Chapter Two

"How much do you think this place's going for?"

Leah glanced to her right to where fellow detective and dear friend, Aisha St. Pierre, stood as she checked out the interiors of their hideout location, equally bored out her mind. Two hours since the stakeout of the apartment across the street had begun, and nothing was happening. It was expected. As an abundance of caution, Captain Paul Lahote had arranged for everyone to be in their places hours before the fireworks began.

Perhaps "fireworks" was too strong of a word. It was only supposed to be a meeting between associates.

Leah sincerely hoped it was only a meeting. It was too late in the evening to be involved in a gunfight. She was tired. She was hungry and still a little peeved that the pack run had to be rescheduled because of the raid. Damn Paul and his insistence (albeit professional, and therefore, understandable) that the pack activities couldn't interfere with police work.

Leah pulled out a packet of gum, took one piece for herself, and tossed one at an appreciative Aisha.

"Three fifty large," Leah said, taking a break from the 'entertainment' from across the street to look around the living space. The detectives were situated in the middle of a luxury River North one-bedroom condo with a direct view of the equally luxurious apartments right next door. The apartment was amazing. Amazing size. Amazing layout. Amazing appliances. A place suited for someone who made helluva more money than a detective ever would. Unfortunately, the condo was also in between sales, so there was no incentive to keep the heat on. In the middle of January. In Chicago, of all places. "Easy."

Aisha popped her gum. "I could get a damn house out west for that price," she said. "I mean, this place is nice and all, but I'm not a fan of all this glass."

True, but the condo's obsession with glass did give the detectives an advantage. For some reason, none of the residents from both buildings seemed to believe in curtains, so one could easily look into the next building, which was why, after pulling some strings, Paul was able to secure this place for the night. The target was another condo apartment across the street, one floor below.

Sight was the only sense the detectives could truly rely on due to the perimeter glass panels being reinforced with quality sound-proofing material. Wonderful for the occupants' privacy, not so wonderful for those on surveillance. Even with Leah's heightened sense of hearing, nothing intelligible could be heard from the outside. The busy, noisy street below wasn't helping matters either.

"It gives the place a sleek look," Leah said, sounding as if she knew what she was talking about. She really didn't. Unlike her mother, Leah didn't watch HGTV hours-on-end. "But imagine tripping and falling through that thing? Look, I'm not trying to fall from several flights to my death."

"Thank you."

The detectives turned to each other, shook their heads, and shared a laugh.

"Is this what the great people of Chicago paying us for?" Aisha joked, holding out a hand for another piece of gum. "To talk about condos we can't afford while watching another apartment that got no one inside?"

"We're working, Detective," Leah reminded her friend with a wink. "We are working towards achieving the greater good."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah – Speaking of apartments, closed on that place yet?"

Leah shook her head. "I can't make up my mind." A borderline embarrassing admission; it had taken her three months to find a perfect Northside apartment, and now she didn't even know if she wanted to move out of her mother's house up in Evanston. "I have until next week to make the final decision."

Aisha wrinkled her nose. "Bad timing."

That was putting it lightly.

The timing was downright terrible. The next few weeks were going to be the busiest in months, as hard as that was to believe. And everything hinged on tonight's success and week's raid at a Volturi-linked warehouse right outside of the formally Union Stock Yards. Not far from the gruesome scene of the Slaughterhouse murders.

By the time this shitstorm blew over, Leah might not even have the brainpower to process a reality television show, let alone finalize on a new apartment.

"Why the hesitation?"

"The idea was living by myself…." Leah ran a hand through her hair. "I dunno, it's not as appealing to me anymore. I dunno. Maybe I'm just being a baby?"

"There's nothing with feeling that way."

Leah lifted her shoulder in a half-shrug. "I suppose."

