Ten

The dinner with Sue and Seth was nice. And simple—Leah liked simple. Leah appreciated simple. Simple meant no drama; it meant she could enjoy a home-cooked meal after a long day at work and have to stress over a damn thing. Even if it was only for a little while. The break was worth it.

Leah's mother was being her usual supportive, pleasant self. Seth was being Seth, rambling about video games, college graduation, and his plans to take next year's police exam. For once, Leah didn't grill him about his career path; to be honest, she gave up trying to convince the man not to become a cop. Seth could be just as stubborn as she.

The subject of Sam and Emily would not come up until Seth left the house to hang out a friend's house. He wouldn't be back for another couple of hours.

"I still have no words," Sue remarked over a cup of tea.

Leah's gaze dropped to her mug. She sighed and took a long sip of the hot drink. This was a conversation she wanted to avoid, especially with her fatigue rearing its ugly head, but she knew she couldn't back out of this. She had promised her mother she would walk. "It is what it is," she said with a shrug.

"So blasé?"

Leah looked up and pressed her lips together, a little peeved about her mother's comment. But perhaps, Sue was right. This situation with Sam and Emily couldn't be glossed over. It was serious; it had grave implications. She should be pitching a fit and yelling at the top of her lungs, cursing Emily and Sam to Hell and back—But she was sick and tired of being angry.

She already had her moment, at the restaurant, at her home; she was positive that if Emily and Sam didn't get the picture then, they certainly did now.

She still hadn't heard from Sam.

Or Emily.

"I know you have your reservations, but I think you both need to see a professional. Together," Sue suggested taking injecting her herbal drink. She set the mug aside. "Someone who can provide sound advice."

Leah frowned. "You can't just do it?"

Sue softly scoffed. "I admit I've never been in your situation," she said. "I fear I may have actually pulled the trigger. See, darling, I don't think I'd be much of a help."

Leah gave her mother a half-smile. "It took a lot of willpower not to do it," she said. "And the fact that I didn't want to go to prison, become a felon and lose my pension. Not over him."

"Not over a man. Never over a man," Sue quietly agreed, shaking her head. "It's not worth it."

"Exactly—That wasn't my best moment."

"Perhaps not. But I suppose your actions reminded Sam not to take you likely." Sue shrugged. "Someone people need the push…"

"Yeah, I guess."

"I can ask Max to move around some seats for the reception," Sue offered. "I'm sure he'll understand, given the circumstances."

Leah's eyes widened. Oh, right. The wedding and it was only a few days away. Damn it, sometimes, Leah wished she didn't have to go, but it wouldn't be right, and in her opinion, neither was Sue's suggestion. "No," she told her mother, shaking her head. "No, no, please don't. Look, I know how weddings are, and the last thing Max or Stephanie needs is a seat change request."

Sue was skeptical. "You're okay with sharing the same table as them?"

"I'll be fine. Honest," Leah insisted with a dismissive wave. "I work in Homicide. I deal with uncomfortable situations involving uncomfortable people all the time."

"But nothing as personal as this."

Leah couldn't come up with a decent comeback.

"I'm not even concerned about you. Not even Sam," Sue continued. "I think you both can control your emotions when the opportunity arises. But Emily… you know she has an impulsive side to her. I don't want anything to… hit the fan at the wedding. It wouldn't be fair to the bride and groom."

Leah nodded. "I think she's genuinely sorry."

Sue snorted into her cup of tea. "I think she's genuinely sorry she got caught," she told her daughter. "If she were sorry, then she would've stopped this foolishness years ago."

"Mom—"

"Tell me, if you didn't catch them in the act, do you think they'll ever clean?"

"Sam, no," Leah quietly admitted, though it hurt her to do so. Sam was never the type to come completely clean, especially doing so would put him bad light. "Emily, maybe."

Sue nodded. "Exactly. Impulsive, that girl is." She sighed. "I cannot believe this. Of all people to be with, she chose your husband. My niece. I'll forever love her, but she's—Did you speak to Sam about this?"

"I didn't give him time to talk."

"Do you want to work on it?"

"The marriage? Mom, Emily's pregnant," Leah said, batting away the tears forming in her eyes. She was tired of crying over that man and that woman. "What is there to work on? It's not like she and the baby are going to disappear. Sam's not going to ignore his child; he's not like that... There's always going to be a constant reminder of what they did, and I don't think I can handle that."

"You know what's fucked up about this entire situation?" Leah asked though it wasn't much of a question. "I still love him. I still have a sliver of hope that he'll find the light or some shit. That he'll leave her, forget about her and come back into my arms. Only mine… That we can get past all of this."

