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Because I was an idiot and thought he would save me.
Instead, he’d tried to link me to the Moranos’ recent crimes, a social-security scam they were running.
“All the clues were there,” he’d said, shaking his head. “We knew they were working with a woman. I just didn’t think it would be you.”
And the disgust had been right there in his eyes, showing he had already found me guilty.
I pleaded with him, telling him that I honestly didn’t know what he was talking about. I told him I had worked with the Moranos in the past, but I had indeed changed my life around and hadn’t worked with them since.
“I’d only stolen what I needed to survive,” I pleaded with Angel. “Please, you have to believe me.”
In hindsight, it was stupid of me to believe that just because we had similar backgrounds, Angel would be more likely to sympathize and, furthermore, believe me. Angel, more than anything, enjoyed catching criminals and always hated that his girlfriend was once one, even though he was once one himself.
That day, he’d actually accused me of dating him just to infiltrate the police force so I could be an informant for the Moranos.
It wasn’t true, but Angel didn’t believe me. He used my past of previous deceit against me and, the judgmental bastard that he was, condemned me before I even opened my mouth.
And as I sat there and wept at the injustice, one of Angel’s partners came in with a folder of files and handed it to Angel. A picture of a man sat on top. I recognized Chris immediately. It was hard not to…people just didn’t often walk around looking like Chris.
“That…” I pointed at the picture instinctively, the tears still rolling down my face while I blinked at Angel in confusion. “Why do you have a picture of my dad’s friend?”
Angel and the other officer looked at each other. “Your dad’s friend?”
“Yeah, that’s Chris,” I said, and they glanced at each other again.
“You know this guy?” Angel shifted the picture closer to me, and I analyzed it again. The resemblance was undeniable. It was definitely Chris.
“Yes,” I said, recalling the look of his tousled blonde hair and green eyes that made him so imposing. “I know him.”
A strange look entered Angel’s eyes, and that was that.
I didn’t know it at the time, but that had been the beginning of the end for me. Angel had instantly gone to his chief, obsessed with the idea that I could somehow help them in their investigation against Chris, and in return, they would drop my charges. He’d come back with the chief, and they had asked me everything I knew about Chris, and when I revealed that the only thing I knew was that he was a friend of my dad’s, Angel asked the ultimate question.
“How does he feel about you?” he asked. “Would you say he’s pretty fond of you?”
“I don’t know,” I responded for what felt like the thousandth time. “And I don’t care. Again, why are you asking me all these questions anyway?”
“Because this man is an organized crime lord,” he finally said. “Responsible for more than a few deaths in the eastern seaboard. He is a very dangerous man with businesses ranging from racketeering to money laundering.”
“Woah,” was all I said, glancing at the picture. I mean, I knew my father wasn’t exactly an upstanding citizen, but I didn’t think he’d be involved with someone like that.
“None of our agents have been able to infiltrate any of his businesses so far,” the chief said. “We’ve tried everything, but the man is notoriously mistrusting of strangers and can spot a cop from a mile away.”
“Look, we can look past what you did,” Angel continued talking with that same feverish heat in his eyes.
“I didn’t—”
He cut me off with a hand. “We can also offer you protection from the Moranos and forget all about your work with them. Wipe your slate clean, so to speak, and remove all your juvie records. But you have to do something for us first.”
“Do what?”
Angel leaned forward in the seat before he told me, “You need to return to Philadelphia and get a job working for Chris Jordansen.”
My stomach dropped at the time, fear seizing my vocal cords.
They told me the rest of the plan in bits and pieces, bulldozing right past my questions and reservations. I instantly refused at first, knowing it was far too dangerous, but in the end, I had to give in.
I knew what saying no to the cops meant.
