Page 50 of Tristano

“They aren’t going to let you in easily. They won’t trust you. Not with the police background. You’ll have to show them what I already know. That when you find someone you care about, you are deeply loyal, even against all morals of your own.”

“I am. I’ll provide it to them. I promise,” she vows.

I don’t doubt her for a second. There were many times over the years that she could have picked herself. Given me up to earn her stripes on the force. It would have been a fast track to the top, but she didn’t. Instead, she used what she heard about our dealings and risked herself to give me the heads up. She might be a cop, but she has always proved that loyalty to me came first.

I guess that’s why I find it so easy to reciprocate that loyalty back to her. To make her my number one priority.

“I have faith in you. There will be no going back once I put this into motion. You know that, right?” I warn her.

“I do.” She nods. “Make the call, Tris.”

ChapterEleven

As soon as Tristano made the call, things moved fast. Everyone wanted to meet me immediately.

It was making my head spin. Tris is a godsend though. He pushed them off a few days to give me time to prepare. Well, that and I still have to face my uncle.

So instead of meeting the heads of the Catalini family and the Westies, I’m standing outside the Jersey City East District Police Department.

This place has been home for me longer than I’ve been a police officer. I’ve spent nearly my entire life here between my grandfather and now my uncle.

Yet standing here now, I feel out of place. Like maybe this isn’t where I’m meant to be.

“Excuse me,” someone says as they slip by me.

Shaking my head, I step forward and walk into the station.

“Hey, Bert,” I say to the lobby security guard as I scan my ID.

“Serena.” His eyes light up when he sees me. “I was wondering what happened to you. Everyone is whispering about what you might have been up to.”

I frown at him as I scan my ID again, the door still not unlocking.

“Nothing as entertaining as I’m sure is being said. Do you know why my ID isn’t working?” I ask.

He pulls out his tablet before wincing. “It looks like your access was revoked. What did you do to piss the boss man off?”

I sigh. “I don’t know. Can you call back and get me a visitor’s pass?”

“Sure thing.”

I watch as he picks up his phone, no doubt calling my uncle. The longer he takes, the more my blood boils. I go missing and what does my uncle do? He files a missing person’s report on me under my undercover name, making sure my face isn’t out there and possibly fucking up any further stings we have. Then he revokes my access to the station. What a joke.

Walking over to the wall of photos, I find the one I’m looking for. It’s Uncle Ben with my grandpa and father. They are all in uniform, my grandpa in the chief’s best while my father and uncle wear their rookie uniforms. It was from their graduation day from the academy.

Family. That’s what they always said. Even though Uncle Ben was only my father’s best friend, he was still family, and family looks out for one another.

From what Tris has said, it doesn’t even look like he’s made that much of a push to find me. He spent the first two days asking around, but then he just filed the report and dropped it. Hell, he hadn’t even been to my apartment. The pot I put in front of the door to tell me if anyone comes through the front door while I’m gone was still in the same spot, dust settled around it.

So if family is so important, why didn’t he try harder?

“You can go back now, Serena. He’s waiting in his office,” Bert tells me.

Guess we are about to find out.

The disappointment sets in with each step back to his office. I became a cop because I wanted to stop other sickos from doing what that man did to me when I was seventeen. Statistically, women are less likely to report their abusers. I wanted to be the voice for those women. I wanted them to see these men on their television screens and know that they might not have come forward, but someone did, and that they can sleep easier knowing the man who abused them was in jail.

I had high hopes, only for them to be dashed each time I brought a new case to Uncle Ben.

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