When Jacob gave her a doubtful look, Leah scoffed at her lofty, perhaps irrational wishes. "I know it's complete bullshit. I know I should move on with my life—"

"There's plenty of fish in the sea," Jacob interjected, leaning back against the restaurant booth. The pair were having a quick brunch at a Pakistani restaurant on Devon Avenue before heading back to work. "Plenty."

"Well, maybe I should spend some time by myself. I don't need to be in a relationship to live my life," Leah said. "And anyway, I need a divorce first before getting involved. Because I actually stick to my vows."

"He's an idiot," Jacob remarked. "A goddamn idiot."

Leah looked down at her plate of food. "Yeah…"

"Are you going to…?"

"Get a divorce?" Leah finished. She sighed before taking a bite of her meal. "I think it's for the best. I—" She bit her lip. "That baby. That baby is going to be a constant reminder for the rest of my life. I don't think I can handle it. I mean, we can never go back to how it was before."

Jacob took a sip of his coke. "Yeah, you really can't."

"What about you?" Leah asked.

Jacob almost choked on his drink. "Huh?"

"Your divorce," Leah clarified, breaking off a piece of naan bread. "How did you know it was time? What did you do about it? Did you fight it?"

Jacob didn't say anything. Instead, he reached out for his second sandwich of the meal, chicken chili paratha (best thing since steak, he had declared), took a couple of bites, and washed it down with his soft drink. He then pushed the plate aside and crossed his arms, frowning deeply at the table.

Sensing her partner's discomfort, Leah regretted bringing up the subject of Jacob's previous marriage. He never talked about it, only mentioned it a few times with vague details. "Look, Jacob, you don't—"

"There was an assignment a couple of years back," Jacob said. "Undercover. I had to infiltrate a sex ring— fucked me up bad. I spent four months working with a sadistic pimp..." He trailed off and shook his head. "He and his friends did things, and—" he stopped to clear his throat. "I was a mess afterward. Was forced off the streets and onto desk duty for the rest of the year. I hated it. I understood why I had to, but I hated it, and I got frustrated and..."

Leah gave a stiff nod. Jacob didn't have to explain himself any further. "You don't have to…" her comment stall at the sound of Jacob's exasperated look. Leah swallowed before finishing the rest of her masala chai.

"Monica was a wonderful woman, is a wonderful woman. Seriously everything I've ever wanted. But everyone has a limit, and I with this job was testing hers. After a while, she couldn't take it, and she gave me the papers… Plus, I didn't tell her about me."

Leah almost choked on her bread; she washed it down with more tea. "What?"

"I know I should've. It was a stupid and cowardly move on my part, but I didn't want her to think that I was some freak." Jacob confessed. "She was superstitious like that, extremely religious at times... I don't think she wanted to deal with a shape-shifter. But one night, I had to go on a run with some friends out in the woods in Wisconsin, and when I came back, I don't know why, but I abruptly shifted, and—"

"I'm guessing she didn't take it well."

"Slight understatement."

"I'm sorry."

Jacob seemed sorry as well. "She promised not to say the word just as long as I sign the papers without a fight."

"Did you want to?"

"No."

"You didn't have a choice?"

"It wouldn't have been fair to her," Jacob quietly said. "I had already put her through enough."

Later that afternoon, Paul called the detectives into his office.

At this rate, Leah was convinced that by the end of the month, she was going assigned to two different captains. At least, her actual captain had been a good sport about it; Paul must have convinced him with some incentive—Jacob thought so, as well.

"I'd thought you'd want to speak to Riley Biers before I have to let him go," Paul told Leah and Leah when the pair reached his office door.

"Let him go?" Leah asked.

"He's been here for a while," Paul explained. "You know I can't keep him in custody without good reason. And he still doesn't have a lawyer."

"I thought you got him to talk?" Jacob asked.

"Oh, I did. But unless you want to charge him for aggravated assault because he attacked a cop, which means the Deal will have to be involved—"

"We get it," Leah said. "Let's talk to the guy."

"Sure thing," Paul said, jerking his head in the direction of the interview rooms. "Now, if you can connect him with your case, I'll get to keep him for a bit without the chief or Jenks having a conniption. The Dahlia case is still a hot one. They'll have no issue relaxing certain protocols if we have a damn good case."

"Understood," Jacob said. "Have he been fed with, you know?"

Paul scoffed. "Who do you think I am? An amateur? Of course, I fed him. The last thing I need is a supernatural incident because I didn't give him some blood. Synthetic blood."

Leah looked at her partner and then at the captain, both puzzled and disgusted. "What is this, True Blood?"