There had been a time when Leah would have loved to live alone when all she wanted was to be left alone to her thoughts. Free of any distractions from others. Run her home her way without worrying about the needs of others. But now? She didn't know where the fear of being alone in the middle of the night came from. Maybe it was the nature of the investigation? The fact that someone nefarious could make a nefarious visit in the middle of the night and Leah would have to fend herself?

It was an irrational concern, really. Leah could take care of herself. She could use a gun or any sharp or hard object in her reach. Hell, she could even phase and maul down whatever or whoever was in her way.

"You can always stay at my place until you make a final decision," Aisha offered, finally taking a seat. She cracked open a can of Ginger Ale, took a couple of long sips, and told her friend, "I got a spare room."

Leah thought about it. She liked living with her mother and brother, don't get her wrong, but Aisha… she was also a great person to live with until Leah got her act together. Plus, her apartment was far closer to the police station than her mother's place up in Evanston.

But then, reality sat in.

"Yeah, so Tiffany can have a conniption all the way from the Middle East?" Leah shook her head. "She's an expert in multiple weapons and not afraid to use 'em. I'm pretty sure she knows how to use a damn drone, too. No, thank you."

Aisha let out a sharp laugh. "Girl, you're like a sister to me. Tiff knows good and well that I'm not into that incest-mess, so y'all be fine." She squeezed Leah's arm. "Hey, it'll be no problem. Seriously. Especially, with everything going on, who wants to be alone?"

"Speaking of your fiancée, when is she coming back?" Leah asked, adjusting her binoculars once again as she peered through the window. Still nothing. "For good?"

"They said March." Leah could hear Aisha rolling her eyes. "But you know how that goes. We still don't know if WWIII gonna happen. What a fucking year it's been, and we're only two weeks in."

"I hope the timetable stands. You got a wedding to plan for," Leah said with a smile. She was happy for Aisha, who, despite her claims, was initially petrified about the proposal and prospect of being married. "Still shooting for July?"

"My mom says that planning a wedding in seven months is pushing it, but who wants to wait until next year?"

Leah remembered those days. "There's always justice-for-the-peace."

"Like she's gonna allow that," Aisha said with a loud snort. "My mom's worse than yours."

Leah chuckled. "Yeah." She checked her work phone in case of a phantom text message she had somehow missed, indicating that there would be more to this stakeout than staring at an empty apartment. No such look. Leah pocked the phone. "Your mom, she good with… you know, everything?"

Aisha nodded and gave a reserved smile. "She's coming around… it's getting better. She has her convictions, and I have mine." She shrugged. "She'll be fine without another daughter-in-law." Aisha leaned forward with her binoculars out and let out a drawn-out, frustrated groan. "Are they gonna make a move or what? I'm not trying to stay in this cold-behind place for the rest of the night."

"La patience est une vertu, mon amie."

"Yeah, but it's been two hours."

Leah checked the time on her wristwatch. Two hours and seven minutes, to be more exact. "Rosalie says that a meeting's gonna happen tonight." Rosalie Hale was Rosalie Hale, but Rosalie Hale was reliable. When she wanted to be. "Of course, it would've been nice to have a more restrictive time-frame, but…."

"I can't believe we're listening to them," Aisha grumbled. "On an official basis."

Leah still couldn't either. "Like our fearless leader preaches all of the time: the enemy of my enemy is our friend. Face it, St. Pierre: we covered a lot of ground since the Cullens came on board in September. Don't like it either, but it's the truth."

Ever since the Olympic coven decided to somewhat cooperate with the Voldemort Unit, several members of the Velasquez cartel were in police custody, an Aufrentes hideout was scheduled to be raided, and there was somewhat of a plan to coax the Volturi out Moldova – it wasn't a perfect marriage, but it was progress.

All so that Esme could get away with Carlisle Cullen's murder.

And for the everyone in the Voldemort Unit could go on with their lives.

A means to an end.

"Damn, you sound more like Black each passing day."

"Well, he is my partner," Leah joked. "It's only a matter of time before his behavior rubs off me and vice versa." She stopped to chuckle to herself. "I hear he's becoming more and more cynical each passing day."

