?”
“I have some information that’s not going to go over well with, well you know who. Got any advice?”
Marshall finished pouring and then doctoring his coffee and turned back to me with a shrug. “I always prefer to rip the band-aid off fast instead of pussy-footing around. Be blunt and to the point. Say what you need to say and no more.” He laughed at my skeptical look. “I said it’s my preferred method.”
“And it works?”
“Hit or miss, but I’m not one for prettying up my words, so it works for me, if not for everybody else.”
“Good to know. Thanks.”
“Thanks for what?” Agent Beck popped her head into the breakroom. From the smirk on her face, she’d been eavesdropping, at least a little.
“Just some friendly cop advice,” I told her. “What’s up? Any news on what Bonnie and Mueller were doing together?”
“No,” she sighed. “Have you found anything?”
I nodded and looked around. “We should go somewhere more private for this.” It wasn’t something we needed the entire precinct to learn this early in the investigation.
“Just tell me now,” she said, her tone impatient as her blue eyes rolled skyward.
I let out a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know if you noticed or not, Agent Beck, but Sadie didn’t seem all that surprised when we showed up, did she?”
“She’s a lot of things but stupid isn’t one of them, Ellison. She had to know we’d be around sooner or later.”
“And you think her attorney just happened to be there when we arrived?” I let out another breath. “Come on, Beck, use your head. These are my colleagues, so I’m not making any accusations, but wasn’t that just a little suspicious to you?”
Marshall let out a short cough and nodded. “He’s right. Let’s go into the war room. No two-way windows and no speakers. Now.” He led us down the hall and into the room, closing it behind him and leaning on it.
“Let’s hear it.”
“I’ve been digging into Bishop Mueller and something came up.” My dramatic pause was just to piss off Beck. “Does the name Richie Mueller ring a bell?”
There was a hint of recognition in Marshall’s brown eyes, but Agent Beck gave me a blank stare. “No. Is he Dietrich’s brother?”
“No, that’s the name on Mueller’s paycheck that comes from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He’s been undercover all this time.”
Marshall’s eyes went wide, but he stayed silent, processing the information and probably searching for any signs he’d missed.
Beck sucked in a breath, her pale face turning six different shades of crimson before it settled on furious red.
“You’re lying. You’re covering something up.” She glared at me hard, but I was unfazed because I’d prepared for this.
“Whatever you’re hiding, I’ll find it, Ellison, and there will be no place for any of you or your biker gang to hide.”
I shouldn’t have, but I laughed at her weak ass threat.
“Fuck you, Beck. If you didn’t want me on this case because of my so-called biker gang, you shouldn’t have asked for me. Because that’s how this happened, in case you forgot.”
“Guys,” Marshall said, his tone deep and forceful, like an annoyed father.
“No, Marshall, let him finish. Got anything else to say, rookie?” I heard the threat, and I was done bending over for this bitch.
“Yeah. I do. You’re a federal fucking agent with a shit ton of more experience than me. So why don’t you go do some goddamn police work and check it out for yourself? I won’t tell you how I found out, so save your threats. Just do your own research and maybe start with someone named Amy Mendoza. Maybe that’ll explain why you were called in on a local double murder.”
“That’s not true. They would have told us,” Beck insisted desperately, gaze darting to Marshall for assurance.
“Only three people other than Mueller know.”
“If you’re making this up.”
I smiled and folded my arms. “Or maybe you already knew and now you’re covering for whatever dirty shit Mueller was into. Maybe you’re trying to take over his role in the city.”
“Fuck you!”
The door slung open so fast that Marshall barely escaped a doorknob to the spine. “What the fuck is going on in here?” Sarge barged into the room with a red face and angry eyes. “Well?”
“I found out Mueller was undercover FBI and Beck can’t handle it. Accused me of lying and covering for my biker gang.”
His eyes widened in surprise, and he turned to Agent Beck. “That true?”
She nodded.
“Fuck this. I’ll be back at my desk on Monday, sir, to get back to proper field training.”
I didn’t need her shit or her constant judgment. I didn’t ask for this opportunity, and now that I knew how Beck really was, I held no hope she would do anything to help my career.
