by Ashlyn Chase
“Sort of. I mean, it wasn’t really an attack. They used me.”
His brows shot up.
“Not like that! Jeez.”
“Well, the term ‘gangbanger’ comes from somewhere.”
“Not from me. Sure, I lost my virginity to one of them when I was fifteen, but—”
“Fifteen? That’s statutory rape.”
She snorted. “Ask a gangbanger if he cares.” She walked on in silence.
“I’m sorry. Go ahead. You were saying they used you?”
“My psychic ability. I should have never told them about it. The next thing I knew, I was their lookout. When I said I wanted to finish high school, they tried to entice me to quit school, saying they’d give me a cut of the profits.”
“You weren’t making any money?”
“I got a pittance compared to the others before that. They thought I’d quit school as soon as I learned how easy it was to support myself and my grandmother once I got my hands dirty. I have to admit I thought about it.” She sighed. “It wasn’t an easy time for me.”
“So how did you get out? Most gangs claim you for life—not that it will be a long one.”
“I had to make a deal with the leader.”
“What kind of deal?”
She didn’t want to tell him the rest. He didn’t need to know that “Little Bobo,” who was over six feet and 220 pounds of steroids, made her deal his drugs at school during her senior year.
“Let’s just say I worked for him for a year, and then when he didn’t want to let me go, I had a hissy fit.”
“And what does a hissy fit look like?”
She smirked. “Picture all 110 pounds of me jumping on the back of a guy twice my size, trying to choke him with one arm and beat him black and blue with the other.”
“Wow. And you’re still alive?”
“Yeah. He was laughing the whole time until one of his guys cocked a gun. Then he yelled at him to put it away, and three other guys peeled me off of him.”
“Weren’t you afraid he’d retaliate?”
“At that moment, I was so angry, I didn’t care if he did.”
“Wow. And did the others do anything to you?”
“Mostly just verbal threats, flexing their muscles and that kind of shit.”
Luca shook his head, looking amazed. “You really are a badass.”
She grinned. “Oh yeah. Be afraid. Be very afraid.”
* * *
Friday night. The last night shift of his first week. He’d have a three-day weekend and then switch to day shifts. He didn’t know if he’d like the day shift better than the night, but he did know one thing—his first week went pretty well. Except for the missing little girl and her murdered mom. Even though it wasn’t his case, he knew he could help.
The detectives didn’t have what he had, his paranormal powers and a friend who was psychic. If only he knew a detective on the force he could trust, someone he could confide in who’d let him help solve the case. Well, if he didn’t know anyone now, maybe he could get to know them.
He and Joe were let out of their briefing, and before Joe reached the outside door, Luca grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“Hey, before we take off, do you mind if I talk to the detectives for a minute?”
“The detectives? Why?”
“It’s about the missing girl.”
“You have some information?”
“Maybe.”
Joe hesitated but eventually nodded and said, “Sure. They’re probably upstairs.”
Luca had been given a tour of the whole station a few weeks before, but he didn’t have any reason to go back to certain areas of it.
They walked all the way down to the end of a long hall, passing the lieutenant’s office on the way. Beyond that were cubicles, and at the very end, two cops talking to each other seemed surprised to see anyone coming their way.
“Can I help you?” one of them said.
“Hi, I’m Luca Fierro, and this is my TO, Joe Sorenson. I heard about the missing Richardson girl. Is that your case?”
They glanced at each other. “Yeah. I’m Detective Morrow.”
“Detective Griffin,” said the other one, and they both shook his hand.
“Do you have any information for us?” Morrow asked.
“Not sure. I just wanted you to know I live near the family. If there’s anything I can do, I’d like to be of help.”
The two detectives smirked at each other. “Yeah, well, if you see anything suspicious, like if the father suddenly shows up carrying a new teddy bear or something, let us know.”
Surprised, Luca asked, “Are you suspecting the father?”
“No. We don’t have any suspects at the moment.”
“Oh. Hey, I’ve heard psychics can sometimes be of help. Is that something you’d be open to?”
The detectives cracked up, laughing.
“Don’t mind him, guys. He’s new.” Joe seemed to think he needed defending and acted as if he were naive.
Luca glanced around the detectives’ area. One of them had a file called “Unsolved Mysteries” on top of his inbox.
A picture of Morrow’s face superimposed over the face of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz, hung on the outside wall. Luca pointed to it. “What’s that about?”
Griffin chuckled. “Someone Photoshopped that when Morrow busted a satanic cult last spring.”
Joe laughed, and Luca smiled. “Congrats. I guess you guys have to maintain a sense of humor to deal with some of the crap that goes down in this city.”
“Yeah. It helps,” Morrow said. “Listen, thanks for coming up and offering your support.”
“Sure thing. I want to help any way I can.”
“You say you live around the area where the family lives?”
“All my life. Right on Mass. Ave. near Tremont.”
“Nice. Well, if you hear anything, let us know. We can use a lead right now.”
