Chapter 10

URIAH

For everything that Sanders looked like, there was no denying that he got his work done. There was no way he could survive in the department if he didn’t put his nose to the grindstone. Most people teased me about having him as a partner but there was no one else I’d rather have watching my back. He might not have been the fittest or the fastest. He was just the man I needed to get my work done.

And right now, he was showing everybody just what he was capable of. He sat at his desk. His eyes were locked on the computer monitor before him. All of the commotion around the police station wasn’t enough to distract him from the work he was putting in.

But there was one thing I could do to get his attention.

“Here you are, partner.”

I plopped the box of donuts on his desk next to him then took a seat at my own desk across from him. It took a few seconds before the sugar hit his nostrils. He blinked his eyes like he was broken out of his trance and turned toward the box.

“Partner,” he said with a big smile on his face. “You shouldn’t have.”

“I really shouldn’t have. That much sugar is never good for you.”

“I need as much energy as I can get if we’re going to get the evidence we need to bust this asshole. Don’t be too hard on yourself, Kennedy.”

He didn’t waste another second before opening up the box. His eyes lit up like he unlocked a box of treasure.

“Where do I start?” he said as he rubbed his hands together. “Jelly is always a good start…”

“I’m glad you’re in a good mood,” I said with a laugh.

“I’m not the only one. Donuts two days in a row. That’s awfully kind. Even for you.”

“I’m not in the best mood. But I’m in a better mood than I was before.”

I leaned forward across my desk.

“I got something,” I said.

“You got something?”

“Found out Rivera is coming here sometime next week. He’s setting up a deal with some distributors.”

“Is that right? And just how did you get that information? Lemme guess…”

He pointed at the bandage on my cheek that I’d forgotten was there.

“…You beat someone up, Kennedy?”

“I didn’t beat anybody up. I just asked someone in the know kindly for the information and he gave it to me.”

“I’m glad you asked him kindly because there’s no telling if this information is accurate.”

“If it’s not accurate, I’ll just go back. I’m sure he’s not interested in another visit from me.”

“I’ll bet…”

Sanders took a bite out of his donut and some of the jelly squeezed out of the other end. It didn’t deter him from saving every second he chewed on it. He took a few moments to swallow before raising his eyebrows at me.

“All right,” he said. “Rivera is coming here next week. You got a location.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head.

“You know who he’s meeting?”

“No.”

“Right… So our target is coming here next week. But you don’t have a location we can pinpoint and you don’t know who he’s talking to, so we can’t look into anybody else. That’s not much for us to work with, Kennedy.”

“But it is. You see, action is going to start ramping up in the West Bay once word starts to spread. Dealers will start getting as much as much as they before Rivera comes in and takes all of their action. The streets will be busy.”

“How does that help us?”

“I’ll talk to Lee. I’ll have her increase monitoring in the area. Any strange activity. We won’t know the exact location but we follow enough people, they’ll lead us right to Rivera. A man like him shouldn’t be too hard to find. Not in a city like Snow Falls and not in an area like the West Bay.”

I leaned back in my seat. Sanders still looked skeptical but he was in a good mood because of the new donut he was working on.

“Besides,” I said with a shrug. “We’ve got who we need to look for. That’s what you’ve been doing all day.”

I glanced at his computer monitor and saw all of the portraits that filled it up.

“Every known criminal residing in the West Bay is in there,” I said. “If Rivera wants anything to do with this town, he’s going to have to run his distribution through them. I doubt they’ll roll over, even for someone like him.”

Sanders put his donut down and wiped his hands off.

“Do you know how many mugshots and criminal sheets I’ve gone through today?” he said.

“I don’t know. Nearly a hundred, probably.”

“The West Bay is a real piece of work. It’s like all the criminal activity in this town is localized in one area. I guess it makes sense that a man like Rivera would head to a place like that.”

“Take everybody in,” I said. “Call them in for questioning. Ask them everything they know. Get the information we need. They’ll give us names. Numbers. Dates. Somebody’s bound to give us something.”

“First of all, I don’t think we have the manpower for that—”

“If Captain Lee is taking this case as seriously as she should be, she’ll do it.”

“Second of all, if anybody is working with Rivera, why would they bother spilling the details on him?”

“That’s just it. We’re not looking for somebody who’s working with Rivera. We’re looking for somebody who’s not working for him.”

