Two uniforms came rushing in, but the commissioner held his hand up. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”
One of the cops scowled at me, holding his gun at the ready.
“I said I’m fine. Get out,” the PC ordered.
“Yeah,” I snarled at them. “Get out.”
“Granite, for God’s sake. Sit the fuck down.”
I glared at the uniforms until they left, and only sat when the door closed behind them. If it wasn’t for these motherfucking cuffs, I would have gone savage on all of them.
The PC studied me, and I could fucking hear the wheels turning in his head. “Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“I told you, not in here.”
“I can’t let you go, Granite. Even if I wanted to, which I don’t, even I don’t have that kind of power to pull you out of this fucking mess.”
I cursed, letting my head hang down. “How did you figure out where our safe house is?”
He shrugged. “It was an anonymous call. Said you had Alyx hidden in a house in Coney Island.”
I scrunched my nose and tugged at the cuffs again. “You tracked the call?”
“Yes. We tracked the call two streets from your house.”
“Fuck.” I let out a breath and leaned my head back, trying to figure out what the actual fuck was happening. Was it a coincidence that the same day the call got logged, cops ransacked our safe house, and Alyx disappeared? I thought not. It had to be the same person—the one who called, and the person who took Alyx. Or it was two different people working together. Jesus, if only I could get these goddamn wheels in my head to stop spinning and start figuring shit out.
“You know,” he started, “you and I have come a long way, and a part of me really wants to believe you are not the scum behind my daughter’s kidnapping. But currently, everything is pointing right at you, and I can’t ignore that.”
“Yet you can ignore how your wife is killing your daughter.”
That shut him right up, and his face went from pale to pink to bright red.
The commissioner flattened his tie down his chest, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “My personal life is not the issue here.”
I slanted my head to the side. “Is finding Alyx not personal to you?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“You know what? We could go on all goddamn day, pointing fingers. But that won’t help us find Alyx. So I’m going to say this one more motherfucking time. You need to let me go. In here, I can’t do anything. I need to be out there so I can find her.”
The commissioner shook his head again, and this time I slammed my free fist on the motherfucking table.
“Let me fucking go!”
“Not a chance.” He leaned forward. “Right now, I don’t trust you, so until I figure out what the hell is going on, you’re staying here.”
That was the moment I decided to play my last fucking card. “I’ll talk, tell you everything you want to know.” I leaned over the table, pulling my lip up in a snarl as I whispered. “But you better make sure those recorders aren’t on and no one else is listening in on us because I will be mentioning our business during this conversation, Commissioner. As collateral. So, if by any chance someone is listening in on us, they’ll find out how dirty you really are, and you’ll end up going down with me.”
His thick eyebrows curled up. “Are you threatening me?”
“You bet your fucking ass I am. I’ve never had any problem playing dirty. But with Alyx’s life on the line, I’m willing to go far beyond simply playing dirty. I’ll turn fucking lethal, I swear to God.”
It was a good thing they had me cuffed, or they’d be arresting me for killing the police commissioner in the next five fucking seconds.
He stared at me for a few more moments, nothing but my wild heartbeat and rapid breaths cracking through the silence.
Finally, he stood, fastening the buttons of his suit jacket. He didn’t say a word as he walked out, leaving me behind. I yanked and tugged at the fucking cuffs, but I knew it was pointless. Didn’t stop me from trying, though. “Let me the fuck out of here!”