"How is he doing? With the cousin situation? It's gotta be awkward as fuck. I'm still surprised he hasn't been forced to recuse himself from the investigation. You know, with the whole conflict-of-interest issue."

"They don't exactly have a relationship beyond being blood," Leah pointed out. This had been a topic of discussion between Jacob and Paul for a while. Internal Affairs hadn't pitched a fit, and that was all that mattered. "Anyway, it appears that Fangs are the least of our problems."

"That's for damn sure. At least, they were smart enough to operate outside of Chicago. No longer our jurisdiction…though, they have to make a comeback, right? After what happened at Green Lawn? They're not gonna let that go."

Leah sighed. Based on their behavior the past couple of months, it appeared that the Fangs were indeed letting Green Lawn go. "It was a set-up, apparently," she said. "Colin knew about it but decided not to do anything about it."

"He pulled an Esme," Aisha concluded, shaking her head. "So, no dish of revenge on the menu? Gotta admit that's unfortunate for the deceased."

Leah gave a half-shrug as she maintained focus on the empty, barely-lit living room across the street. "He didn't protect Maria. So, I doubt it. She and the rest of them were just collateral damage, I guess. If Midway had worked out – great, if it hadn't – well, it is what it is."

"That's some cold shit."

"Just business." Leah glanced at her wristwatch once again, hoping an hour somehow passed by. It was only five minutes. "Damn, I wish someone would show up. It's already approaching midnight."

"See, what I mean? Maybe Maria's not stupid enough to make an appearance after all?" Aisha sounded hopeful, not that Leah could blame her. She wished for the same. "Maybe she finally understood the importance of laying low and keeping her nose out of this mess before she ends up in the ICU again?"

Maria.

Oh, Maria.

The gift that kept on giving with seemingly less appreciation for self-preservation than the Voldemort Unit's go-to medical examiner, Dr. Bella Swan.

Leah snorted. "She went viral because of this mess," she reminded the other detective. "You know she'll do anything to extend her fifteen minutes. You remember what happened after she left the hospital? She became a social media-queen virtually overnight, and has about the same number of followers on Instagram and Twitter than the lesser Kardashian sisters combined…."

"Nah, I think you mean the Jenners."

"Whoever – You know what I mean." Leah shared a chuckle with the other detective. "I still don't know how that's possible. A former teacher, now, turned into someone like that…"

"Well, posting a sex tape with a wanted hitman in a middle of a major criminal investigation is a damn good way to do it. Almost dying because of a cartel-linked assassin squad would definitely do it. Damn, we're in the wrong business. Do you know how much money we could be making now?"

Leah looked away from the window and shook her head. "I don't exactly envy her."

"Well, yeah, neither do I. Still hoping she gets a reality check, and soon. She's in enough trouble." Aisha adjusted her position on the hardwood floor. "Are you sure Rosalie said that Sancho's partner-in-crime's also gonna be there?"

"Yes."

"I guess we'll just have to see what type of mess she's gotten herself into yet again. Maybe she'll provide another justification to appear in front of a judge and actually be accountable for her actions."

As enticing as re-arresting Maria might be, tonight wasn't about her. Maria, a free woman without a murder conspiracy conviction due to a bullshit technicality, was on the target bucket list, but she had to be put on the back-burner for bigger fish.

No, tonight's target was Emilio Rosario, the man who could bring the Unit to Sancho-motherfucking-Alvarez for once and for all. The man responsible for the Green Lawn Ditch Murders, and allegedly the Stockyards Murders. The man who had mutilated the Chicago Dahlia's body. Who had been missing for the better part of 2019.

The stakes were higher than ever.

Tonight could not end in failure.

