Page 34 of Asphyxia
“I know something you don’t know.” He sing-songed as I left the hallway, trading Madison’s rejection for an ice-cold beer from the fridge.
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” I scoffed in irritation, cracking open a can of grain belt and plopping my ass down onto the far end of the couch.
I now had nothing to give Derek tomorrow besides a single page of useless fucking information.
“Does the name Anathema sound familiar to you?”
I arched my brow as I gave Marcus my full attention.
“How do you—”
“Sergeant Drake of the Minneapolis PD SWAT division told me everything, or at least most of it.” He shrugged as if this was the kind of thing we discussed daily.
“What exactly did he tell you?” I questioned, not wanting to break my oath within the CIA—but if he already knew about Anathema, then there was no reason for me to hide anything more from him.
As long as the initial information didn’t come from me, Conrad couldn’t do shit about it.
“Something along the lines of: They are pitch black mercenaries set to take over the nation. Adrian is their leader and has been on Drake’s shit list for the past few years… Oh! And they have corrupted a good chunk of the United States already. Sound about right?”
I stared at Marcus, entirely dumbfounded that this Sergeant Drake guy would have disclosed that kind of confidential information about Anathema to Marcus without even batting an eye.Why did he tell him?
“Yes…” I hesitantly answered, unsure of what to say to that bombshell of news he had just laid on me. Of course, I already knew all of what he had just said, but the fact that he did too, threw me off my A-game. “And why would he tell you all of this?”
I was curious to find out why Marcus was being brought into all of this. He had no reason to be involved in the Anathema case, or at least that is what I believed to be accurate.
If I remember correctly, he was on some bullshit filler assignment from Conrad to hunt down Roman Atwater. So how the fuck did he go from that to this?
“Drake came by the apartment looking for you, and when you weren’t home, I suggested he work with me instead.”
“Again… Why the fuck would he work with you if you knew nothing to begin with?”
“Because I told him you wouldn’t, and before you say anything, you know that’s the truth.” Marcus cut straight to the obvious point. “You would never work with someone outside of that black folder assignment unless Conrad allowed it.”
There it was, and Marcus was right. We both knew what that folder meant and the stipulations that came with it. He justmanaged to find the loophole he needed to get in on it himself, and I had to hand it to him—Marcus was lucky as fuck.
“You make it hard to be mad at you when I know you’re right…” I sighed, relaxing back on the couch, finishing my beer, and tossing the empty can onto the coffee table between us. “So what does Drake genuinely want with you?”
“He wants to coordinate a raid on Anathema. Something he’s been trying to achieve for the past year but hasn’t been able to. Wouldn’t tell me why, but instead, they’ve just been covering their tracks—”
“That explains fucking everything!” I slammed my hand down on the armrest, interrupting Marcus as everything clicked into place.
I fucking knew something was up when the PD blew me off without so much as batting an eye.
They don’t even know what the fuck is happening underneath their own city. Drake was covering everything up…
Marcus just sat there, staring at me in confusion as I shot up from the couch and started pacing between the TV and the coffee table.
“The officer at precinct one said he saw nothing when he investigated one of the complaints… They blew all of the calls off as if they were pranks or kids just fucking around, trespassing… What if they never actually went there? What if Drake took the calls himself and lied as a cover?” I started rambling more to myself than Marcus, running my hands through my hair and tugging at the strands as realization took hold of me.
So many possibilities.
However, the main point here was that the Minneapolis PD was, in fact, not working with Anathema and under their control. They just didn’t know what the fuck was going on. Drake, on the other hand…
“Marcus, can you get me in contact with Drake?” I rushed out, suddenly stopping my pacing and locking eyes with his.
My heart was racing from the excitement as all the pieces started connecting one by one.
Chapter 18
