It might be a while between each chapter, but I'm not leaving this story! I'm still intent on finishing it, just letting you know, in case anyone was wondering.
BTW, I know I suck at making up names for places and people and such, I hope you readers won't hold that against me, and it doesn't distract from the story too much.
Just so you guys know: reviews make me write faster! ;-)
"How's Raven treating you?" Jinx handed Andy a slice of the apple she was slicing with her pocket knife.
Working with Raven, how to sum it up? Raven was not a talkative girl in the least. The few words she had exchanged with her the past few days had not shed any light to the organization, and had left Andy none the wiser.
She had learned much more from the evenings spent in the warehouse, surrounded by the other girls, who were much easier to read and a little more loose-lipped.
"It's fine."
The hardest thing was the wait. She knew she was gaining their trust; they had allowed her to meet more and more members of the group, and since two days ago she was invited to 'hang' with them during the day as well.
It was getting clear though that the initial two-week deadline of her undercover op would not be met, and Andy wasn't too sure how she felt about that.
She had talked it over with her handler Wesley on the phone yesterday. No pressure, but it would be great if she would dig a little deeper, he had said. According to him, they were close to mapping the whole organization.
Andy wanted nothing more than to complete this op with success; this would do wonders for her career and boost her reputation in the force. Her father's legacy and her suspension earlier this year weren't exactly selling points.
But she was starting to feel like she was playing three roles now: She was Leila, youthful delinquent, she was Andy; the perfect daughter, hardworking police officer who played by the book, and she was Sam's McNally, who followed each report with a private, unsanctioned second phone call to Sam.
She was now lying so much, it was getting hard to keep track of all the lies. And this all got her paranoid as hell, to the point where she hardly dared to close her eyes at night.
"Do you think you're ready to handle a little bit more responsibility?"
Oh yes, finally.
"Sure. Like what?"
Jinx took her time cutting another peace of her apple. "Just a little delivery job, tonight. You'll be tagging along with some of the girls. Keep you mouth shut and follow instructions. You think you can handle it?"
"I wish they'd sent me on this one." Jerry dropped a folder in front of him with a big grin on his face.
Sam inquisitively raised an eyebrow.
"If I'm right, they sent McNally to a new group called 'The Frays', a side branch of 'The Strays', a group of pain-in the asses punks we've been trying to get rid of for years. And get this; it's girls only."
Jerry's smile got wider, until his eye fell on his fiancée who was sternly sipping from her coffee, and his smile disappeared in a flash.
Jerry had convinced Sam to include Traci in their little off-the book research, if only to have someone (other than himself) to look trough all the files.
"Supposedly, they are like foot soldiers for the boys now, and growing fast. They recruit young girls from shelters and youth programs. Runaways, homeless girls; with no one to miss them."
Sam flipped trough the pages in front of him, only to find out the information they had on them was not much besides what Jerry had just told him.
Traci shifted uneasy in her chair. "They use the young girls as runners?"
"They raise less suspicion, and they can hide drugs in fake pregnant bellies and such."
To Sam's delight, Jerry stopped pacing back and forth and took an empty chair across him, and examined another file.
"What kind of threat do they pose exactly? Are we talking about burglaries and weed, or guns and smack?"
Jerry flipped the page, got wide-eyed and flipped it back quickly. He purposely fixed his eyes on the paper in front of him. "Until now, the only thing they're really credited for is pick-pocketing, shoplifting and all kinds of drug-trafficking and sales..."
Sam spotted the probing look Traci shot Jerry. She was really detective material, good at picking out the nuances; Andy had been right about that.
"But what?"
Jerry grunted softly, still avoiding looking directly at Sam.
"The Strays, and therefore the Frays, have been growing fast, encroaching on turf of some of the more hard-core guys. It's been noticed, and there have been retaliations."
What was it that Andy had been told again? Low risk? Bullshit.
"How bad is it?"
Jerry's eyes shot over the page. "It's really all speculation at this point; we don't have too much info on them yet. And I'm sure they're keeping McNally out of all the big stuff, with her being new and all. But there were a couple reported gun-shot victims that match their criteria. And... There've been four dead girls."
