5

Rae

October 23rd, 2019

I glared at the receptionist at the precinct until she finally gestured for me to go back. Took some dedication, but I prided myself in my ability to get what I wanted when I wanted it.

With my head held high, I walked through the back room. My heels clicked against the tiles, the room filled with desks with cops sitting at them, all of them looking up as I walked by. Some of them whistling, others huffing in irritation.

They knew who I was. They knew the case, and while some of them thought I was just a pretty girl pretending to be a detective, others were just angry I kept coming back and refused to drop it.

I couldn’t understand why they had a right to feel angry at me for pushing this. My mom was dead, and they gave up. Why do they always give up? Everyone in my whole fucking goddamn life just gave up. It was fucking ridiculous. If I was the only one that kept fighting, then let them be angry. Fuck them. When I came back with my mother’s killer, I’m sure they would all hold onto their anger with a vice grip because I had the audacity to do their job better than them.

I strutted into the captain’s office and shut the door behind me. I crossed my arms over my chest and rose a brow, waiting.

He watched me for several seconds before telling whoever that he would call them back and hanging up. He released a breath, and leaned back, lifting his hands up to either side of him. “What is it now, Ms. Bennett?”

I met his eyes without blinking, it was the only way men responded in this world of domination. Either make them angry enough to get in your face or flirt with them long enough to get the information you needed.

I wasn’t interested in getting this man to flip on his wife like he had done so many times before, so anger was my only weapon. “Did you know my mom was in the city for a month before she was murdered? Because you never said anything to me about it.” There was nothing in the paperwork that stated why she had been in the city or why she hadn’t visited me, but they had to have known something or else they would have questioned me, wouldn’t they have?

They would have asked me if she had come to see me, they would have drilled me about it, or at the very least they would have subpoenaed my phone records, but there was no evidence of any of that. So, either they were lying about even looking into the case or this whole precinct was filled with idiots, and it needed to be delt with. My mom had been friends with several important people in this city, it wouldn’t be hard for me to call on a judge.

He looked as exhausted as I felt. Good. “It was an active police investigation, Rae, we’re not allowed to comment on active cases no matter how wealthy the people.”

I laughed. “Oh? Because I remember how hard you sucked the mayor’s dick when his daughter went on that bender and disappeared for a week.”

His eyes dried, his jaw tightening. “I don’t care how much money you throw at this department, your tantrum will get you nowhere.”

I dropped my hands to my sides and walked up to the desk. “Tantrum? Is that what this is? A tantrum? It’s your job to handle this, and you didn’t even question me about it! You didn’t ask me if I knew if she was in town, if we met up, had a conversation, you did nothing. My mom is dead,” I snarled, stepping up to the desk. “She’s dead and you and your ‘honored’ department tossed her case away like she was nothing. Like she didn’t fund you people for years. You paid her case no respect after everything she did for you, and that’s just…it’s bullshit.”

He stood, pressing his fingers into the desk, his eyes icy and unforgiving. “You think that just because you watch those shows that it makes you a real detective? You have no idea what you’re messing with, Bennett. I am warning you. You need to back off. I gave you everything we had so you can play your little game, but you need to listen to me carefully; you are not a detective. Your true crime shows are all fictional and just because you read a book doesn’t mean you know how to solve a case. We will not be picking it up again unless we get a real lead.”

He straightened, looking down his nose at me, his eyes falling to my tits. “The helpline number is out there. If there is a break, we will let you know.” His eyes met mine. “Unless, that is, you want to prove to us that the case is worth picking up.”

I released a breath of disbelief, shaking my head. “I knew it. I got all of your little notes, Captain, if you want me to fuck you, just be a man and say it.” So I could have real fucking proof that he was using his cock to abuse the law.

He shrugged, walking around the desk, straightening his tie. “Perhaps it’ll help jog my memory of the information I found out about that month she was in the city.”

My eyes widened. “You know something you kept from the file? Why? So you can extort me?” All men were the same. Maybe that’s why I never settled down. It was easier to fuck and leave rather than put down any roots because all they ever did was make a vow and find others on the side.

And anyway, it wasn’t like I would get any satisfaction from them. I knew what I preferred, and I knew that there wasn’t a guy alive who would be okay with that. I was using them just as much as they were using me. I didn’t need roots for that.

His eyes roved over me. “Maybe I do.”