“You didn’t get anything from the accident scene?”
“Nothing. You’d think there would be a print from someone trying to get a child’s car seat unbuckled from the back, but the only prints belonged to the victim.”
“Damn. I’m sorry to hear that. She’s a cute little kid, and the mom seemed nice.”
“How about the father? How well do you know him?”
“Not well. He says hello when he sees one of us neighbors, but not much beyond that.”
“Okay, thanks for keeping your eyes open,” Morrow said.
“Nice to meet you both.” Luca shook their hands again and left.
Joe gave him a strange look when they were out of earshot. “Did that accomplish what you’d hoped?”
Luca shrugged. “I wasn’t hoping to accomplish anything, really. I just wanted to know if they’ve had some progress in the case.”
“You don’t know that they haven’t.”
“They just said they had no leads.”
“They also don’t want a rookie working their case. You can get in a lot of trouble for interfering in someone else’s shit, especially with something like this. If you don’t follow procedure, you could fuck up a sting, ruin evidence, or blow the whole court case in a number of ways. Not only that, you could get fired.”
Luca looked over at him, surprised. “I wasn’t planning on interfering.”
“Good. See that you don’t.”
So much for a good end to his first week. The detectives seemed cool enough, but was Joe right? Could his desire to catch who did this interfere with the case? He wished Dawn had given him more to go on. Maybe he’d text her on his break and ask if she’d had any more visions. Hell, even a flash of something or someone might help.
He wouldn’t know what to do with the information though. He di
dn’t want to lose his job.
Chapter 6
“Are there any nice young men at your workplace?”
“Graaaaan.”
“Dawwwwwn.”
Dawn and Annette were curled up on the sofa and had just finished watching Sleepless in Seattle. It was one of her grandmother’s favorite movies. “I wish you could find someone like Tom Hanks,” Annette said. “I think he should have married Meg Ryan for real. I always thought they made such a cute couple.”
“Grandma, it’s called acting. Besides, he’s been happily married forever.”
“Well, I’m not surprised. The good ones usually are.” Annette gave her a playful swat on her leg. “But seriously, aren’t there any nice boys at your job or even in the building where you work?”
“I don’t really pay attention to the men in my building. I’ve only been there a little over a month.” Dawn cuddled the pillow closer to her, Luca’s cute grin and bright-blue eyes flashing through her mind.
“Oh…” Annette said with a sly grin.
“What?”
“There is someone. Is he nice?”
Dawn blew out a breath. “Actually, I did meet a nice guy this week, but not at work.”
“Well, he can’t be from around here, because most of the young men in this neighborhood aren’t the ‘nice guy’ type.”
“He’s not from around here.”
“Well, good. Tell me about him.” Annette looked like an excited teenager. Dawn hadn’t seen her grandmother so energized in a long time. She sure as heck didn’t want her to get her hopes up.
Dawn fidgeted. “I already did. The cop I mentioned to you. The one I’m helping with the missing child case.”
“A police officer. Hmm.”
“His girlfriend just broke up with him. I doubt he’s even interested in dating anyone right now. Not seriously anyway.”
“His girlfriend broke up with him? What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing is wrong with him. He said they started dating in college, and she wants to meet other people before settling down.” Dawn remembered the vision she’d had of Lisa with another guy, driving around in a red Corvette.
“If you ask me, I think there are far too many young people wanting to let loose. It gets you nowhere. Look where it got me, and look where it got your mother—”
“And look where it got me.”
“What do you mean?” Annette wrapped her arms around Dawn. “You are doing so well. You finished college, and now you have a good job. You are going places, young lady, and don’t you forget it.”
“Thank you for being my biggest cheerleader, Gran.”
“Always.” Annette gave her a kiss on the forehead, then stood up. “I’m going to make us some herbal tea.”
Dawn stretched her legs and closed her eyes. She was looking forward to heading over to the Youth Community Center tomorrow, but she hoped she wouldn’t mess up. She wanted to make a difference, not screw up lives. They had enough screwed-up people in this area, let alone around the world.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
“Grandma, are you making popcorn?”
“No, why?” Annette called back from the kitchen.
Dawn heard the popping sounds again, followed by screams and cursing.
“Grandma, it’s gunshots!” Alarmed, Dawn jumped up, ran to the kitchen, and pulled Annette down on the kitchen floor. They had thought about setting up a panic room in a closet but never did it. You could get shot just by sitting in your living room.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, dear,” Annette said, out of breath. “I wish they would stop with these guns. Too many senseless deaths over the years.”
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Dawn called 911, and then she texted Luca. She knew he was working tonight, and she trusted him.
Shots fired on my street. Very close.
Within seconds, her phone pinged back with a text from Luca: On my way.
* * *
Luca and Joe were parked at a McDonald’s. It wasn’t Luca’s favorite restaurant, but the sandwiches hit the spot, and they could get their food in a hurry. Joe was a good guy, and Luca liked him. But unlike his father, Antonio, who could probably still keep up with any of his sons, Joe’s twenty-five extra pounds thanks to the night shift and twenty-four-hour fast-food places slowed him down some.
