“I don’t want it Conall. I don’t need it anymore,” I whispered, fear creeping into my chest.
Conall rose to the door, blocking it. He gestured towards his goon with dreadlocks.
“Teach her a lesson,” he growled, in a low, mean voice.
The guy with dreadlocks eyes widened as he looked to me, then back at Conall.
“I’m not gonna be hitting no woman, Conall. I do anything you say bruddah, hit any man you want. But not…”
“I don’t fucking care. Shut up.” He looked over to the other of his henchman.
“Goldie. You’re up.”
The guy rose slowly, swaggering towards me. Smirking meanly. He rolled his shoulders as he approached, swinging his arms from left to right.
Pain exploded as his fist lashed out and struck me on the left cheek, just below the eye. I staggered back, crying out as I held my face.
“Fucking hell, Goldie. I meant a slap, you goddamn animal.” Conall was smiling nonetheless. Goldie shrugged nonchalantly as he leaned down, his breath acrid with the smell of cigarettes and stale alcohol as he spoke in my ear.
“You don’t do what Conall says, you’ll be getting more than my fist next time. A lot more, sweetheart.” I was sickened by his repulsive presence so close to mine. I cowered away from him, into the corner of the kitchen.
“That's enough, Goldie. Let’s go.” I saw Conall leave the room, his two goons following him out.
“Oh, enjoy the meth. It’ll help with the pain!” Conall shouted, laughing as the three left. I heard the front door slam, and the house was suddenly quiet. Filled with merciful silence.
I shuddered with emotions of fear, shame, but mostly anger.
Fuck you, Conall.
I rose quickly, tears of pain and rage welling in my eyes. I probed my cheekbone, wincing at the bruise that was starting to form already.
Don’t think makeup is gonna hide this one.
I strode to the table, picking up the bag of meth. I looked at it closely. It was yellow, with a strange blue hue that shone as I turned the bag under the kitchen light.
My first instinct was to flush it away before Conall had a chance to come back to ask if I’d enjoyed it. But then an idea came into my head. I felt a strange strength come over me, a grim resolve as I gritted my teeth.
I’m gonna take you down, Conall. Jack doesn’t know it yet, but he’s gonna help me. You won’t get away this time.
I put the meth in a drawer in my kitchen, a plan forming in my mind as I went upstairs to have a shower, double locking the front door on the way past.
NINE
Jack
I awoke early on Monday, eager to get started on what would hopefully be my case by the time I got into work. My mind had also been equally filled with thoughts of Eden, and I felt a tingle of excitement at the thought of seeing her again at the bar after work. Since Friday I’d found thoughts of her a pleasant distraction from what was otherwise an uneventful weekend. I’d been to see Kale, who was recovering well physically but still didn’t seem his usual, confident self. I didn’t expect him to be back at work any time soon.
I sure don’t want most of those other cops in my department as my partner. No, I’ll work this case alone until I have all the evidence I need.
There were a couple good reasons why I wanted to work the case on my own. First off, I knew it would be a fairly high-profile case, and I would be set to earn a great deal of prestige if I took down the O’Rourke gang. Also, you never knew who was listening. Hell, even straight cops talked about their cases to other cops and their families. I didn’t want word getting to Conall O’Rourke or any of his associates, or even details spilled to the corrupt cops would probably be just as bad.
I thought about what the old cop had said on Friday at the office. The way I figured, by the time the case was in full swing I was pretty sure they would have had a chat or two with Conall O’Rourke. If Conall w
as really good he’d have approached them, made some sort of offer in a dingy bar or restaurant somewhere, handing over a couple brown envelopes stuffed full of bills.
The old Conall I knew would have been too greedy, but this time he’d managed to pretty much corner the meth market in the town. If you went around killing and intimidating everybody, there’d be no dealers left to work for you and no cops to cover your tracks.
No, it seems Conall has smartened up at least a little since my time undercover. Maybe he’s been plotting this takeover since the day he left town. I better be damn careful.