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Whatever is going to happen, my mind won’t let me wait until morning to figure it out.
THIRTEEN
devan
Naomi and Adamand Bill are not going to let me miss work today. They’d made themselves painfully clear before leaving my place last night. Before I managed to shuffle them out of the apartment, all three left me with similar statements of resolve: get my ass into the precinct tomorrow so we can commandeer one of the offices and really get down to work.
Which I’d agreed to at the moment because they were right. Getting my ass in gear is paramount to taking down Stevens. Except the second Aria left, I’d furiously jacked myself off in the shower and went to bed pissed. At myself, mostly, for putting us both in a position that felt worse than a rock and a hard place. At her for choosing to leave rather than give me the answers.
I took a second shower once my alarm went off, my dick bobbing at half-mast already, and got myself off again before I dressed.
I took a gamble, and I lost. It shouldn’t be a big deal. Right?
The rain continues all the way to the station, coming down in spits and spats from an angry gray sky. I know the feeling. Coming to work held none of the appeal it used to have for me.
I don’t trust most of the people, not after what happened two years ago. But we do need the space, and my apartment isn’t the best place to hold meetings for the Scooby Gang, which the others seemed to agree would become a regular thing.
But dragging myself into the building feels herculean.
Naomi greets me with a smile as I step up to the desk, taking off my jacket and gently draping it on the back of the chair.
“You’ve got dark circles under your eyes, Dev, but at least you don’t look like you want to bite my head off anymore,” she says. “I’m going to call it a win. What happened to you once you kicked us out? You couldn’t fall asleep?”
The rest of the room is almost somber in comparison to her, and even her low voice is bullet loud.
“Did you get Bill to open up a secure route to the dark web for us?” I bend close to whisper.
She nods. “The firewalls here are top notch, but he’s found a way for us to exist inside the system in almost complete invisibility. But he told me not to ask him how he did it. Sounds ominous.”
“Adam told me almost the exact same thing the other day.” Still, relief courses through me. “Good. At least we’re getting somewhere.”
“It’s a great start, considering we only put a tentative plan together yesterday.” She breaks off, running a hand along her lower belly. “I don’t know about you, but I definitely went a little overboard on the pizza. Not my normal thing, you know. How are you feeling besides tired?”
I shake my head. “Don’t go there, Ellison. It’s bad enough you encroached on my space without asking me. No inquiries into my well-being, and we’ll get along better. Okay?” I gesture for her to follow me down the hall toward one of the empty rooms.
“Fine, fine. I’ll try to stifle my worry for you. Sooooo…the dark web is a really big place, though, Dev.” Naomi follows me with her arms laden with files related to this case and any marked as connected to the Syndicate from the past six months. “Are you sure this chat room you found is going to give us a break? Like an honest-to-goodness break? Otherwise, we’ll be no better than dogs chasing our own tail.”
“I really believe it. It might not be the big break we’re looking for, but it might help us get enough of a toehold to send the rest of the organization tumbling down. Or so we can hope.” Room six is unoccupied, and walking over the threshold brings me a familiar jolt. The last room Layla and I used before she—
Shaking my head accomplishes nothing and certainly doesn't help me feel clearer.
“Why?” she presses.
“Beyond the matching IP address to the one we found in the dead man’s pocket?” I’d rather not tell Naomi I have no other reason beyond a gut feeling. It may accomplish a lot, but she’s been too trusting of me lately for me to give her something without substance.
The door closes behind us, and my first thought when I turn to look at her isage. We’ve only just been handed this case, and already she’s losing sleep. I know the look.
I’velivedthat look.
Over the past two years, I’ve thrown myself into work and taken any and every case that came my way, the way I used to yell at Layla for acting. It’s no way to live. It’s asking for burnout or worse. A trip to the hospital and a few weeks spent on a shit ton of medication.
Might not be a bad way to relax.
“It’s worth a look,” I finish, not ungently. “All I’m saying.”
“I just don’t want you wasting your time on some dead-end avenue,” she replies. “Especially if we’re going to be taking down the Black Market Syndicate. We need to have a broad view of things and not focus on the tiny details. It might actually be a good idea to call in a team.”
I urge her to shut her mouth. “No. None of that,” I warn out loud. We’re not sure if this place is bugged or not. Until we’re sure, we can’t risk anyone else knowing what we know or following our progress. Especially considering theriskof having a task force called in. Not just the Empire Bay PD but the county police, FBI. They’ll only muck up the situation beyond repair. Which I normally wouldn’t say, considering their resources, but this is Broderick Stevens.