He was about to chomp into his burger when the dispatcher alerted them to a 10-71, shots fired in the area of Dorset Ave. and North Street.
“That’s where Dawn lives!”
“Who’s Dawn?” Joe asked, shoving the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth as he put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot.
“A friend of mine.”
Joe flicked on the siren at the same time as a text came in on Luca’s phone.
It was Dawn, asking for help. He texted her back, hoping they would get there before anyone was hurt.
“I know a shortcut,” Joe said.
He made a left and drove down an alley behind an old warehouse, then out the other side onto Dorset Ave.
Luca’s heart was beating fast. He hoped Dawn was okay. If there was one thing he knew from his training and experience, it was that sometimes a situation could escalate in a matter of seconds.
They arrived only a couple of minutes later, just as another police cruiser was arriving.
Joe radioed the officers in the other car. “You guys cruise the main drag, and we’ll go on foot and check out the houses on North. Over.”
“Copy that,” Amanda Tillson replied from the other vehicle. Luca had met her the other day. She was a ten-year veteran on the force and before that was in the Air Force, with two tours in Afghanistan under her belt. She was one badass chick. Her partner was Delvin Jordan, who, like Luca, was a trainee. Luca liked Delvin and thought he was a good guy. They came out of the police academy together. He was married with twin boys.
Amanda and Delvin drove away, and Joe and Luca stayed in their car and started cruising along the street, keeping a lookout.
A chair smashed through a window just down the street from where they were.
“Change of plans,” Joe radioed Amanda. “We may have found the location. Double back.” Joe gave them the address as they got out of the car and ran toward the disturbance.
“Copy that.”
As they approached the run-down three-decker, they could hear shouting and cursing. The house was just two doors down from where Dawn lived. Luca wanted to go check on her, but he had to do his job first. Luca and Joe ran toward the steps at the front of the house. A man was standing by the broken window.
Joe called out, “This is the police. Lay down any weapons and put your hands in the air.”
The man on the porch followed Joe’s orders immediately. Luca was behind him in a split second and cuffed the man.
A woman screamed for help from inside, followed by a man yelling at her to shut up. “I’m not going back there again,” the same man’s voice shouted.
“If you come out, we can talk this through. Just put your weapon down and come outside with your hands up.”
“Fuck you!” Gunshots riddled the front door, followed by more screaming.
Luca and Joe stood on either side of the door, looking at each other.
“Go around back and see if there might be a way in,” Joe said.
Luca nodded and took off around the back of the house.
When he returned, he said, “Joe, I can get in from upstairs. There’s a second-floor window next to the flat porch roof. The window is open a few inches.”
“And then what?” Joe countered. “Get shot on your way down the stairs? This is your first week on the job, kid. I can’t risk it.”
“Joe, please, I know I can do it.”
He sighed. “All right, go ahead. Then we’
ll proceed from there. Don’t get shot. That’s an order.”
“Yes, sir.” Luca stayed low as he ran around to the back of the house. The postage-stamp-sized yard was full of junk: Luca could make out old tires, a rusted-out wheelbarrow, and a mattress. He glanced up and spotted the open window on the second floor of the house. In a split-second decision, he did what he had to do. He opened the top button of his shirt, transformed into his phoenix form, grabbed his uniform, including his duty belt, in his beak and talons, then flew onto the porch roof. As soon as he shifted back, he opened the window wider and slid right in. He dropped his clothes on the bedroom floor, changed back into his phoenix form, then glided down the stairs, where he spied a man with his arm wrapped around a woman’s neck.
“You bitch.” The man pressed the gun to the woman’s temple. “You made me do this. You fucked my best friend when I was in jail. In my own bed. MY BED!”
The young woman whimpered, tears streaming down her face. “Please don’t hurt me.”
Joe called, “Why don’t you come out and we can talk about it,” from the other side of the front door.
The man pointed his weapon at the door and cocked the gun again. “I’m not coming out, and I’m not going back to prison! You figure it out!”
Luca took the opening and swooped in. He landed on top of the man’s head and dug his claws in.
“What the fuck?” The shooter screamed and began flailing at him. Luca let go, circled the man, who by now had covered his head, and plucked the gun out of the shooter’s hand before he even knew what hit him. The suspect ran out of the room, cursing all the while. Luca flew back up the stairs with the gun in his beak, then dropped it out the window.
He transformed back into his human form, dressed in seconds, pulled his own gun out, and rushed back downstairs.
He whispered to the woman, “Where is he?”
She whispered, “Probably the kitchen, getting a knife.”
Luca peeked around the corner, saw the man, and yelled. “Hands up! Now!”
The man had a drawer open but apparently hadn’t had time to locate a suitable knife.
Luca strode forward with his gun pointed at the shooter.
The suspect’s eyes were wide, and thankfully, he put his hands in the air.
