Chapter 14

URIAH

If you had to judge Snow Falls based on just looking at Captain Lee, it could’ve gone one of two ways. You would’ve thought it was a city filled with crime and the one person in charge of policing all of it was constantly agitated because of it. Or you would’ve thought it was a town at peace with a police captain so intimidating, criminals were too scared to even breathe.

Right now, I wasn’t sure what to make of her. With the way things went down tonight, the only thing I knew for sure was that she was determined to finish what had been started.

“What happened in there?” she asked.

“Rivera was making a deal with one of the local biker gangs. He said he was setting up distribution and it would all start in two weeks—”

“Don’t leave anything out, Kennedy. I want every detail.”

I nodded. It wasn’t hard to remember.

“Rivera is trying to get a monopoly on distribution in the West Bay. It’ll take him two weeks to get everything set. Once that’s out of the way, he’ll start manufacturing. The gang he was talking to was promised 25-percent of everything they moved.”

“Twenty-five percent? That’s a substantial amount considering the monopoly Rivera is trying to get a hold of.”

Captain Lee stood up from her seat and turned toward the window. Her arms behind her back, she looked off into the distance. Even from this spot, you could still faintly see the smoke billowing from the explosion in the distance.

“I think it’ll be more than two weeks before he starts distribution,” I said.

“What makes you say that?”

“Because it looks like he just blew up one of his facilities. I imagine it’s a major setback for him.”

“But not one he can’t recover from. A man like Rivera doesn’t do things without having a plan B. He probably has a plan A to Z. Which is why we need as much evidence as we can get if we’re going to pin him down.”

“I understand, sir.”

“The negotiations with the biker gang. Everything you’ve told me is correct.”

“Yes. It was a short conversation before they spotted me.”

“And do you have the evidence of this conversation?”

I didn’t respond immediately.

Dammit.

I’d already lied to Sanders. Now Captain Lee was asking for information I’d already denied.

She turned around when I didn’t answer. An eyebrow raised at me, she didn’t hide how upset she was.

“No,” I said as I shook my head. “I don’t have anything.”

“Interesting. You didn’t think it would be important to record evidence of Rivera negotiating a deal with some of the locals?”

“The thought slipped my mind. I was distracted. I’ve been working on this case for a week—”

“Not good enough, Kennedy.”

She was surprisingly calm despite the circumstances. She didn’t need to raise her voice to get her point across.

“Rivera is out there. The gang he negotiated with out there. You didn’t record the conversation he had admitting what he was doing. And the facility where he planned on manufacturing his product was destroyed. No evidence. Nothing to pin on him. The clock is ticking but we’re still not any closer to him. The DA won’t be too happy to hear that, Officer Kennedy.”

“I know. But we are closer to him.”

“How do you figure?”

“Rivera is here in Snow Falls. I can get to him.”

“And what will you do when you get to him? Will you give him papers to sign and admit everything he was doing? Because nothing short of a signed confession will get a man like Rivera convicted.”

“I’ll figure out a way. Please, Captain. I can do this.”

Captain Lee sat back at her desk. She pressed her fingertips together and looked me up and down.

“I remember when I first saw you,” she said. “I thought you were just another overachiever from the academy looking for a cushy job. I quickly realized you were more than that. A young man capable of something greater. An example for the rest of the department. Someone who could really change this city.”

She smiled at me. The kind of smile that was hard to imagine on a woman who was constantly scowling.

“I still believe in you,” she said. “But you’re running out of chances to get evidence on this man.”

“If there’s a chance, I’ll get it. We can’t give up now. I’ve gotten this far. You have to let me go the rest of the way.”

“…Very well,” she sighed. “Keep me updated on your status with any new developments. Dismissed.”

I turned around and walked out of her office. As soon as I stepped out, I couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.

The office was mostly empty outside of the few cops working overnight shifts. I walked over to my desk and collapsed in my seat. Sanders sat across from me, munching on the remains of his leftover pizza.

“You know, they say the pizza in the West Bay is better than anywhere else,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t know what they’re talking about. Northside… Yeah, it’s better than the Northside. But you want the best pizza, you gotta go to the Southern Block. You know why?”

“Why’s that?”

“Because that’s where they really care about food. Even though it’s cheap, you can tell they put a lot of heart and soul into it.”

Sanders winked at me and took another bite out of his pizza. I was too tired to argue with him. I only had enough strength to laugh.

“I don’t know how you can talk about pizza at a time like this,” I said. “Most of our evidence just blew up in that warehouse. Rounding up all the thugs again and questioning them won’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Because now Rivera knows there’s a leak. It’s the only way I could’ve gotten to him.”

“You want my advice, Kennedy?”

“Sure.”

“Go home. Relax. Take a break. There’s no reason for you to worry about this now. There’s nothing you can do. What’s done is done.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It still bothers me though.”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked down at it. The recording was still on it. Rivera’s face was clear as day. All the evidence I needed was right here. The only problem was there was another man standing right across from him. A man that looked too familiar.

That has to be Cade.

“Why don’t you have a slice of pizza?” Sanders said. “It’ll make you feel better.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Come on! I know you’re hungry. You just survived an explosion.”

“I think you’re right. I’ll just head home and get a bite before I fall asleep.”

“That’s the spirit.”

I got up from my desk.

“Say, Kennedy. I need to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“When they spotted you, what happened?”

“I just managed to get out of the way before they started firing at me. I headed down the fire escape.”

“Right. And then what happened.”

“And then I got down and they were already gone.”

“No,” he said as he shook his head. “No, they weren’t.”

“…What are you talking about?” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

“I’ve seen you move. The warehouse wasn’t that big. If you were moving, I mean really booking it, you would’ve gotten down before they escaped. A chance to see Rivera get in his car or that gang get on their bikes.”

“What does that matter?”

“You have your piece on you, don’t you?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Why didn’t you try to stop them?”

Sanders was old. He ate too much. He seemed nonchalant about most things. But all of that added up to a man who was wise enough to figure things out.

I couldn’t tell him the truth. I couldn’t tell him that I thought I knew the man making the deal with Rivera. Not because of what it meant for Bryce but Sanders probably wouldn’t have believed me anyway.

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I guess my head hasn’t been in the right place. All of the stress of putting this whole investigation together—”

“Do me a favor. Starting eating more. Get more calories in your system and you’ll keep your focus where it needs to be.”

I chuckled at his suggestion and nodded.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said. “Bright and early.”

“Not bright and certainly not early. But tomorrow, sure.”

I headed out of the police station, my phone still in hand. Right now, the only thing that really provided me any comfort was Bryce. After spending a week with him, I was so used to him. Seeing him after every long shift always put a smile on my face.

Tonight was different though. Tonight, I had to take my work home with me.

“I’m coming over.”

I waited a few seconds before he finally gave me the response I was so used to seeing at this point.

“I’ll be waiting.”