The air was damp and crisp; an aerie fog filled the air outside and completed the surreal mood Andy found herself in. What was she even getting ready for? No one had bothered to tell her anything. She had been given no time to get to a pay phone to call Wesley, so all she could do was send him a text while hiding in the toilet (which had no door lock and a putrid smell that got into your pores, Andy could so not wait to enjoy her own bathroom again), and hope they managed to get some backup for her tonight. They should be able to track the cell phone Andy was hiding in her sock.
Luckily, she wasn't the only one who was a little anxious tonight; Raven was actually showing signs of life and instead of practicing at being a statue, she had developed a nervous twitch in her leg.
Wesley had not given her any info on Raven yet, he was still searching records to identify her. Andy had the feeling there was more to her; maybe she could be a rich source of information, if only she could get her to warm up to her a little bit.
"Anything I should know about tonight before we go?"
"I think Jinx pretty much covered everything." Apparently, Raven was part of the inner circle; she and Jinx seemed pretty tight, and Raven always seemed to know everything that was going on.
"I just don't want to screw up or anything." That was true, just not in the way Raven thought. Sometimes while playing Leila she felt like being a rookie all over again; no clue what she was doing, and faking it while avoiding making huge mistakes.
"Just keep your head down, and keep your mouth shut. No problem."
Suddenly Carly was standing next to her. "Good advice. It's all lies if you don't, anyway."
What the hell was she doing here? Shit, she had totally forgotten about Carly, she was so wrapped up in her work here that she hadn't even thought about her the past couple of days.
Raven quickly left the scene, with a hint of a smile on her lips.
"So was this your plan? Keeping me from this place, so you could have it for yourself? Pretending to be my friend and stabbing me in the back?"
Andy mind started racing. How was she going to explain this? There was no way to rationalize keeping her away and then joining, not without blowing her cover.
"Carly, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that; I just didn't want to see you get hurt."
Carly stared at her with disgust. "You think I can't take care of myself? What do you think I've been doing since I was twelve years old?"
Andy grabbed her hand, but Carly pulled it away with a swift move.
"Trust me; this is not the place for you. You don't need this to get to LA."
She tried to show her how serious she was about this statement, but Carly was just too mad to get it.
"And it's okay for you? You know what, don't bother knowing me anymore. You're truly a bitch, Leila."
Out of nowhere, Raven's milky-white delicate hand grabbed Carly's shoulder and turned her around. Had she been listening in on their whole conversation?
"Now, now, language. We're all sisters here, sort of. You'd be smart to remember that, if you want to last here. But if you excuse Leila and me, we have urgent business to attend to."
"Thanks guys, for staying late to figure this out."
Sam massaged his temples. They had been at this for hours; rummaging through files and looking at maps, but he wanted to be on top of this. Thank god he had good friends and colleagues like this, although the appreciation would like reflect itself in his bar bill at the end of the month; he would owe a lot of people a few drinks by then.
But wasn't it worth it? He did not spend two years chasing a girl with a lion's heart, only to let her be trampled by outside influences when he finally managed to win a place in it.
"Aw, save it for the wedding speech man. But it better be a good one."
Sam let his gaze wonder again; maybe it was time to call it a night, there wasn't much more they could dig up anyway.
Somehow, the buzz on the floor overlooking their glass office seemed more busy than usual.
"What's that about?"
Jerry followed his gaze and slid back his chair, seemingly happy for a distraction. "I'll find out."
The look on Jerry's face as he came back a few minutes later, said enough. This was bad. Did he even want to know?
Luckily, Traci beat him to it. "What's wrong?"
" Division is seeking backup for a police involved shooting off' Finch Ave.; apparently, they disturbed a drug-deal, involving a group of young girls."
The street name was all too familiar; it was sprawled all over the pages before them. It was also dangerously near the last place he had seen her in the flesh. It wasn't a giant leap to assume Andy's new group of friends were involved, was it?
The question remained, was she? When they had spoken last night, she had given him no indication of anything exciting coming up. But it being undercover work, his own area of expertise, he knew things could change quickly.
Again, Traci beat him to the punch. "Any injuries? Or… Casualties?"
"There's a rookie in the hospital for a shot in the leg, but it doesn't sound serious. The girls got away, no trace as of yet. The officers said there was at least one girl hit, and there was a substantial amount of blood found at the scene."