The Chief shrugged, and he looked surprised himself. “There’s way too much magic in those things. We all witnessed what that means when in the wrong hands. They are also convinced that the high fae who owns the ship you broke into is responsible for this, and they really want the proof of it.”
“Makes sense,” I whispered, nodding my head. I thought so, too, but we still didn’t know for sure.
“What doesn’t make sense was that thing.” He pointed at the bloody ship. “Who the hell shoots syringes with a machine gun?”
“They were waiting for us,” I said reluctantly.
“Yes, they were.”
“I still want to be there for the interrogation. I’m going to pick up when it’s over, anyway.” It was my case, and I wanted to see it to the end.
“You sure about that? High fae magic is freaky, and you don’t look so well yourself.” He squinted his eyes at me as if he was trying to pinpoint what was different about me.
It made me smile. “It’s just Crackdown. I’ll be back to pink in no time.”
His brows shot up, as if hereallyhadn’t noticed that I’d turned white until now. “Oh. Right,” he muttered. “In that case, it can be arranged.”
I nodded. “Thanks for the opportunity, Chief. Really. I’m glad I got to be here tonight, and I will definitely see this through until it’s over.”
The Chief looked at me pointedly. “But?”
“But after this, I’m gone.” As much as the words weighed on my shoulders, I had to say them. And this time, I wasn’t going to give him a choice.
“We talked about this, De Ver,” he said, as if he were suddenly exhausted. “We need you here. You’re doing well. Why would you want to change when your career is just taking off?”
Oh, man, this shouldn’t be so hard.
“Personal reasons,” I forced myself to say. “I can’t stay in New York forever.”
The Chief sighed. “I’ll tell you what—finish this case, and if you still want to leave after, I’ll accept your transfer request.”
I was supposed to feel relieved, wasn’t I? This was all I wanted to hear from him for the past two months. Instead, I only felt worse.
“Thanks, Chief.”
“Sure thing, kid,” he said, patting my shoulder again. “Have the report ready by eight tomorrow.”
“But it’s already ten p.m.,” I reminded him as he turned to walk away.
“Exactly. Plenty of time to work on it,” he called, waving a hand without even looking at me.
I sighed, shaking my head. Turning around, I scanned the whole area around me, my eyes searching for Dominic even before I realized what I was doing.
But he wasn’t there. I wanted to go after the Chief again, ask him to tell me what they’d talked about, and why he’d asked me about him today in the first place, but I gritted my teeth and stayed put.
None of my business. Not anymore.
So, I returned to my friends who were waiting for me by the bench.
“How about that pizza right now? I’m starving,” Patricia said.
“We need to rest,” Hunter said, then flinched. “But, yeah. Pizza sounds great.”
“And beer. Beer, too,” said Eva, holding her bandaged cheek and wincing every time she spoke.
“Sure. Why not? I could eat some pizza.” And then I could go home, shower, and try to get some sleep before I worked on that report for the Chief.
At least I wouldn’t get the chance to think about Dominic until morning.