Leah and Aisha were a part of the lookout team, tasked with giving the rest of the team the signal to move in. A couple of guys were up on the roof, providing a pseudo-area view. A couple of more with on the ground, parked in inconspicuous cars. Some more were stationed inside the stairwell, one floor below the meeting place. Unfortunately, Jacob and Martinez were among them, armed, ready to make the next move, and—

They're fine, Leah kept reminding herself. They had all been in far more precarious situations, and no one was inside abandoned tunnels. There was no sign of the Children of the Moon. Or rival gang members. No gunfire.

Leah's anxious thoughts were interrupted by a text notification from Embry, who was back at the station on semi-desk duty due to a nasty ankle sprain caused while chasing down a Velasquez hench the night before. He would be fine, of course, but as expected, he wasn't too thrilled about witnessing the action from afar and limited participation in pack hunts and runs.

They said they're on their way, read Embry's message. He was following a phone tap with his unofficial protegee, a rookie who had enough potential for Paul to bring into this mess.

Leah told Aisha the news, who responded with a noncommittal noise, "'On their way' doesn't tell me a damn thing. 'On their way' could be ten minutes. Thirty minutes. Three hours." And before Leah could tell Aisha once again that Leah Clearwater was supposed to be the pessimistic one, Aisha switched to another topic, "You never told me how last night went."

Leah tossed her phone onto the small round table next to her and returned to peering through the binoculars, hoping for someone to make an appearance. "Are we seriously doing this right before the action begins?"

"Ha! What action?" Aisha took another sip of her drink. "So, any potential or another dud? Is there a double date in the future?" Her eyes lit up as a wide grin split her face. "What about a couples' retreat? You remember that place in Cali I was telling you about? I know the owner. I told you we can stay there for a week at half the price. It's quite literally right next to the ocean. The ocean. The Pacific Ocean. Not Lake Michigan, but an ocean."

Aisha had been talking about this damn couples' retreat for the better part of the year. Leah was semi-tempted to convince Jacob to tag along (and keep everyone's mouth shut about them being just friends) to appease Aisha and enjoy the California sun.

"I'm giving it another try," Leah said, gaze narrowing on the apartment across from her. A couple of seconds passed before she muttered a curse under her breath and tossed aside the binoculars. Nothing was happening. "First dates aren't everything, right?"

Aisha deflated. "So, it was bad." She shook her head. "Damn it, Leah."

"Now, you're putting words in my mouth." Leah unraveled another piece of gum and popped it into her mouth. After a few chews, she added, "I never said it was bad."

"You didn't have to."

Leah sighed.

Everything had been wonderful. The restaurant. The food (the New York Strip, cooked rare, was to die for). The guy was wonderful, too. Successful. Handsome. Not corny. But it was just—Leah felt bad. There was every indication that last night should have worked.

The problem was, it didn't.

"Maybe I should take a break from this…whatever?"

To be frank, Leah wished she could take a break from much of her life. Take a vacation somewhere without limited cell phone coverage. Maybe the mountains? Maybe some random island? Or perhaps she should take up Jacob's offer to camp out in the Washington wilderness for a few days?

Chilling in a tent and listening to nature's songs. Breathing in that non-urban, unpolluted, crisp air. Trying and absolutely failing at fishing. Having the ability to roam on all-fours without causing an incident. The chance of enjoying her day with limited to no cell service—

No, this wasn't the time.

It wouldn't be the time until March, at the earliest.

Aisha was skeptical. "A break?"

Leah nodded, slowly adjusting to the idea. "I mean, he was fine. They were all fine, except for that idiot who was still married with a baby on the way, but…." She shook her head. "I think the problem may be me – Oh, don't give me that look."

"I wasn't giving you any kind of look," Aisha quickly insisted. She placed aside her own pair of binoculars. "There's nothing wrong with being single. Or taking a break. For now. Or forever. I mean, come on, you've been divorced for what? Ten months? Not even a year." She blinked a couple of times and leaned forward. "Damn, it was that bad?"

"Nothing was bad," Leah maintained. "The food was delicious."

