ANNA

 

I sat in the small room of the police station. The lights on the ceiling were only enough to illuminate the table in front of me. I stared forward, lost in my thoughts, my arms wrapped around myself. The jacket I was given was enough to cover me but I still felt bare.

The door clicked open. I didn’t look. The sound of heels against the floor filled my ears.

A woman took a seat in front of me.

“Hello, Miss Roberts.”

I slowly shifted my eyes up toward her.

She was a stern-looking woman. Her dark hair was tied back in a ponytail. She wasn’t wearing much makeup but her face was unblemished. She didn’t look very old, maybe in her 30s or so. The pantsuit she wore was enough to tell me that she was a professional.

But the way she stared at me… Her stare told me I had reason to be concerned even though the danger was apparently over.

“How are you feeling?” she asked. “Can I get you something? A coat? Some water?”

“I’m fine… Thanks…”

“My name is Jane Lieberman. I’m working with a special task force here in Ivory. I know you’ve had a long day but I’d like to ask you a few questions. Would that be all right?”

I nodded softly.

“What can you tell me about the men who abducted you?”

I thought about what happened but all I could do was shake my head.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t know who they are.”

“Surely you have some idea of who they are. They wouldn’t target you for no reason.”

She kept staring intently at me. I looked away from her, shifting my gaze down at the table.

“Do you remember what happened? Can you tell me that?”

“I… I was at the shelter. Three men just barged in.”

“What were they doing there?”

“I don’t know. They attacked me. They attacked Miss Reynolds. Jackie. She—”

“She’s all right. She’s in the hospital right now. Under observation.”

“What?” I exclaimed.

“She’s an older woman so the doctors just want to make sure she’s perfectly healthy before releasing her.”

“But the shelter—”

“There are other volunteers at the shelter. I had some people go over there to make sure that there’s staff. The place can get by without Miss Reynolds for a few days.”

I sighed a soft breath, still unable to look at the woman in front of me.

“You work at the shelter, don’t you, Miss Roberts?”

“That’s right.”

“How long have you been working there?”

“Not for long. I only got back to town… barely a week ago.”

“That would make sense.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

I slowly looked back at her. Lieberman’s attention was taken by the manila folder she held in her hands.

“You were out of town,” she said. “How long were you gone?”

“What does that matter?”

“I’m just trying to get all the details. Those men wouldn’t have abducted you without good reason.”

“Why don’t you ask them?”

Lieberman gave me a half-smirk. It was obvious she was hiding something from me.

“I fully intend to question them,” she said. “Your friend Jon gave them quite the beating though, so it might be awhile before they come around. Now… You say that you just came back to Ivory—”

“I left Ivory five years ago. And I decided to come back. That’s the story.”

“Any particular reason you decided to come back?”

I clenched my jaw and swallowed. I knew this had everything to do with Jon now. It had been like that ever since I’d known him. When I was getting questioned by the police, it always had to do with the Reapers.

“I was born here,” I said. “I was raised here. This was my home. I left and I decided to come back. That’s it. Do I need a reason for wanting to come back home?”

She gave me a tight-lipped smile and nodded.

“No,” she said. “You don’t need a reason. I’m just trying to get all of the details.”

“I’ve already given you everything I know. Those men attacked Jackie. They abducted me. If it wasn’t for Jon, I don’t know what they would’ve done to me.”

“Then it’s a good thing you’re such good friends with Jon.”

She looked inside of the manila folder in her hands.

“Public intoxication. Indecent exposure. Drugs. You have quite the record, Miss Roberts.”

“That was a long time ago. Those were all petty crimes and I paid my dues. Is there a point to all of this?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. You see… Every single time you were arrested, your friend Jon was right there with you. Now you’re back in town and all of a sudden, you’re getting involved with Jon again. Right back into the same kind of trouble.”

“Those men attacked me. I had nothing to do with it. Are you gonna charge me for getting abducted?”

“Those men had a motive and I’m trying to get to the bottom of it.”

She closed the folder and tossed onto the table in front of me.

“Cut the bullshit, Miss Roberts. I know you’re close to Jon. There’s no point in denying it. I have eyes on the Black Reapers.”

