Page 2 of Nails
Riley straightened up, forced herself to take a steady breath, and nodded.“Yeah.What’s up?”
Though she wasn’t okay.Not really.She had never been okay since that terrifying night twenty-four years ago.And her mother’s killer?He was still out there and running free.When not working, Riley spent most of her free time searching for and following every new lead with her mom’s murder.She never stopped looking and wouldn’t stop until justice was served.
“We gotta roll out.Russell just called.There’s a massive drug bust going down in the next county over, and they need additional assistance,” Ryan said, his voice low but urgent.
She looked at her watch.It was almost ten o’clock at night.Damn, she thought to herself.She was hoping they wouldn’t get that call, though Russell, their boss, had warned them that it was a possibility.Apparently, this drug bust has been in the making for over a year.
Pushing away the last remnants of the past, she focused on the present.Riley opened her desk drawer, pulled out her Glock, and secured it in the holster on her hip.She then grabbed her vest from the back of her chair and slipped it over her blouse.The weight was familiar and grounding.As she followed Ryan toward the door, she snagged her HSI jacket and threw it on.
As she slid into the passenger seat, she got a whiff of coffee.She looked at Ryan.
“I hope to hell that the coffee I smell is fresh,” she stated, raising an eyebrow in his direction.
He grinned.“Believe me, I know better than to come around you with coffee and not have any for you,” he responded and pointed to the back seat.
She turned and saw two cups of coffee sitting in the cup holders, along with a bag from her favorite coffee and donut shop.
She smiled and leaned over the seat to grab the goodies.
She immediately took a sip of the coffee and then sighed.Strong, black coffee.Her favorite drink.
“You know me too well,” she told him as she took another greedy sip and then took a bite of the blueberry-glazed donut.
Ryan smirked and then chuckled.“I do.But I also know how you turn into a crankopotamus if you don’t get your coffee.”
Riley snorted a laugh.“A crankopotamus?”
He smirked as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.
“You know, hippos are aggressive, and well, you get cranky and aggressive when you haven’t had your coffee.”
He wasn’t wrong.Riley tended to get a little cranky when she didn’t get her coffee fix.She loved her bean juice, as she called it, and could drink it all day.
Riley leaned back into the seat, enjoying her coffee and donut as she started to get her head into the assignment she was stepping into.
Today, she’d help take down a massive drug operation.But one day, she’d take down the man who stole her mother’s life.And when she did, she’d make damn sure he could never hurt anyone else again.
CHAPTER TWO
It was almost eleven o’clock when Ryan pulled the car into a parking lot behind an elementary school, where the central command center for the operation was set up.There was a swarm of law enforcement vehicles parked haphazardly around the lot.
Ryan found an open parking spot and pulled in.Riley stepped out of the car.She took a deep breath, letting the cool nighttime air fill her lungs.Ryan came around the vehicle and fell in step beside her as they made their way toward the large mobile operations truck.
There was a flurry of movement as SWAT team members, DEA agents, and local PD checked their gear.She even spotted a few FBI jackets in the mix.
“It looks like they included everyone in on this bust,” she said, pointing out the variety of law enforcement agencies that were present.The tension in the air was thick, but Riley had been involved in high-stakes situations enough times to embrace it rather than let it rattle her.
Ryan nodded in agreement as they continued walking.
As they approached the command operations truck, the back doors flung open, and a tall, broad-shouldered man with graying hair stepped out.His sharp brown eyes held authority, but his stern expression relaxed a bit as he locked eyes with Riley.
“Special Agents Aiken and Engram?”The man asked as he stepped closer.
“Yes, Sir,” Ryan replied.
The man extended his hand out.“I’m DEA Special Agent Darrell Topper.”
Both Riley and Ryan shook Topper’s hand.
