A smirk crossed my lips as I looked at him. “Got it.”
He knew me too well and being my captain, he had to warn me.
I walked out of his office and over to Roman’s desk.
“What did he say?”
“Another four weeks.”
“Shit, man. I’m sorry.”
“You have my back, right?” I asked him.
“Of course, I do. Anything you need, you call me.”
“Thanks.” I placed my hand on his shoulder.
I walked out of the station, climbed in my car, and scoured the hangouts where my CI usually hung out.
“Where is he, Vinnie?” I hastily walked over to him and grabbed him by his shirt.
“Damn, Kind. No need for violence. I heard what happened.”
“Where the fuck is he hiding?” My grip on his shirt tightened.
“Okay. Okay.” He put his hands up. “Shit. You know they’ll kill me if they see me talking to you. You just can’t come at me in broad daylight like this, bro.”
“Don’t you know me by now, Vinnie? Now tell me where he’s hiding.”
“I already told that partner of yours I don’t know.”
“Bullshit, Vinnie!” I grabbed his shirt.
His head turned from side to side making sure none of his crew was around.
“Fine. He’s held up in an abandoned warehouse over in South Park. Sometimes, I bring him food and shit. He knows the cops are after him for shooting you, so he was told to lay low.”
“Which warehouse?”
As soon as he told me, I let go of his shirt.
“Thank you. I don’t understand why you have to make things so difficult. You agreed to give me information.”
“Only because you’re keeping me out of jail.”
“And I will continue to do that as long as you cooperate.”
“Yeah. Yeah.” He smoothed out his shirt. “Next time, call me first so we can meet somewhere more private. You know they’ll kill me, Simon.”
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” I smirked as I tapped the side of his head.
“You better hope the hot chick didn’t get to him first,” he said as I walked away.
Stopping in my tracks, I turned around and furrowed my brows at him.
“What are you talking about? Who?”
“I don’t know who she was, but she wanted to know where Cody was.”
“Did you tell her?”
“I had no choice, man. She shoved me against the wall and almost broke my arm. I’ve never seen her before in my life.”
“But yet you weren’t going to tell me?” I balled my fist as I started walking towards him.
“I was just playing with you, Simon.” He put his hands up. “I swear.”
I shook my head and headed to my car.
When I pulled up to the warehouse, I saw a shadow black Mustang Shelby GT parked on the side.
“Shit.”
Before climbing out of my car, I grabbed my gun and walked around the back of the building. The back door was ajar, so I quietly slipped in.
CHAPTER 3
Grace
Pulling up to the warehouse, I climbed out of my car and placed my hand on the gun that was secured in my holster. I quietly snuck around the back. If he was in there, he knew I was coming because he would have heard me pull up. Picking the lock on the back door, I carefully opened it and stepped inside. The clicking of my heels against the concrete made it impossible to keep quiet. But I didn’t care. I wanted him to know I was coming.
“Who’s there?” I heard him shout in the distance as the cocking of his gun made me sigh.
Grabbing my gun from the holster, I held it firmly in my hands as I hid behind a tall steel beam. That’s when I felt the tip of his gun touch the back of my head.
“Drop it, bitch, and slowly turn around.”
Rolling my eyes, I carefully bent down, placed my weapon on the ground, and slowly turned to face him. He kicked the gun away and then stood there with a smile on his face as his gun pointed directly at my forehead.
“Who the hell are you?” His eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. You’re that cop from New York.”
“You tried to kill me.”
“You had it coming. That’s what happens when you meddle in our affairs. No one gets out alive. Now it looks like I can finish the job.” A smug look crossed his face.
“Yeah. I don’t think so.” I scrunched my face before I wrapped both my hands around his wrist and ducked as the gun went off.
After striking him in the balls, I grabbed his gun and threw it across the warehouse before striking him again. He tried to fight back but I escaped every punch and kick he threw at me. As badly as I wanted to kill him, I needed information first.
“You bitch!” he screamed as I heard the cracking of his arm and he fell to his knees. One swift kick in the jaw and he was down, moaning in pain. Grabbing my gun from the floor, I pressed my heel into his abdomen to keep him down as I pointed it at him.
“Where is Victor Ives?”
“I don’t know. I swear I don’t. He never tells us his location,” he mumbled. “We’ve never even met him.”
“LAPD, drop your weapon!” I heard a voice from behind.
Simon
“You have got to be kidding me,” she said.
“Slowly place your weapon on the ground and kick it across the floor.”
She did as I asked.
“With your hands up, slowly step away from him and turn around.”
When she turned around, her beauty paralyzed me.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Can you please stop pointing your gun at me? I’m only here to get some information from this scumbag.”
I looked down at Cody who was barely conscious. His face was full of blood, and he was gripping his arm.
“Did you break his arm?”
“Yeah. I did. He had a gun pointed at my forehead.”
“It looks like you broke his jaw too.”
“He kept calling me a bitch.” Her brow arched. “Can you put your gun away? I’m not a threat to you. I just need to know where his boss is hiding.”
“Who are you and what do you want with Victor Ives?”
“Tell me who you are first.”
“Detective Simon Kind, LAPD.”
“Detective Grace Adams, NYPD.”
“You’re a long way from home, detective. You don’t have jurisdiction here.”
She cocked her head as a beautiful smile graced her face.
“It’s personal, detective. Why are you after him?”
I lowered my gun and put it back in my pocket.
“He shot me a month ago. So, right now, it’s personal for me too.”
“I’m sorry. If you want to finish him off, go right ahead.” She gestured with her hand.
“I think you did a pretty good job.” I let out a sigh as I looked down at Cody who was now lying there unconscious.
“I’m on medical leave so I can’t call this in.”
“Can’t I just put a bullet in him? Please.” Her lips formed a pout.
“No. You cannot. Is that his gun over there?” I pointed.