Sanders chuckled and shook his head at me. He picked up a donut and held it out to me.

“Have you had breakfast yet?” he said. “Lunch? Sounds like your brain is running on no calories.”

“Listen. Rivera is coming in here and trying to control all distribution in Snow Falls. How do you think all of the other dealers feel about that? There has to be somebody who’s upset with him. All we need is one man to spill the details. One man who knows where Rivera is heading and who he’s dealing with.”

Sanders turned the donut he was giving to me into his mouth. He chewed on it like he didn’t want to say whatever was on his mind.

“You know, I’m right,” I said. “This is our only shot at getting to him.”

“All right,” he sighed. “If that’s what you think. Good luck convincing Lee to go through with something like that.”

“I’ll get on it right now. You can start prioritizing the men we need to work with.”

I got up from my seat and headed toward Captain Lee’s office. I gave it a knock. It took a few seconds before the voice inside told me to come in.

She sat at her desk and looked over her paperwork. She was as agitated as ever. I couldn’t blame her. With all of the things happening in Snow Falls, the older woman had her hands full.

“Kennedy,” she said as she looked up at me. “I didn’t expect an update on the investigation so soon. It’s only been a day. Then again, I put you on the case for a reason.”

“I’m glad you have faith in me.”

“What did you find?”

“Rivera is coming to Snow Falls next week. He already has his product in the city but him coming here means he’s looking to ramp up production quickly.”

“Interesting. Go on.”

“I don’t know who’s working for him. And I don’t know where he’ll be. But if I can just bring the right people into the station for questioning, I can get the answers I’m looking for.”

“What are you asking me for?”

“There are a lot of potential suspects. I’ll need a lot of resources. If I’m going to get answers, I’ll need most of the police force to start bringing people in.”

I clenched my jaw. It was a risky idea. Telling Sanders was one thing but explaining it to Captain Lee was another.

She got up from her seat and gave me a confused look.

“Let me get this straight,” she said. “You want to use the entire police force to question every known criminal in the West Bay?”

“If we don’t find who’s working with Rivera, we’ll find a rival.”

It was rare to see the captain smile. When she did, I knew that I was on the right track.

“Do it,” she said.

“Thank you.”

I nodded and turned around to leave.

“Kennedy.”

“Yes?”

She had her back turned to me, looking out the window with her hands behind her back.

“Don’t let me down.”

“I won’t,” I said.

I headed back to my desk. Sanders was busy with one hand on a donut and another on his keyboard.

“What’d she say?” Sanders said.

“She said it’s okay. We’ve got the resources we need to start cracking down on everybody. Somebody’s gonna spill the beans.”

“Good, good. You know, even though we’ve got a plan, this thing will still take awhile. It’s a good chance for you to take a break.”

“Take a break? We’re on the right track. We’ve only got a week to figure this thing out.”

“A week is a long time. There are a lot of people to go through but it shouldn’t take that long until we get our answers.”

“There’s no point in waiting. Why don’t you send me some of those files so I can get to work?”

I got busy making notes on all of the mugshots and criminal records of every man who’d done something in the West Bay. Even though the department didn’t police the area as often as we should’ve, we still kept tabs on everybody.

A few hours went by that I didn’t even realize how late it had gotten.

“Kennedy.”

A hand on my shoulder made me jerk. I looked up and my partner stood over me.

“You’ve been at it for hours,” he said. “Why don’t you go home already? Don’t burn yourself out on this.”

“I’m fine.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want to see my partner killing himself before the real questioning starts.”

“Right, right. Just let me take a couple more notes.”

The office in the station was a lot quieter during the evenings even though there were still some people working.

I sorted through the criminal files when the next mugshot came up on my screen.

I looked into his eyes. I couldn’t help but stare at him. There was something about him. His eyes. His face. Everything about him. Something that I couldn’t shake.

“Why does he look so familiar?”

I closed my eyes and whispered the words to myself. Suddenly, my phone vibrated on my desk.

I looked at it and saw the message from Bryce.

“Hey. Don’t mean to bother. You know what time you’re coming over for dinner?”

I stared at the message and immediately forgot about everything I was doing. I couldn’t help but smile.

A sudden hunger rumbled in my stomach. I couldn’t get out of my seat fast enough. Everything else could wait. Dinner with Bryce was the only thing on my mind now.