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“A new one, yes. The department has good leads, Ms. Dall. The lieutenant is very worried about you, and he’s doing everything he can to find the captain.”
“And what are you, my babysitter?”
“For the next four months until probation is up, I’m whatever the bosses say I am, no questions asked.” He puts his hands up, and my frustration triples.
It feels like being on the phone with customer support for hours, handed to five different reps and going in circles. Ihavethe answer. Itrustthat silver fox despite having only met with him twice in my life.
Fuck!
I kick snow and stomp back to the front door.
“Where are you going?” Jacob asks.
“To do what Uncle says and get some goddamn rest,” I lie.
When I’m back in the house, I pull off my boots and toss them angrily on the floor, then rush upstairs to my father’s room. Ignoring the tape, I look for his work laptop I used to scour when I was obsessed with going into forensics. It had built-in databases that he downloaded periodically. As long as I don’t search online, the department won’t know that I’m snooping around.
Pulling open his drawers frantically before babysitter Jacob comes back inside, I stumble upon it and slip back into my room.
Aros would never talk to me again if I led Jacob near his house, so I have to let the nerves settle, and in the meantime? I’m doing my research.
Using my phone to Google all the known current bratva bosses, I narrow down to those who’ve been linked to crimes in Jersey, then start scrolling through Dad’s database. Yuri Patrovski seems to be the main player in New York, withbrotherhood associates calledbrigadiersrunning Jersey. There are two of them. Aleksandr Sokolov and Nikolaj Vikyav.
The farther I dig, the more horrified I become. Human trafficking, murder, drugs, torture. These are the darkest of the dark. Their files are limited and a few months outdated, but Aleks was last seen funneling in women to a local strip club in south Jersey. And Nikolaj runs a ring of underground casinos all over the state.
What the hell am I going to do with that? I’d stick out like a sore thumb anywhere near those places.
Pulling at my hair, I scoff and slam the laptop shut.
Dad…
I squeeze my eyes tightly closed, feeling the scratchiness of dried, cried-out eyes.
If he’s right and the cops are on the wrong trail, Aros is my only chance.
Hours go by. Over and over again, I open the laptop, research the locations of the two brigadiers and their past crimes, and count down the minutes I can make a run for it. He’d be suspicious and more likely to follow me if I broke away after dark, so I have to lay staring at the ceiling the entire night until the next morning.
I don’t even remember if I got any sleep—that’s how delirious I am. But I’m determined. Even if my joints ache, I’m going to get my ass up and get to Aros again.
While bundling up, I smirk at the sight of another pair of fuzzy dog socks in my drawer. Butterflies shoot around my stomach when I think of him commenting on them. It’s brief, and overwhelmed by angst, but the way his angry eyes soften once in a while helps me cope. There’s something in there worth chasing—a goodness. He’ll help me.
When I find the time to sneak over to his house, I notice there are no footsteps where the fresh patches of snow fell.Ringing the bell and clamping on his doorknocker confirms it. He’s not there.
I check the shed… then the guest house… and nothing.
At a loss, I run out of the walkway and take the long way around the street. I’m a prisoner in my own body. Frustration makes me want to sprint a marathon until I collapse. My uncle won’t listen to me, Silver is nowhere to be found, and my father slips farther and farther away.
When I return to my house, another rookie is on shift. This one prefers to sit in his car right out front. He’s not as frightened as Jacob, but he’s plenty standoffish. Probably because he wants nothing to do with dealing with the captain’s daughter.
Works both ways, buddy. I want nothing to do with you either.
Come dinner time, exhausted from anxiety and lack of sleep, I pass out in my bed.
Chapter 6
Arosso
Why am I here right now?