Page 14 of The Raven
My mind began to spin with possibilities.
“Boss, you still there?” Nick said after a few seconds of silence.
“Yeah,” I replied, my ass kicking into gear. “Text me the location.I’m on my way.”
In all my time as a cop, I’d never seen a body as fucked as Ziggy’s.Well, maybe with the exception of Boogie. Nick hadn’t been lying when he said it looked like Ziggy’s blood vessels had exploded within his body.
Dark purple stains pooled under the surface of his skin where he’d bledinternally, and blood had streaked from the corner of his eyes, both nostrils, and either side of his mouth.
Whoever had killed Ziggy had made it as painful as possible.
Sucked to be him.
“It will be a few days before we get the toxicology results,” thecoroner said, staring down at Ziggy with Nick and me. “But if I were a betting man, I’d say he was injected with some kind of poison.”
“Ouch,” Nick replied.
I hummed my response, agreeing with the coroner. It made sensewith the two empty syringes we’d discovered lying next to Ziggy’s stone-cold body.
He was slumped against a dumpster, and next to where his headrested was the outline of a raven drawn in white chalk.
I stared at the drawing, more interested in the artwork than understandinghow Ziggy had died. I was beyond certain that these killings were linked toRaven andEric, yet I was still clueless as to who in their right mind would challenge the Vipers.
The slamming of a car door dragged my attention away from theconversation between the coroner and Nick, my body tensing at finding my boss, Lieutenant Brenner, striding toward me, his face twisted in fury.
There was no love lost between Brenner and me, and we’d buttedheads countless times, especially in the past year. He thought I was arrogant. I thought he was shit at his job. In my opinion, he was partly to blame for why the Vipers believed they were untouchable, and why crimes like rape and murder went unsolved. For years, he’d allowed them to rule the roost.
He’d had it in for me from the minute I transferred to Hadleigh Peak,making it clear he believed I was only given the position because of my father, who just so happened to be the Associate Deputy Director of the FBI. It couldn’tpossiblybe because I was good at what I did.
“I want updates, Roberts. What the fuck is happening?” he barkedwhen he stopped in front of me.
I shrugged. “Looks to me like someone is targeting the Vipers.”
“I can see that,” he replied through gritted teeth. “Who?”
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be standing here looking for evidence.They’d be locked up already,” I replied tersely, my blood beginning to boil. The man knew just how to get under my skin. “You know, just like Ziggy and Boogie, and the rest of the Vipers would be if I’d been allowed to do my job,” I added, unable to resist stoking the flames.
Rage flashed in his eyes as the air around us thickened with tension. Frommy periphery, the coroner scarpered, and Nick shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot, avoiding looking at either of us.
“How many times are we going to go over this?” Brenner started.“There was no evidence-”
“No evidence? Except for me witnessing Grim and his gang fleeingthescene?”
“You know damn well that would have been thrown out at court, givenyour connection to the victim, and your incessant desire to arrest the Vipers for every single crime that happens in this town,” Brenner snapped.
I muttered a curse, unsure whether it was because he never referredto Raven by her name or because he was using my past friendship with Raven as a shitty excuse to close the investigation.
Yeah, I knew Raven when we were kids, and we reconnected when Ireturned to Hadleigh Peak, but that was all. At least, that’s what I told Brenner when he found out I had a personal connection to thevictim.
The truth was…complicated.
“That’s bullshit, and you damn well know it,” I said, my voice rising asI took a step closer to the prick. “Besides, there were other opportunities. Witnesses, forensics-”
“I refuse to go over this again with you, Roberts!” Brenner growled,straightening his spine. “An investigation was carried out, and everything pointed to Eric Mills killing the victim before he killed himself. I-”
“Eric didn’t murder Raven!” I bellowed, drawing the attention of thecops loitering in the alley conducting their forensic examination to stare at us.
My fists clenched by my side as Brenner stared back at me, his featurescontorting into a snarl. Before he could reply, Nick gently touched my arm.