Both men laughed.

"Good morning, Mr. Biers," Paul sang as he entered the interview room with Leah and Jacob. He stopped to adjust the lighting to fit the vampire's need. After, he faced the perp with that damn smirk that would have infuriated Leah if she was on the other side of the law and cocked his head in the direction of the detectives. "Remember these folks?"

Riley didn't respond, only narrowed his eyes.

Leah and Jacob took their seats while Paul remained standing at the door. He wasn't going to stay here for long—an interesting turn of events for a captain who loved sitting in interrogations.

She took out a pen and paper and folded her hands. Jacob didn't pull out a notepad, for he was too busy engaging in an intense glaring contest with the vampire. Despite his quick recovery, Jacob still too thrilled about facing the same man who had shot him with a silver bullet.

She wondered if Riley was still sour about her putting a bullet in his knee.

"Yes," Riley finally said, transferring his glare to Leah. So, he was mad about the shooting. If he were any other man, Leah would have cut him some slack. But he was a criminal. A man, a vampire, who thought it was a good idea to attack two cops. She would feel sorry for him.

"Talk," Paul ordered.

Riley lifted his chin into the air. "I have nothing to say," he declared.

Leah and Jacob exchanged a look.

Paul didn't like the answer. "You were singing last time," he said. "Wouldn't shut up. What changed?"

Riley's glare shifted to the captain. "I'm not afraid of you. Any of you. I did my talking, and that's it."

"You did your talking for me," Paul pointed out. "But not for these detectives. Ain't that right?"

"Exactly right," Jacob said, smirk growing at the man's irritation. "So, he's the deal: you either cooperate, or you spend the rest of your immortal life in Alcatraz. You see, attacking a couple of cops with a violet weapon will get you some time.

Leah made a concerted effort to conceal her confusion. Alcatraz? That prison was closed years ago.

Riley snorted. "You mean Arizona."

Okay, Leah knew about Arizona; the state was currently housing a correction facility that technically didn't exist. It was a standard prison for those not considered humans, located in the middle of the desert, one mile deep. Ninety-nine point nine-nine percent of taxpayers were unaware of its existence, and it would be best to keep it that way.

The prospect of being sent to "Arizona" didn't seem to faze the vampire.

Paul took a step forward. "He meant Alcatraz, and you know they won't feed you the good stuff. They'll force you into the light; force you real food. Human food. Meat all cleaned up with not a speck of red in sight. You'll starve, and no one would be blamed except for yourself."

The way Paul made it sound, Alcatraz would be torture for the vampires; vampires couldn't stand the light or the thought of never having blood again. Was this right? Was this legal? It had to be a violation of the 8th Amendment, speaking cruel and unusual treatment. But maybe, it could all be a bluff; after all, this was an interrogation.

But Paul wasn't known for bluffing. He usually meant every word he said; a blessing and a curse.

"The choice is yours, Riley," Jacob added with a nonchalant shrug. "All yours."

"Fuck you," the vampire spat.

The room fell into a tense silence with Jacob and Riley engaging in a glaring-contest, Leah carefully watching them both, and Paul was still standing in front of the closed door. Paul eventually broke the silence. "If you know what's best for you, Mr. Biers, you'll cooperate. We're not like the others—"

"I know that," Riley grumbled, crossing his arms and wrinkling his nose as he slumped down his seat. He reminded Leah of a spoiled child in the midst of a passive-aggressive tantrum.

Paul nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Good." He turned to the detective. "I'll be back in a few. You good with him?"

Jacob's smirk didn't falter, and that didn't escape Leah's notice. He knew something. He had something on Riley, and only he (and possibly Paul) knew about it. She nodded at the captain.

As soon as the captain left the room, Leah turned to Riley. "So, how about it?"

"You shot me," Riley snapped.

"And you shot me," Jacob returned. "First."

"I was just doing my job."

"So was I," Leah told the vampire, giving him a pointed look. "Consider yourself very lucky that backup didn't arrive. You'd ben in a completely different situation."

Riley grunted.

"But we're not here to talk about that night," Jacob said. "Heck, for the time being, let's believe that night ever happened. I'm all healed up; you're still…" He gestured towards Riley. "Functioning. So, let's turn a new leaf."

Rolling his eyes, Riley scoffed, "I'm not a dumbass. I know what game you're playing."

"Which why you're still here, and not in the pits of Cook County, in the process of getting shipped out west," Leah said. "Because we know you're not a dumbass. And we know you're smart enough to know that Alcatraz can be a very viable place of residence in the new future, depending on your response."

That seemed to set Riley straight.