I kept my eyes locked on his, such anger in my veins, I wanted to scream. “What are you hiding from me, Captain?”

“Persuade me to tell you.”

I took a step back, my heart racing as he continued for me. “You couldn’t handle me,” I said honestly. “But keeping things off file, preventing a case from being solved, that’s against the law.”

“Says the tv certified detective. Don’t you want to know who killed your mother?”

I took another step back, my back hitting the door, the blinds bending under me, my hand wrapping around the doorhandle. “You know who did it?” I asked breathlessly, my body shaking in rage. “Do you know who killed my mom?”

His hand slid over my waist, the other picking up a strand of my hair, his hot breath tickling my face. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.”

I pressed myself further into the door, my stomach turning. What the fuck?

He pushed my jacket off my shoulder, leaning in.

He knew who killed her. He knew what happened that night, why was he doing this, why—

His lips touched the bare skin on my shoulder.

I inhaled sharply, shoved him away, and slipped out the door in a daze.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe, like the entire office knew what had just happened and not a single one cared about it. Why would they? I was just a desperate young girl looking for answers. In their mind, I was desperate enough to fuck them, but I wasn’t.

I swear to God, I wasn’t.

My phone started ringing as soon as I entered the lobby. I pulled it out, finding Max’s name flashing across my screen, and the anger and resentment grew. I felt like I couldn’t breathe right, like my lungs had shrunk.

I answered as I shoved out the door. “What do you want, Max?” I snapped, running into a brick wall.

“Jesus, Rae, is that how you answer your phone?”

I stumbled back a step, pushing my hair back, my eyes lifting to meet a pair of dark blue eyes. The kind of blue that seemed impossible for anyone to have. The kind of blue people willingly drowned in.

They hardened as they met mine with an unbreakable stare.

“Sorry,” I said, my heart skipping a beat in embarrassment. Shit.

“That’s more like it,” Max replied, proud of himself.

I laughed in absolute disbelief. “Not you,” I replied. God, his eyes were beautiful. Hard and unflinchingly angry. Challenging. It caused something inside of me, something primal, to beg me to hold his stare, to challenge him.

His eyes narrowed, his pupils growing, as if he were getting ready to lunge at me.

My heart skipped a beat as my thighs clenched, excitement sliding down my spine. Fuck.

“Rae!”

I shook my head and turned away. “God, what?” I growled, turning away from the man, if only to get some relief from his stare. “What do you want? I’m busy.” They knew something and they were keeping it from me because I wouldn’t fuck the captain? What kind of bullshit was that?

“Busy at the precinct?”

I stopped at his words, my shoulders falling as I slowly turned towards the street, the dizziness only growing, causing the world to spin. “How do you know where I am?” I whispered, searching the sidewalk, my heart picking up, a chill running down my spine. But there was nobody around I recognized. No car that seemed familiar, just faceless people. It was the best and worst part about living in the city. You disappeared easily. You blend in. Everyone looked the same and different all at once.

“Lucky guess,” he answered bitterly.

The wind blew my hair across my face again and I tucked it behind my ear, my eyes falling. It couldn’t have been just a guess, I hadn’t been here in almost two weeks.

“You need to stop looking into mom’s death, Rae. You’re beating a dead horse.”

Oh my God, I couldn’t believe this was happening. “She was your mom too, you should be doing the same thing, Max!”

“Harassing the police won’t get you any closer to those answers than you are right now. In fact, I’m sure it’ll just piss them off enough to put the case off for good.”

I shook my head, sliding my hand over my stomach, feeling like I was seconds away from losing my breakfast. “They wouldn’t do that.” Would they? No, it was illegal. If they had a tip, if they got a lead, they had to follow it. It was the law, I was sure of it. But I was also sure I had all the information they had before ten minutes ago.

I inhaled sharply and looked to my shoulder, my jacket still hanging off of it. I jerked it up to my neck, shuddering. I would not sell myself for information, I wouldn’t.

“Go home, Rae. Leave them alone.”

Click.

I dropped my hand and rolled my eyes. That’s all he wanted? Was to berate me for going to the police? God, out of all of the people in the world, why did he have to be related to me?

I inhaled deeply and rolled my shoulders. It was fine, just breathe. I was overreacting, right?

I glanced back to the police station, staring at those front doors, pulling my jacket closer, my skin swimming in goosebumps. I was just overreacting.