by Cassie Wild
I shoved the voice aside.
I had to find a way to get to Gabriel Marks. I didn’t plan on hauling out the rubber bat on his daughter or anything. I just wanted to ask her a few questions. I wasn’t even questioning her – not really. This wasn’t an official investigation or anything.
Not yet, that small voice butted in. If you fuck it up, it never will be. Then what will you do?
Would you shut up? I thought pointedly.
Great. Now I was arguing with myself.
Shooting another look at the clock, I glared at it…Come on…hurry up…
Joelle Marks was a beautiful young woman, and something told me she’d get even more beautiful as she got older.
She was small, built on the petite side with long black hair she wore up in a high ponytail. The style set off her high cheekbones and uptilted dark brown eyes. She gave me a nervous but friendly smile as she sat down at the table where I’d told her to find me.
“You weren’t wrong,” she said in lieu of a greeting.
I reached up and rubbed my bright red hair. “I told you to look for somebody who looked like their head was on fire,” I said ruefully. “This usually catches attention.”
“I like it,” Joelle said in an oddly wistful voice. “It’s pretty. I’ve got all of this…” She tugged on her ponytail.
“Nobody says you can’t get it cut,” I said lightly.
Her eyes widened, her mouth forming a small “O” of shock. “I don’t think I’d be that brave.”
“It’s just hair,” I said easily. “It always grows out. You can start with something longer than this if going so short makes you nervous. Go to the shoulders and see what happens.”
She fingered one of the long strands of her ponytail, looking thoughtful. “I don’t know.”
“Up to you. But it’s your hair. Do what you want with it.” I placed a notepad in front of me. “I told you I had a few questions I wanted to ask you. Is that okay with you?”
She jerked a shoulder in a shrug, looking around nervously. “Is this…” She licked her lips. “This is about my dad, isn’t it?”
“What makes you think that?” I asked softly.
“What else would it be about?” She shot me a hard look, one that surprised me considering how nervous she appeared to be. How…soft. “I’m not going back to him if that’s what this is about. I won’t.”
I’m not going back…
Those panicky words triggered the cop in me. Not that she wasn’t already on red alert.
“How old are you, Joelle?” I asked softly.
Her lids flickered. “I’m eighteen,” she said, jutting her chin up.
She was lying. I could see it as easily as the nose on her face.
Fuck.
Looking away, I debated. She was a minor. I had no business talking to her. “Look, I just want to know if you’ve had contact with your dad recently.”
She cocked her head to the side. “If I’ve had contact…?”
“I’d like to have a few words with him,” I said, pasting a genial smile on my face. If she was going to lie, I wasn’t going to be bothered if I did the same.
“About what?” Joelle asked suspiciously.
Before I could figure out any sort of lie, a voice called out from behind me. “Joelle? I thought you said you’d be at the coffee…oh. Hello.”
I bit back a curse as a woman drew even with us, one with features similar to Joelle’s. They looked enough alike to be sisters, and she was also familiar. She was the other woman who’d been with Nicco the first time I’d seen him.
She had to be Suria.
“Hello,” I said, rising from the table.
Suria eyed me up and down, taking in my uniform. Then she turned on her sister and demanded, “What the hell is this?”
“It’s okay,” Joelle said, waving a hand at me. “She was just asking about Dad.”
Suria’s entire body went stiff, and she turned a cold look on me. “Excuse me, but were you questioning my underage sister?”
“Underage? She said she was eighteen.” I met Suria’s eyes levelly, despite the fact that I’d known the kid had lied to me.
“She’s not,” Suria retorted.
“Okay. But no, I wasn’t questioning her.” I hadn’t really had time to start. But I didn’t need to get into that, did I? “There is currently no active investigation concerning your father. So, there’s no way I could have been questioning her.”
“But you wanted to talk to her about our father.” Suria’s voice was hot, and her dark eyes flashed at me as she spoke. “And how the hell did you even know to ask her anyway? Which department are you with?”
“Monterey,” I said stiffly, gesturing over my shoulder.
Her eyes narrowed on me. “Wait a minute…I know you. I saw you in the café the other day. Have you been following us?”
“No.” I kept my mouth shut, refusing to offer her anything else. She was pissed – I could understand.
This was a mistake, I decided. I should have listened to that annoying voice in the back of my head. Grabbing my notepad from the table, I nodded to the sisters and said, “Look, I need to get back to work. Joelle, thanks for the time and I’m sorry if I’ve inconvenienced you.”
“But I haven’t really–”
Her sister laid a hand on her arm and gave her a hard look. Joelle glared at her but remained silent.
As I was walking away, I heard Suria say, “I’m calling Nicco about this. Something isn’t right.”
A cold chill raced down my spine, and my gut curdled.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
I’d done gone and screwed this up big time.
Four
Ravenna
“What’s got you so down and glum?” Milo asked as we swung the car around the block, heading back to the precinct.
He’d spent most of his morning and some of the afternoon in court, and the minute he got out, he’d been ready to hit the streets. We’d only had a couple of hours before the end of the shift, but any time he could spend out on patrol made him happy, so who was I to argue?