The tone of her voice was serious this whole time. But only now was I actually starting to worry.

“Admit it,” she said.

“Admit what? That I’m close to Jon? Okay. I’ll admit it. I am close to him. He’s my friend. Just the other night, he fucked me. Is that what you wanna hear?”

She stood up straight and leaned forward across the table. Her eyes narrowed. I swallowed and held my ground, looking right back at her.

“Poor girl,” she said. “You have no idea what you’re getting into.”

She got back into her seat and leaned back.

“Those men are an offshoot gang,” she said. “They call themselves the Corps. An offshoot group of war veterans. My sources tell me they were working for the Chinese Triads but the Triads pulled the plug on their deal.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I thought you’d like to know why you were most likely attacked. The Corps are out of Ivory jurisdiction. They don’t make their home here, so they never have to deal with the cops. It wouldn’t be the first time a group outside of Ivory brought their business here though. Do you know why they brought their business here?”

The Black Reapers.

She already knew this had everything to do with Jon. I knew this had everything to do with Jon.

I bit my tongue, just staring at the woman as she sat with her arms crossed.

“You seem like a good person,” she said. “Leaving Ivory was the best thing that ever happened to you. Now that you’re back, I think it’s only fair to warn you.”

“Warn me about what?”

“I’m here in Ivory because of the Triads. That means I’m going to nail them and anybody they’re doing business with. I know the Corps is doing business with them and I know the Reapers are planning a deal with the Chinese, too.”

“If you know all of this, why don’t you do something about it?”

She leaned forward across the table, her eyes still locked on me.

“Because the Chinese are smart enough to let others do their work for them. If I can take down the people working for them, they’ll lead me right to the Chinese. The problem is… People like your friend Jon keep getting in the way.”

“What?”

“The Corps took you to some abandoned barn. Probably because your idiot boyfriend was chasing them the entire time. If he hadn’t, they would have taken you right to their home base. I would’ve been able to scoop them all up at once.”

I closed my eyes. I shook my head, trying to make sure I was hearing her right.

“They abducted me and Jon saved me—”

“He saved you and I didn’t get the answers from the Corps I’m looking for.”

“You saw what those men were about to do to me. They ripped my clothes off. They were going to rape me.”

Lieberman narrowed her eyes at me.

“You knew what you were getting into when you came back to Ivory,” she said. “Letting the Corps take advantage of you would be a small price to pay for finding their hideout.”

“You knew… You knew what was going to happen and you were going to let it happen.”

“There are other members of the Corps out there. Your idiot boyfriend and his club are about to start a war right here in the middle of Ivory and I’m trying to stop it.”

“I—”

“Do yourself a favor, Miss Roberts. Stay away from him. Stay away from the club. Keep your head down and do your job. I know you’re a good person who’s just trying to help. I’ve been in this town long enough. Ivory needs more people like you.”

I shook my head, still unable to get over everything she was telling me.

“What if I tell him?” I said. “What if I tell Jon what you’re up to?”

She stood up straight and looked down at me.

“BRIC already knows I’m watching them. They’re just stubborn enough to think they can get away with what they’re doing.”

There was a knock at the door. Lieberman waited a moment before answering it.

“Are you finished yet?” the officer at the door asked.

Lieberman turned to me and nodded.

“I’m done here,” she said.

The cop at the door walked up to me and escorted me out of the room.

“Right this way, Miss.”

I kept my head down as I walked through the police station. There were so many thoughts running through my head that I almost didn’t notice the man waiting for me at the front of the police station.

“Hey…”

I looked up and saw Jon smiling softly at me. I closed my eyes and sighed a deep breath of relief.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “You—”

“They don’t have anything on me. Let’s go home.”

Jon put his arm around me and started walking me through the exit. Just before we left, I stopped.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I slowly turned around. In the distance, I saw Lieberman standing there. She stared at me with her hands in her pockets. Even from across the station, her eyes were just as cold as they were in the room.

“Nothing,” I said as I turned back to Jon. “Let’s just get out of here. I’m ready to go home.”