Page 76 of Wicked Enemy

The silence inside the building was so thick that I could feel it pressing against my skin like cold mist. My colleagues watched me as I stepped across the threshold and moved towards my desk, but no one greeted me. In fact, no one said anything at all.

I knew that I was late. Our workday had started three hours ago, but at that point, I had still been sleeping off the alcohol and drugs in Levi’s Court. I had briefly stopped by my house and changed into my white leather uniform, but I knew that I looked a mess. And I probably smelled like I had taken a bath in a tub of whiskey.

“Captain Wright wants to see you in his office,” Jamila said in an emotionless voice.

“Sure, I’ll just…” I trailed off as her words registered. Narrowing my eyes, I turned to meet her gaze head on. “CaptainWright?”

A hint of irritation flickered in her brown eyes as she replied, “Yes, Captain Wright.”

Dread washed through my body like ice water.Shit. The new captain, the one who was taking over after Ulric, was due to start today. And I was three hours late. And smelled like alcohol.

“Alright,” I said while swallowing down the growing trepidation. “I’ll head over right now.”

Gray light from the overcast sky filtered in through the windows and leeched the color out of everything it touched. I stared down at my desk for another few seconds before drawing in a bracing breath and starting towards the captain’s office. My colleagues tracked me with their eyes but said nothing, and I couldn’t help but feel as if I was walking towards my own execution.

Shaking my head, I dispelled the silly notion. I wasn’t a rookie anymore. I had worked for the constables foryears, and I knew how to handle difficult conversations and smooth over delicate situations.

My hand drifted up to the ruby necklace I always wore, and I absentmindedly rolled the precious stone between my fingers as I closed the final distance to the captain’s door. It was closed, so I released my necklace and then knocked.

“Who is it?” came a man’s voice from inside.

“Eve Sterling,” I replied.

A beat of silence. Then a single word was barked through the door like an order. “Come.”

Forcing aside the flash of annoyance that shot through me, I pushed the handle down and opened the door.

Shock pulsed through my body as I stepped into the room.

Captain Wright had only been here three hours, but he had already cleaned out every trace of Ulric. All of his mementoes were gone, of course, but it was more than that. Where Ulric’s comfortable mess had been, on the desk and shelves, there was now strict order. Everything, down to the last pen, was organized and straight. The documents on the desk were now stacked in a perfect pile. Not a single paper stuck out of it, as if the poor documents didn’t dare to defy the authoritarian order that was now imposed upon them.

Blinking, I tried to recover from my surprise and instead shift my attention to the man seated behind the neat desk. But as soon as my gaze landed on him, another wave of shock washed over me.

He was young. Far too young to be a captain. Even though his features were set in a serious expression, it was clear that he was in his early thirties. At most.

I quickly ran my gaze over what I could see of his body from where he sat behind the desk. He had a lean and wiry build, and he looked to be a bit on the shorter side for a man. His brown hair was cropped close to his scalp, giving him a severe look, and his blue eyes were stern as they locked on me.

After closing the door behind me with a soft click, I straightened my spine and turned to face him. “You asked to see me?”

“You will address me asCaptainorsir,” he snapped.

I wasn’t sure if it was because my head was throbbing from the wicked hangover I was still suffering from, or if my patience for arrogant assholes had simply finally run out, but I was suddenly glad that I wasn’t carrying my sword. Because if I had, I would’ve rammed it through his fucking chest.

Clenching my jaw, I forced down the impulse before amending it to, “You asked to see me, Captain?”

“Why do you think I asked to see you?” He shot a pointed look towards the small clock on one of the shelves. “You’re three hours and twenty-two minutes late.”

Since he had both asked and answered his own question, I saw no need to reply and instead just kept holding his gaze.

“I’m still waiting for an explanation, Sterling,” he bit out after another few seconds.

Instead of pointing out that he hadn’t actually asked for that, I drew in a calming breath that did very little to calm me down and said, “I apologize for my tardiness, Captain. I was devastated when Captain Smith told me that he had been forced into retirement for something that wasn’t his fault.”

“Wasn’t his fault? Of course it was his fault. He was responsible for this department and the prisoners in his cells. And he’s notCaptainSmith anymore.” His blue eyes sharpened. “And I’m still waiting for an explanation, Sterling.”

Anger roared inside me at the dismissive way he spoke of Ulric, but all I said was, “That is the explanation, Captain.”

He shot up from his seat. Contempt burned in his eyes as he rounded his impeccable desk and strode forward until he was standing only two strides away from me. Now that he was standing, my suspicions were confirmed. Captain Wright was a bit on the shorter side for a man. And since I was slightly taller than the average woman, it put me an inch above the captain’s height.

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