Chapter 1
Deep breathes, Elizabeth. This is it.
I could feel my temple throbbing from the uptick in my heart rate. The pounding music certainly didn't help, but I couldn't be bothered to try and make heads or tails of what the club was playing over the loudspeakers. My eyes zone in and out of focus across the mob of dancers as I try to keep my cool.
I must have looked like I was on my last leg, because the bartender slid a shot glass in front of me with an encouraging grin. His eyes saying, 'Drink up. You look like you need it.'
And I did. But I couldn't - not right now. Not when we were this close. So I offered him a half smile as thanks and he went back to serving much more enthusiastic customers. I pushed the shot glass away and turned back to watching the crowd.
Immediately, I could pick out the others here with me. Howzer across the way, looking like one of the many frat boys here to party - ladies practically throwing themselves at him. I had to chuckle as he seemed to be both simultaneously flirting and trying to shoo them away. My eyes flicker to the second floor. There I find her. Looking down with her calm gaze was Veronica. A scowl on her lips as if she were too cool to be seen in a club like this.
Both of them able to blend so effortlessly into the crowd.
And here I was, looking like I was guilty of a crime.
Deep breathes… I reminded myself again even as I fight the urge to bang my head against the counter in frustration. I never quite had the patience for these kinds of operations.
This wasn't my first time in the field. But this was my case. This was the culmination of all our hard work paying off, and I couldn't find it in me to pretend like it wasn't a big deal.
We were about to take one of the city's worst up-and-coming drug gangs out of commission. Once and for all.
When I was first handed the case, it was nothing special. That's why they gave it to me in the first place. My supervisor believed it would be a simple, nothing too hard for me to handle and a good way to get my feet wet. A new drug was on the street but it hadn't yet gained any popularity amongst the populous. Just the normal gang bangers and the like, mostly. But it was killing people. That made it our concern. Faster than anyone thought possible, the distribution of the drug skyrocketed.
Making the case a lot bigger than anyone wanted me to be in charge of.
I had to do this right. One misstep and they would take it away from me.
"What's a lady like you doing in a place like this?" a confident voice cut through the music. A scowl immediately finds it's way on my face. This wasn't the first time tonight I had been hit on.
I rolled my eyes, "Working." I retorted rather abrasively. It was almost midnight. I was watching the back door under the stairs to the upper floor for my target. My green light that said the deal was on and our bust was a go. I didn't have time to entertain some drunk who thought he had a chance at getting laid.
"On what?" The man asked again, being a little too insistent for my liking. I turned with a rejection already primed - something sharp and degrading, when my words fell short. I recognized him from the poster hanging in the precinct. Or at least I recognized the contours of his face. The wanted poster didn't really do him justice. The age had been all wrong. The eyes too. But the underlying structure; I could see it. This man was wanted for the assault and attempted murder of three officers in my precinct.
But… could he really? The man offered me a crooked grin. It was charming. And his emerald eyes just danced with mirth. It was hard to imagine he was responsible for putting three heavily armed and trained officers into comas. Was I just projecting? No, my keen eye was never wrong. So why here? Why me?
Could he tell that I was a cop?
Those emeralds darted away from their stare-off with me and his mood shifted to disappointed, all before he took the shot I had refused, threw it back, then stood from his bar stool, "Well, it was a pleasure." He said haphazardly, then began to walk away.
What?! No! I can't let him leave!
"Wait!" I called out to him, before I even had a chance to think about my actions. This wasn't my job here. He wasn't my target, and I began to fumble over my words when he turned that charming crooked grin back on me again, "Wh-What's you're name?" I called. Anything… anything at all that would lead me to him later.
That grin spread like wildfire into a full on smile, "Maybe next time." He said, disappearing into the crowd.
Next time?
He was gone. No amount of searching seemed to help. And no sooner had I given up, did my attention catch the signal I had been waiting for all night. From across the bar, I could see my target slipping his way around the back of the dance floor towards the door underneath the stairs.
Already, Howzer to my left, and Veronica above me were on the move - so I shook the charming man from my head and quickly made my way through the crowd to rendezvous with them outside of the door. I reached under the hem of my skirt, pulling a small 10mm glock from the hidden holster on my thigh, holding it low as to not scare any clubbers who were watching.
This is it…
"Alright, the target has made contact." Veronica says softly, the music completely washing out her words, but Howzer and I had heard her perfectly clear.
Howzer pushed himself against the wall, Veronica taking the door knob in one hand and keeping her glock poised in the other. I stood just off the side, ready to take lead. We would go on Veronica's count of five.
That was, until we heard gunshots from behind the door - the bangs loud enough that the entire club went up into a frenzy behind us as we threw open the door, guns raised. "Freeze!" I shouted.
If the movies get one thing right, it's the chaos that ensues during a breach and clear. The flurry of people attempting to run and hide, the mad dash to get rid of evidence.
But the scene we were met with was a far cry from what we had expected.
Standing in the room, seemingly alone was a single man - the same man who had approached me at the bar - his arms raised above his head, and a rather calm expression on his face despite being surrounded by stacks of money on one table and carefully wrapped packages of drugs on another. A gun laid out amongst the money. Did he shoot? Where's our target?
I keep my gun trained on him as I order my team to, "Fan out and look for others. He can't be the only one here."
Howzer and Veronica swiftly carry out my orders. One taking the right, the other going left. It shouldn't take them to long to make sure everything was clear. Cautiously I step closer to the blonde man. What is he even doing here? Is this why he left so suddenly?
To many questions are spinning in my head. I can't seem to pin one down to put into words.
A smile works its way on his face as his eyes meet mine, "Long time no see."