"What you do want from me?"

"Information on the Chicago Dahlia case," Jacob said.

Riley raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Oh, come on, Riley, I know you've heard about that case," Jacob said. "Everyone's heard about that case."

Leah decided to refresh Riley's memory by pulling out a photo, Jessica's mutilated body in color and all, and slid it across the table, resting just a couple of inches away from the young man. "Her," she said. "Jessica Stanley. A human. Murdered on her twenty-fourth birthday at LaPush."

"I had nothing to do with that," Riley quickly said, diverting his gaze from the explicit photo.

"That's not what we want to hear," Jacob warned him.

"Look, I already told you. I didn't do it. I wasn't there. Fuck, do you think I wanted her to die?" Riley said. "She was a human, damn it. Killing her violated the terms of the Deal."

"And shooting a cop isn't?" Leah argued.

Riley pointed at Jacob. "He's not a human," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Therefore, fair game."

Leah gave the young vampire a flat look.

"What do you know about her murder?" Jacob asked.

"Nothing much. I wasn't there," Riley said, glancing at the photo. He grimaced. "Didn't even know the girl."

"The last time we had met," Leah said. "You mentioned you and your people patrolling that particular warehouse, right?"

Riley swallowed. "Right."

"She was there," Leah carried on. She pulled out another photo of Jessica standing in the middle of the warehouse with several men and large crates with light, suspiciously seeping out of the wooden crevices. "Some time back. Since this warehouse belongs to your boss, I can assume that someone knew about this. Someone knew about her."

Riley wanted to contest everything; Leah could see the resistance in his eyes, but then he relented. Sitting up in his chair, he leaned over, cursed under his breath, and then pointed at the photo, his finger tapping on the shape of a shadowy figure—a man.

"Him," Riley said. "She came with him."

Leah picked up the photo and examined it before handing it to her partner.

"Got a name?" Jacob asked.

"You should know him," Riley said. "He recently offed himself. Allegedly."

"Name?" Leah pressed, writing into her notepad.

Riley huffed. "Demetri."

Leah swallowed her gasp. Oh, no wonder Paul had thanked her for bringing Riley to him. That man might only be a soldier, a mere associate, but he knew some shit. Some valuable shit.

"You said, allegedly," Leah said. "You don't think he killed himself?"

"Ha! That motherfucker?" Riley let out an incredulous grunt and shook his head. "He's the most narcissistic person I've ever met, and I work for Victoria. He'd never kill himself. Someone got to him."

"Who?"

Riley was finally beginning to relax; that boded well for the detectives. "Don't know."

"Do you have an idea?"

"Well, it gotta be a rival, right?" Riley said with a shrug. He did that a lot, Leah observed. "Maria fucking hated his guts because some drama centuries back—she's in charge of the Velasquez cartel."

"Also known as the Mexican coven," Jacob added.

Riley nodded, seemingly impressed that Jacob knew that. "Exactly." He shrugged again. "And then there's the Cullen's; they hate the Volturi with a passion. But my money's on Tanya."

"From the Denali's," Leah verified.

"Correct."

Leah called for an aside.

"Retaliation."

Jacob ran a hand down his fan and nodded. "Yep."

"Tanya must have thought that the Volturi had something to do with Sasha and Vasili's murder," Leah suggested. "I wouldn't put it past her to put on a hit like that."

"But why would the Volturi want Vasili and Sasha—" Jacob stopped. His eyes widened. "Vasili."

Leah cocked her head. "I'm not following you…"

The corner of Jacob's mouth slowly lifted. He had a plan, he was silently telling his partner. Just follow his lead. "Let's go back inside."

Leah nodded, not entirely sure was going on, but she trusted Jacob enough not to question his every move. When the detectives returned to their questions, Jacob was the first to speak, "What do you know about Vasili Denali?"

Riley shrugged. "Not a damn thing," he said. "Except that he was a baby."

Leah slowly nodded as she jotted down in the information she already knew. "Vampires make babies?" she asked. "How is that possible?"

Riley grimaced. "I'm not too sure myself."

"Did your boss have a problem with it?" Jacob asked. "About vampires making immortal babies? I'm"

Riley snorted. "She couldn't give a rat's ass."

"Did the Volturi?"

"I don't know. Maybe? Look, all I know is that the Volturi has a set of rules. Like a vampire code, and they take that shit seriously."

Leah made a note to tell Sam about this information. They might not be talking to each other on a personal level, but they did have a professional obligation.

Jacob seemed satisfied with the vampire's answer. "Okay, let's go back to the main purpose of our conversation. Jessica Stanley, the warehouse, and Demetri—how did you know about this meeting?"

