Cassandra
“Where are we going?” I ask as the car pulls away. A part of me wonders if he’s taking me somewhere to kill me, another part of me knows he would never, that if anyone tried to so much as touch me they’d have Apollo to deal with.
Why did I agree to come with him?
I don’t know. Perhaps because I still think I can salvage something from this operation, get some sort of evidence and deliver it to Jackson. But I don’t think so.
I think I’m going with him because I want to. Because the thought of walking away now is impossible to contemplate.
Apollo takes a quick breath through his nose, then shakes his head as if he’s just decided something. “I want to show you something. I want you to…understand something about me. Something about who I am.”
“And who are you, exactly?”
He doesn’t answer at first, just staring at me. His jaw moves like he’s chewing something. “You might have heard certain things about me,” he says. “Things that show me in a…negative light. You already know I can be violent under the right circumstances. I want you to understand why I act the way I do.”
I think for a moment, then nod. “All right.”
As we drive, I think about the phone call I had with Nanna Divine this morning. The one where I told her I’d met someone, but that I wasn’t sure how he could possibly fit with my career. No details, of course. I didn’t tell her what we did together last night. Good god, how could I? How could I possibly tell her the way I respond to that kind of thing? Nor did I say that he’s the target of my undercover investigation. All she knows is that I’ve moved to Detroit temporarily for work, and I’ve met a man while I’m here.
Her advice?
Not what I was expecting.
Nanna Divine was a senior special agent herself when she retired. She encouraged my father to follow her into the Bureau, and of course that’s how I ended up joining too. I expected her to read between the lines and figure out exactly what was so complicated about this man. And maybe she did, but what she said caught me by surprise.
Your career isn’t ever going to put a smile on your face or keep you warm at night, Cassie. If it’s a straight choice between love and work, put love first. I wish I had.
That last sentence almost made me cry. I vaguely remember when my grandfather passed, when I was four or five years old. I remember listening to my dad on the phone with her, telling her she had to come home, that whatever she was doing it wasn’t as important as seeing her husband in his final few hours.
And I remember that she never came.
But her situation wasn’t anything like this one. My grandfather was a law-abiding man who never even got a parking ticket. What would she say if she knew the man I’m with right now, the man I’m trying to decide if I could possibly have a future with, is Apollo Volos?
And what could he possibly be taking me to that would mitigate any of the things I know he’s done?
“Around the back, Daniel,” Apollo says, his low rumbling voice connecting directly with my kegels, making them tense and release. “I don’t want anyone to know we’re here. This isn’t an official visit.”
“Yes, sir.”
I glance out of the window as we pull around the side of a large church building, wondering what we’re doing here. When Daniel pulls the car into a small parking lot behind the structure, where an iron fire escape snakes up to the roof and dumpsters line a wall, I can’t help imagining we look a little out of place in a limousine.
Apollo climbs out, and I don’t even try to open my own door this time, knowing he’ll come around to let me out. It’s strange how easily I’ve accepted that he’s in charge, that he keeps me safe, and if I just do as he tells me no harm will ever come to me.
He takes my hand and helps me from the car, then ducks back inside to talk to Daniel. “Wait here. I’ll need you again after this.”
“What is this place?” I ask as he wraps an arm over my shoulders, ushering me along toward an iron door that leads into the building.
“It’s easier if you see.”
Part of me is apprehensive. What if I’m about to walk into a drugs factory? What if this is a test of my loyalty, how much I can see of his operation and still say nothing?
What would I do if I saw something inside here that I shouldn’t? Would I report it, or would I keep quiet for Apollo’s sake?
He knocks hard on the door, and a few moments later it opens and there’s a young woman standing there. She can’t be more than in her early twenties, with green streaks in her hair and a ring through her bottom lip, but she grins when she sees Apollo, then nods to me.
“Didn’t know you’d be coming in today. You wanna talk to one of the groups?”
Apollo shakes his head. “I’m not here officially, Serena. This is Rose, she’s a florist, I thought I’d show her—”