I’d hoped he’d be in his own head too much to notice my mood, but no such luck. It seemed like he’d cued in on my bad moon in next to no time and he hadn’t let up on it either.
“Hey, if you want to talk about my day, how about you tell me about yours first?” I finally said.
He shot me a look. “Now why would I want to do that? I ask you about yours so I can forget about my shitty day.”
I had to laugh. Sighing, I slumped down in my seat as far as my gear and the seatbelt would allow, then I rolled my head over and looked at him. “Maybe I don’t want to think about my shitty day, either.”
“Huh. Seems like what we need to do is go out and grab a couple of beers after we clock out. Sound like a plan?”
I almost told him no. I was half expecting to hear from Nicco, although part of me dreaded it. My phone had remained silent save for a couple of texts from various brothers and one from my dad.
“I dunno.” I offered a shrug. “Maybe. Let’s see how much shittier the day gets before I decide.”
He glanced at the clock and grinned. “Hey, it can’t get much shittier. Our shift is almost over.”
The words were almost comical now.
Nicco stood just inside the precinct, and the look on his face was one that might have had me quaking in my shoes if I was the type to do such.
“How in the hell could you do that?” he demanded, his voice low and taut, eyes sparking fury. “She’s a kid, Ravenna. A fucking kid, and you’ve got no idea what she’s been through.”
I didn’t let myself react to his words. I was already feeling bad enough. I could have told him that I’d already figured out that I’d overstepped, but somehow, I didn’t think it would make a difference to him. Besides, maybe I deserved this.
I should have just held off talking to Joelle or…something.
Apparently, my silence wasn’t doing much for him. Lifting one shoulder, I said, “What do you want me to say? I misstepped. If it makes any difference, I didn’t know she was only sixteen, okay?”
“How did you get her cellphone number?” He continued to eye me with suspicion, and when my gaze fell from his, it must have cued him in. “You went snooping through my phone, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t snoop,” I said defensively. “She texted while you were in the bathroom, and I saw the number. I remembered it and decided to text her to see if she’d talk to me. That’s it.”
“That’s enough, don’t you think? And you sure as hell were snooping. You went messing with a phone that wasn’t yours!” he fired back. “How would you feel if I picked up your phone and saw a personal message to you? Would you like it?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it, unable to answer.
He stared at me a moment longer, then backed away. “I can’t believe you went and used me like that, Ravenna. I told you I’d help you. Why couldn’t you stay away from my sister?”
He turned on his heel and strode off, leaving me alone.
But things didn’t end there.
As I headed into the bullpen, Milo caught my arm, his eyes intense. “What the fuck is going on, Sinclair? The LT is looking for you, and he is pissed.”
“The LT?”
“Lieutenant Newkirk,” he clarified. “He is furious. Like smoke coming out of his ears furious.”
I shook my head, about to offer some makeshift answer although I already knew what the problem was. But before I had a chance to do that, a voice boomed out, echoing through the room, twice as loud as any of the others.
That would be Lieutenant Newkirk.
My immediate supervisor.
I was so screwed.
Turning to face the big, bull-chested man, I took a deep breath. Under my breath, I said, “If I don’t survive this, take my remains back to my father, okay?”
Milo grimaced. “If you don’t survive this, there won’t be any.”
Nothing like macabre humor to bolster one’s courage.
Too bad it didn’t work.
“It wasn’t an investigation, sir,” I tried again, only to be cut off.
“I don’t want to hear another thing about this,” Lieutenant Chris Newkirk said, pointing a thick finger at me. “You’re brand new to your uniform. This man you’re wanting to look at lives in LA, not Monterey, and there’s nothing of interest being pinned on him. I don’t want to hear it. You got me?”
“Sir–”
Newkirk leaned forward over his desk and pointed a fat finger at me. “You got me?” He glared, the look in his eyes lethal. “If you value that badge of yours, you’re going to reply with a yes, sir, then turn your ass around and walk out of here. Take the weekend off and reevaluate, because if there’s anything else about this, you could lose that badge.” He straightened and crossed his arms over his chest, eying me with a canny gaze. “You could be a great cop, Sinclair. Your dad was a great cop. Your brothers, they’re great cops. Do you really want to let…whatever this is trip you up so early on?”
I opened my mouth, but unable to argue with him, I blew out a breath. “No, sir.”
What was I supposed to say?
Even if I told him everything I knew about Gabriel Marks, I had no proof…yet…and the crime was years old, past the time we could even prosecute.
I had to get him on something else, and at this time, I had no idea what that might be.
“Go on,” Newkirk said, his voice brusque. “Get out of here.”
I did just that.
On my way out, I grabbed my bag. I didn’t bother to shower. I was too upset. I didn’t head home. Instead, I hailed a cab and gave him my dad’s address.
Being alone was the last thing I needed just then.
Five
Nicco
Outside the precinct, I finally stopped to take a deep breath.
I’d spent nearly an hour talking to a desk sergeant, then a lieutenant as I tried to understand more about the issues between Ravenna and Gabriel Marks. I ended up having to tell the lieutenant why I needed to know, and I’d seen the growing fury in his eyes, but I hadn’t let it affect me.