Riley hesitated in his response. "I was there," he eventually admitted, shifting his attention from the detectives to the photo of Jessica.

"You attended it?" Leah asked.

"I'm just a guard," Riley insisted vehemently. "I wasn't a participant."

"But you saw them both," Jacob verified.

"Yep, from start to finish."

"Can you explain their behavior towards each other?" Leah asked.

Riley shrugged. "They were fucking," he said without any doubt. "You can practically smell their lust rolling off of them."

Jacob and Leah exchanged a glance. That certainly added credence to Leah's captain's suspicions: Jessica was playing on two different teams, who despised each other.

"What else can you tell us about them?" Jacob asked.

Riley's focus remained on the photo. She was new to the game."

"How do you know?"

"She didn't know shit," Riley said with a snort. But it was clear that he wasn't mocking Jessica, just the entire situation. "Demetri was explaining every little thing to her. About the codenames for certain products and actions. And how to conduct deals. It was like a goddamn training session."

"She worked for the Cullen's."

"From what I've heard."

Leah cleared her throat. "And Demetri was helping her?"

"As I said, they were fucking," Riley said. "She was so stupid. Eating up all of Demetri's usual bullshit. She didn't know the fuck she was doing or who she was doing. She was fucking human—" His eyes flickered to Leah. "No offense."

"None taken," Leah said. Her hand made a circular motion. "Please continue."

"Like I said: I don't know much about her. But the Cullen's and the Denali's never hire humans. It's too fucking messy. They ask too many questions. Get into too much trouble..." Riley paused for a dry cough. "So, I don't know why she's there."

"Maybe she was special?" Leah offered.

"Her? Special?" Riley scoffed and shook his head. "If she was special, she would have been turned already. She was never going to get turned, not by one of us. Not by the Cullen's and definitely not by the Volturi. We have standards."

"Nice to know that you do," Jacob remarked, deadpanned. "So, why would a boss let a human like her get involved?"

Riley shrugged.

"Think," Leah implored. "If you were the boss, why bring in a human into your affairs."

"If I was a boss..." Riley sat up in his seat. "Hey, she was hot."

Leah wanted to throw her notepad. "You've to be kidding me."

"Oh, come on, isn't that motivation enough?"

"You're telling me what you would employ a human only if she were hot?" Leah shook her head. "Really?"

"It can be an incentive," Jacob commented, seemingly not surprised by Riley's remark, much to Leah's surprise. "Hot girls make a good incentive."

Leah shot her partner a look.

"Especially hot girls who know their way around a di—" Riley abruptly stopped when he caught Leah's harsh glare. He cleared his throat. "You know what I mean."

"Like who?"

Riley shrugged. "Dunno. I work for Victoria; she worked for the Cullens."

Jacob slowly nodded as he relaxed in his seat, studying the vampire. "I got a question," he said. "Why would they do this? Why cut this poor girl up?"

"How the hell should I know?" Riley threw up his hands. "I can't read minds."

"Give us your opinion," Leah said in a stern voice.

"Something like that: the cutting up and shit… It couldn't just be about her," Riley quietly said. "At least, I highly doubt it. If Demetri or whoever wanted her dead, they would've done it already and in a less bloody way. Unless she pissed someone off."

Leah jerked her head towards the exit, and soon exited the room with Jacob following right behind.

"Let's not put him away," Leah suggested, glancing at the closed interview door. Thank goodness, the rooms were soundproof.

Jacob gawked at his partner. "Leah—"

"I know I'm not like you with heightened senses or whatever," Leah said, "But I can read facial expressions. I can pick up the tones behind words. Riley's not like that. He's not fully committed to Victoria's cause. He just flipped in a way I've never seen before. Maybe we can use him?"

"For what?"

"Well, we don't have much for the Dahlia case," Leah said. "We don't even have a clear suspect besides Demetri, who's obviously out of commission; we need more information. Bringing any of them in is pretty much out of the question because—"

"Of the Deal."

"Correct. So, we have Riley be our C.I. because we need one, and we need one bad. You saw how quickly he flipped, and we've only threatened him with life in prison. I'm sure he'll be up some for two-timing. He may be useful for other cases. Once he gets a lawyer."

Leah knew Jacob wasn't entirely convinced, but he wasn't rejecting her idea. That was fine with her, especially moments later when Jacob let out a sigh and said, "Fuck it."

It was 5:00 pm when Leah received the notification that Riley, with his public defender by his side, accepted the terms of the deal.

She grinned at the message in triumph.

They got themselves a confidential informant.