Page 24 of The Raven
“Uh-” he paused to look at a note in his hand. “Jason Buckley.”
“Christ,” Brenner muttered, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Whoever is doing this is serious about wiping out the Vipers. Grim is going to commit damn havoc unless we find out who is responsible.”
“Let’s go, you can brief me on the way to thescene,”I said, my attentionfocused solely onNick.
“Not so fast, Roberts,” Brenner stormed around the desk to block my exit. “I told you, you’re off the case.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me?”
“Do I look like I’mkidding?”
Hestareddaggers at me,refusingto move. A muscle ticked in myjawas I glared back at him, my pride demanding Ifighthim on his ridiculous ruling until the logical part of my brain kicked in.
“Fine. I’ll tidy up thefilesand hand them over to you. I’m sure you’llhave no problemfindingthekiller.”
I grabbed the files off the desk, doing my best to hold in my smirk and the need to wish him luck with arresting a ghost.
It took a couple of hours to finish typing my notes before I dumped the files on Brenner’s desk. The office was deserted; every cop in the station had been deployed to the latest scene.
Nicktexted me frequently with updates. It sounded likeBrennerwasrunning around like a headless chicken, walking all over theevidence, and making acompletefool of himself.
From whatNickhad said,Buckhad suffered averypainfuldeath, andthe preliminary cause of death had been recorded as loss of blood, not from the two puncture wounds in his abdomen, but from the gaping wound in hisass.
Like the other two murders, I had no sympathy for howBuckhad met hisfate. Iwasn’tsure I’d ever get over reading the report detailing the damage caused toRaven’sback passage.
Buck deserved everything he got.
WithBoogie’sandZiggy’scasefilesno longer my concern, I debatedabout getting stuck into other caseloads, but the need to seeRavenwas too compelling. Turning the lights off in the office, I headedoutsideto where my car was parked.
Only, I didn’t make it that far.
The second I steppedoutside, handsgrabbedme, one going around mymouth to stop me from shouting for help, another set pinning my arms behind my back, while a third removed mygunfrom its holster, along with my carkeysand phone.
“Hello,Detective. We’re going for a little ride.”It was a voice Iwould hear in my nightmares until the day I died.
Grim.
In the dim light of the station parking lot, I made out the faces of Pyro and Butcher as they helped Grim shove me in the trunk of my own goddamn car and slammed the hood down.
Echoes of doors shutting reached me in the dark,followedby the enginerumbling to life. As the car began to move, I fumbled around, managing to pull up the shelf covering the sparewheel, and rummaged around for thewheelbraceI kept in there.
Thedrivewas only short, but by the time the car came to a stop, myheart pounded furiously as adrenaline pumped its way through my system. I clutched thewheelbracein my hand, unwilling to go down without afightagainst the fuckers.
When the lid popped, I jumped out, cold water from amuddypuddle I’d just landed in seeping into my shoes and socks, and chilling my feet.
“Whoa, chill,Detective, we just want to talk,”Pyrosaid, his tone lacedwith amusement as he held his hands up in surrender.
The three of them surrounded me but had sensibly, orrather,frustratingly,kept enoughdistancethat even if I were to take a swing, I wouldn’thitany of them.
Not to mention, Grim was pointing my gun at me.
“What do you want?” I sneered, lowering the brace.
“Who’s killing my boys?” Grim's dark eyes were fixed on me, the hand holding my gun unwavering.
The first time I had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Grim, I thought he was unhinged. Over the years, he’d turned from unhinged into a complete psycho.
“How the fuck should I know? Ask Brenner, he’s investigating the cases,” I replied, not giving a shit that I was throwing Brenner under the bus.