I couldn’t.
Ravenna had crossed a line, bringing my sister into this mess.
If it caused her problems on the job, then she’d have to deal with that.
There wasn’t even any active cases involving Marks going on. The lieutenant had given me that much. I knew Ravenna wanted his head on a platter because of how he’d defrauded a friend’s family, but she couldn’t use that as justification to screw around with my family.
I had to go over to my mother’s and talk to Suria and Joelle.
Suria was furious.
I didn’t blame her. I was in the same mindset myself, and I hadn’t even been the one to come upon Joelle being questioned by a cop.
With one last look back at the precinct, I turned toward my office.
This day was shaping up to be one giant disaster.
Joelle saw me first, and she bounced up out of the chair where she was reading a book and came to hug me. “Hey!” She threw her arms around my neck, the strength of the gesture surprising. “I haven’t seen you all week!”
Hugging her to me, I rubbed my cheek against her soft hair and closed my eyes.
I wasn’t going to let anything screw up this new family I’d found. It didn’t matter what I had to do to protect it. To protect them. I’d do it.
“It’s been a busy week, kid,” I said, pulling back. I pinched her chin, surprised at how easily the affection between us had come, and smiled down at her. “How are you doing? You okay after what happened earlier?”
She blinked, a confused look on her face. “What do you mean, what happened?”
“The cop.” I almost said Ravenna’s name but held back. I couldn’t deny that part of it was out of reluctance to admit that Ravenna and I had gotten personal – very personal.
Joelle’s eyes widened, and she pulled away, laughing a little. “I’m fine. It’s not like she had me trapped in a dark little room and went at me with a rubber hose or anything, Nicco. She just asked a few questions. Well, really, she didn’t have much chance to ask anything because Suria showed up. We’d just barely had a chance to talk, really.”
“She shouldn’t have been talking to you at all. You’re sixteen.”
“I…” Joelle winced, her eyes darting away.
“You what?” I asked, narrowing my gaze on her. That was a guilty face. A very guilty face.
“Well, I might have told her that I was eighteen,” Joelle said, her voice stilted. She licked her lips, the expression on her face clearly anxious. Twisting her hands together in front of her, she stared at me. “Don’t be mad. I just…I wanted to help her. Dad has always told us that the cops were the bad guys, but he lied. I don’t want to be like him, and I thought if I could help…” She shrugged, not needing to finish.
“It’s okay, Joelle,” I said, catching her hands in mine. Untangling them, I squeezed her hands and waited until she finally met my gaze. “It’s okay. And trust me, I understand what you mean about not wanting to be like him. I spent more than a few years doing everything I could to prove that I was nothing like him myself.”
Joelle looked miserable. “Are you still doing that?”
“No.” Shaking my head, I tugged her in for a hug and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “That was giving him way more importance in my life than he deserved. I’m not a user like he is. He’s never cared about anybody other than himself. The very fact that I give a damn about somebody, like my mother…like you two…that’s all the proof I need to know I’m nothing like him. And Joelle? You’re as far from him as night is from day.”
“I get that. Normally.” Her lips tugged up in a weak smile, and she tapped her brow. “Up here. But the rest of me…I mean, you can
’t imagine what it’s like growing up surrounded by the crap he throws at us. Well, maybe you can. You lived with him for seven years.”
“Seven years. And it was a long time ago. You put up with a lot more than I did.” I tugged on her hair. “Where’s Suria?”
“In the kitchen with your mom.” Joelle made a face. “Catherine talked her into making some cookies, thought it might help her relax. I bet she’s eating half the cookie dough.”
“Is there anything wrong with that?” I asked mildly.
“Only that I’m not getting any since I’m not in there helping.” Joelle sighed dramatically. “My skills in the kitchen are subpar at best.”
I offered her my elbow. “Come on. We’ll go steal some cookie dough.”
She giggled and accepted my arm, and the two of us made our way through the house, finding my mother and Suria at the kitchen island. Suria was licking a spoon.
“Told you,” Joelle said, edging her way over to the bowl.
“You didn’t do any of the work,” Suria said.
“You want the cookies to be edible, right?” Joelle swiped a bit of dough from the edge.
Suria didn’t say anything, her eyes locked on me.
My mother put two sheets of cookie dough into the oven and turned to greet me, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. She picked up on the subtle tension in the air easily, and I wondered if Suria had told her anything. “Joelle, why don’t you help me clean up? You can earn your cookie dough by doing that. I get the feeling your brother and sister want to talk.”
It was a weird thing to hear, your brother and sister. Normally, it would have made me smile, but Suria’s nod toward my mother was curt, and she approached me without even a hint of a smile.
“Why don’t we step outside?” I suggested, gesturing to the door.
Suria nodded, and the two of us slipped out the sliding glass door onto the patio.
Suria wasted no time spinning around to face me, her eyes snapping. “It was that cop we saw in the café, Nicco! That redhead. She was questioning Joelle. Do you know her?”