“I’m not giving them your case, just the surveillance. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you’re still a bit green around the gills to be going up against the Serpents.”
I wanted to point out that the term ‘green around the gills’ was used when someone looked ill, not inexperienced, but I’d made the mistake of correcting Sergeant Wilkens once before, which was probably why I was now a freaking desk jockey, so I kept my mouth shut.
Anger burned within me as I glanced at the sergeant’s door, remembering our last conversation and wishing his ass would come out here and explain to Ms. Nunez what progress Franks and Scott had made or why he wouldn’t even let me show mug shots to Martha. I couldn’t figure out if the sergeant was misogynistic or hung up on my age and inexperience, but it wasn’t the first time he’d sidelined me, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. Hell, the bastard hadn’t even given me a full-time partner yet.
“We’re looking into the information Martha shared,” I told Ms. Nunez, hoping it wasn’t a lie. “I’ve also sent Alicia’s photo to all the departments up and down the I-5 corridor. Keep sharing her image on social media and asking your friends and family to do the same.”
“There has to be something else you can do.”
For a moment, Ms. Nunez disappeared, and I was looking into the scared face of my own mother, promising I’d protect her. I would not make that promise again. “I’m sorry, Ms. Nunez. We’re doing everything we can.”
She dissolved into tears. As I helped her gather up her things and showed her to the door, frustration ate away at me. I’d become a police officer to help people, and I was sick of blowing smoke up their asses as I did nothing. Irritated, I stormed into Sergeant Wilkens’s office.
The sergeant took one look at my face and invited me to close the door and have a seat.
I refused the chair, pacing from one wall to the next as he finished typing something. When his gaze finally came back to me, his expression was wary and annoyed. “What can I help you with, Officer Petrov?”
“Have Franks and Scott found anything on the Serpents?”
He stared at me for a solid sixty seconds before light dawned in his eyes. “Ah. The Nunez case. They’ve been running surveillance on the compound, but haven’t seen anything suspicious yet.”
Nothing suspicious? The Serpents were outlaws, not choir boys. Everything they did was suspicious. Franks and Scott had been monitoring the compound for days. Surely they should have seen something by now. “I’d like to request permission to take over surveillance of the motorcycle gang.”
He folded his arms over his ample stomach and leaned back in his chair. “Request denied.” I started to object, but he cut me off. “I know this is personal for you, considering what happened to your mother. But you’re an officer of the law now, Petrov. You can’t let your emotions get the best of you.”
I stared at him, trying to wrap my mind around what he’d said. What he’d implied. I gave a damn about the civilians who were disappearing, so the bastard was accusing me of being too emotional to do my job? “I’m sorry, sir, but have I ever allowed my emotions to get in the way of my job before?”
“This case is unusual. I wouldn’t want you to make a mistake.”
“That’s why you benched me when the girls started coming up missing?” I asked, still unwilling to believe my ears.
“I remember what happened before you went into the academy. You were late starting your training, if I recall correctly. We spoke about your mother and how she overdosed, how you believed it was that motorcycle gang back in Vegas. Now, one little girl makes a statement about some biker and you’re ready to fire up the stakes and storm their compound.”
He was being ridiculous. “Surveillance is hardly storming anything. I just want permission to watch and gather information.”
“And I told you, permission denied. Stay away from the Serpents, Petrov. That’s an order.” He gestured toward the door. “Now, I’m sure we both have work to do.”
Dismissed, I ambled out of his office, feeling lost, confused, and angry.
I tried to stay in my lane and away from the motorcycle gang, but being sidelined continued to rub me raw. Another missing girl case came in. Another mom stared at me expectantly as I wrung my hands and crushed her hope with a lie.
“We’re doing everything we can, Ms. Vander.”
But I wasn’t. I was sitting behind my desk while girls were being kidnapped and most likely trafficked.
I couldn’t handle the inactivity anymore. I thought about going over the sergeant’s head to the chief of police, but I’d heard that Jose Romero was a hardass who rarely second-guessed Sergeant Wilkens. There was no way he’d do it for a newbie like me. So I started researching Serpent cases, searching for clues that led to their possible involvement in human trafficking. I didn’t find anything on missing girls, but I did discover a shocking number of cases that went nowhere. Entirely too many Serpents had been arrested but released because evidence and witnesses kept going missing. The rare cases that made it to court were usually thrown out due to technicalities.
Either we were the most incompetent police force in the country, or something was fishy in the Emerald City. Before I could find out which, Wilkens summoned me into his office and demanded my shield and Glock.
“What? Why?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
“I told you to leave the Serpents alone. You defied a direct order. I’m putting you on a two-week suspension, and you’re lucky I’m not firing you over this.”
Confused, I dropped my things on his desk in a haze. “But I was just researching.”
“I’ve had hemorrhoids last longer than you’ve had your badge, and I won’t sit here and listen to some young upstart tell me how to do my damn job. Get your ass out of my office, Petrov. Now.”
As I drove home from the station, my head flooded with even more questions I couldn’t answer. Something was going on, and I was determined to find out what. My options were limited, but determination and bad ideas were aplenty. The sergeant thought I was too emotional to do my job, so I’d show him just how emotionless I could be.