And the downtown location, overlooking a well-lit Navy Pier, was equally as wonderful. Not too crowded, but not deserted. The conversation was pleasant. Enough. Leah had never been good with small talk, particularly during the times between ordering and receiving the main course.

She explained this to her lookout partner and wasn't surprised at Aisha's disappointed response, "Whatever you say, girl."

Leah hated when Aisha said that.

"I just got nothing out of it. Not his fault. He was charming."

Aisha snorted. "Evidently not enough."

The jokes exchanged had been funny enough. He had a wonderful smile. And taste. In restaurants, in particular, which in Leah's book was a huge plus. He had a great job and an affinity for canines. No obvious red flags—She could see why Bella's matchmaker cousin was beating the drums for him.

Leah narrowed her eyes. "Aisha."

Aisha didn't blink. "Leah."

Instead of a reply, Leah leaned closer to the window to check out the street below. A black Cadillac Escalade rolled into a parking spot in front of the target condominium entrance.

It could be something, or it could be nothing. Could be an innocent resident, simply wanting to return home. But it had been the closest thing to movement the detectives had seen since the stakeout began.

Several minutes passed before the door to the condo apartment, the very one Leah and Aisha had their eyes on for the past couple of hours, was finally opened. The light was turned on. Three people entered the place: Emilio with a man assumed to be guards, another man, and noticeably, no Maria.

Seemed like the social media star finally decided to act on self-preservation.

Smart woman.

While Aisha reported the update over the radio, Leah's eyes remained on the sight across the street, holding her breath as an unidentified man and Emilio faced each other. Standing about a yard apart, body language equally tensed. Neither was happy to be in each other's presence.

Heated words were exchanged, and then the finger-pointing started. Soon, the unidentified man pushed Emilio. He pushed the unidentified man back with more force. The anonymous charged forward, then froze when Emilio pulled out his gun and calmly placed it on the table next to him.

Though the situation was heating up, Paul had ordered everyone to stand down. But the crew needed to move in before it got ugly. And just when the thought left Leah's mind, Paul announced the order.

As expected, the cops were met with a struggle. Fists were flying everywhere. One of the guys tried to pull out a gun but was quickly subdued by Jacob. The other willingly surrendered. Emilio had handed a nasty punch to Martinez's face, but he was quickly able to bounce back and slam the guard to the ground.

The commotion took all of ten minutes. In the end, all three men were arrested. Again. One of the cops stayed behind to pick up the discarded weapons and other evidence.

It had worked.

Leah ran a hand down her face.

"That's the end of that," Aisha declared with a clap. She finished the last of her soft drink. "Bring them in for interrogation, and then we can finally find that SOB and put this godforsaken case to rest."

Leah didn't respond. Instead, she blinked a few times and looked around, wondering if she had missed something. Wondering if this was all a trick. Like in the underground tunnels with everything going according to plan before going to absolute shit. She drew in a breath and held it for several seconds, expecting the worst, but nothing came.

That was it?

No, it couldn't be. Or maybe it could. Plans could be that simple: organize a raid, make sure everyone's in place, waiting for that perfect moment, then arrest the motherfuckers. Like it should be.

She turned to Aisha, who wore a slightly amused expression on her face. "You thought this wasn't going to end well?" The detective shook her head as she gathered her belongings. "Good things do happen to the Voldemort Unit. It may be far in between, but it does happen."

Of course, they do, Leah thought as she placed aside her binoculars and stood up with Aisha. She just wasn't used to good things happening, especially relating to this case. She was used to chaos, and dropping bodies. Not Emilio Rosario being led out of the building in handcuffs.

"…success," Leah heard Paul declare over the radio. He sounded just as pleasantly surprised and taken aback as she was.

The detective took her phone and scrolled through the messages. From the looks of it, Jacob was fine. They all were. She smiled and pocketed her phone before rolling her shoulders and letting out a sigh of relief. Finally, it was over, and now, they could go home. An actual successful event without any blood drawn or media attention.

Hell, it was about damn time.