Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

KIARA

A quick search of the office came up empty. There weren't even pens back here. Nothing but Dev's phone in his pocket. He protested when I took it from him, but otherwise sat silently scowling at the floor. There was a password on the phone and while I messed with it, I asked Dev a few questions.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know," he grumbled. He sucked in a breath, realizing how easily he answered me and tried again. "Who are you talking about?"

I ignored that. "I'm assuming he knew I'd come back here. That's why there's nothing in the office anymore. You were stupid enough to do business here where anyone could stumble on it. What's the haul? Drugs? Weapons? Where's the money coming from?"

"I don't have to tell you anything," he sneered. "You're not even a cop. Just a bounty hunter who decided to go after a mafia boss. You think I'm stupid, but what does that say about you?"

I tipped my head, considering him. He smelled human, and there was no one around to posture in front of to pretend if he wasn't. He didn't realize who he'd gotten involved with. Idiot.

"It says I know a hell of a lot more about him than you do. If you knew what I knew, you wouldn't be working with him. Are you still working with him?"

"I'm not saying shit."

I gave a careless shrug, turning the phone around to show him the screen. "You wouldn't believe how many people use the same few passwords for their devices."

He struggled against the cuffs, growling at me, but I ignored him, flipping through the pictures and information he had on there. The text messages alone were damning. He was definitely laundering money through the store, and it looked like there were drugs involved. That didn't matter so much to me, but I'd be dropping this asshole off at the station once I got the information I needed. I sent the phone number saved for Jasper to Robbie for him to do more hacking before tucking the device in my pocket.

"Look, I'm not really interested in you. I've got bigger fish to fry. So you can either tell me what I need to know, or I can call Jasper now and tell him you snitched on him. I wonder what he'd do if he found out you were sharing your information with the cops."

Dev looked horrified, his mouth hanging open. "I did not! I didn't say shit!"

Raising an eyebrow, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Who's he going to believe? The little rat laundering his money? Or the bounty hunter who has your phone and all the information on it?"

Hard to argue with that one. Jasper didn't care enough about his people to believe them over cold, hard facts. If I called right now, he'd come after Dev for talking. And he'd come straight to me, which would be helpful. The only reason I wasn't calling was because I didn't want a human to die for me to finish this job. Dev could spend his life in jail instead.

"You can't be serious! I'm dead either way!" he cried.

I shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. The cops will put you in witness protection if you testify against him. And if you help me find him, he'll be behind bars before he even realizes who snitched on him. Or you can face him on your own and take your chances. The choice is up to you."

In the end, Dev gave up everything. I had Palmer pick him up, and she brought him in with a big smile on her face. They were looking for an in on the drug ring Dev was laundering for, and were more than willing to move Dev somewhere safe to have his testimony.

Unfortunately for me, he didn't have much on Jasper now. Only that he was looking for people and one of them was in town. It was Robbie who came through for me. He called after we dropped off Dev with actual information for me.

"What have you got?"

"Not a ton yet, but I do have an apartment with that phone number listed as a contact. Might be worth looking into."

"Send me the address. I'll head there now."

My luck wasn't going my way because once Palmer realized I was going after a drug lord, she insisted on coming with me, following in her squad car. She wouldn't be able to do shit if I found Jasper, he couldn't be held in a regular jail, but I couldn't exactly tell her that. I relayed where I was going to Walker, who was keeping the paranormal enforcers updated on our progress. They'd be the ones who brought Jasper in.

The apartment building was a lot nicer than I was used to when in connection to one of my marks. Usually they hid in shitty little apartments on the wrong side of town, thinking no one would find them. Jasper went the other way. The apartment building was high class, with a doorman out front and chandeliers in the lobby. The doorman let us in when Palmer flashed her badge, but he looked uncomfortable and I worried that he'd tip someone off that we were here. It put my hackles up, and I was cautious as we approached the fifth floor corner apartment.

Palmer knocked, doing her normal spiel. "Police, open up!"

No answer. Not entirely surprising. She tried a few times, but when it took too long, I faced away from the door and kicked backwards, breaking the thing open. When she frowned at me, I shrugged.

"I don't need a warrant. You wanna wait out here?"

She made an irritated noise and brushed past me. "This is why most of the squad doesn't like you guys," she complained. "So damn cocky."

I smirked, following her inside. Scenting the air told me there wasn't anyone here. Either that or Jasper was here alone, but he didn't come out from any of the rooms, so I figured he wasn't around. The apartment was spotless, almost like a showroom. It didn't even look like someone lived here. Palmer did a cursory search, and when she came up empty, she shrugged.

"Nothing. Dead lead."

I shook my head. It didn't matter if the criminal was a dragon or a human. All criminals were dumb. So there was something here that'd give me the information I needed. I checked in less obvious places, pushing against the backs of closets and searching every cabinet. It was the library that seemed weird. I backtracked to the hallway, tipping my head.

"What is it?"

"There's a lot of space between the bedroom and the library. Maybe too much. Like there's something there." I headed back into the library, searching the shelves against the wall."

"It could just be the architecture," Palmer suggested. "They've gotta have space for the ducts or whatever in big buildings like this."

"They don't take up apartment space for that," I said quietly, only half listening to her. It was the shelf at the end that proved to be the jackpot. Pushing against the back made it swing inward, revealing a room behind it. I shot Palmer a cocky smirk, and she rolled her eyes at me.

"Yeah, yeah, you're a real detective. And yet you're wasting your life as a bounty hunter when you could be on our side helping us out."

"I am on your side. I'm helping you find the bad guy, aren't I? Besides, you can't just be a detective. You need to be a cop before that, and I don't have that kind of patience. Too many rules."

If I had to make a guess, the stacks of boxes filled with paper lining one wall were from Dev's shop. They looked like they were put there recently and hastily. I didn't pay attention to that, too focused on the wall at the back.

"Holy…" Palmer murmured, stepping up beside me.

"Shit," I finished. It was like a serial killer's wall. There was a map of the country, with pictures either left alone or crossed out with big red X's. Then there was one of the city, with the same guy in multiple pictures and pins on the map, probably from where he was last seen.

"This… just became bigger than we thought," Palmer whispered.

Dammit.

"How long do I have to look around before you call this in?"

She shot me an irritated look, but if Jasper was looking for people and he'd already been arrested for murder, I needed to find him, and fast.

"I–"

"I was nice enough to bring this to you. I didn't have to. Five minutes, Palmer. That's all I'm asking."

With a frustrated scowl, she threw up her hands. "Fine. Five minutes. Hurry up. If this is what we think it is, this just became a federal case. The FBI will probably be called in."

Which meant more people looking for Jasper who really didn't know what they were up against. I sent a few pictures to Walker so he could warn the enforcers, then grabbed the nearest file on the desk against one wall. I flipped it open, going through it, but it was more pictures of the guy they were tracking in the city. I went through a few of them, and they seemed focused on two men. I was going to move to the boxes in the corner when a file under the desk caught my attention. A picture was half sticking out of it that looked familiar.

"What the–"

Putting it on the desk, I flipped it open and my stomach dropped. Pictures of Aiden from his company website, from charity events, even from him walking down the street. Not just Aiden, either. There were pictures of Andrew, too. I opened up one of the files I'd already looked through. They started with pictures of one man, then another, then the two of them holding hands. Couples. He was targeting couples. Gay couples specifically.

Yanking out my phone, I dialed Aiden immediately, despite Palmer's protests.

"Did you find something?"

"Yes. I know who he's looking for."

"Who?"

"You, Aiden. He's after you and Andrew."