And when the chief found out. I was dead.
Chapter Three
Not even enough time to hide the body later, the chief entered the office with his usual thumping stride. I was beginning to believe my life was an intricately choreographed series of disasters, each one perfectly timed to destroy my life, but not actually kill me.
I glanced over at Hawk, but he was already headed out the door to meet the chief in the main work area. The body lay slumped on the floor and I had some choice words for the asshole. Like neither of us would have tortured him; we were only going to make him think we would torture him. Way more effective and a whole lot less mess to clean up afterward.
Before I could make a quick escape, the chief shouted for me to join him and Hawk.
Okay, we were having it out in front of the entire office. Cool.
I sauntered out, trying to maintain a neutral expression and not glare at Hawk who sold me out in two seconds flat. “What’s up, chief?”
“Salix, did you grab that mage without an order?”
I swallowed the lump clogging my throat and then cleared it. “Well, chief, about that...”
He waved his hand and cut me off. “Unless the answer is ‘no, sir’ I don’t need you to elaborate further. My office so we can discuss this in private.”
Hawk turned to join us, but the chief put his hand out to stop him.
My stomach dropped.
No witnesses meant I was going to get my ass chewed up and then tossed out with the trash.
With a heavy heart, I followed the chief to his private office in the back, hands stuffed deep in my jacket pockets to keep from fidgeting.
It wasn’t like my behavior was a new thing. The chief often found me just outside the correct side when it came to our work. But I always got the job done.
The chief’s private office looked like something out of a Godfather movie and didn’t match the rest of the building. It made sense since the chief mostly lived here and had been caught a time or two sleeping on the old red couch in the corner.
As for the chief himself, although he was pushing sixty he still looked like he could bench press a small car. He kept his head and his face cleanly shaven to show off the wicked scar which bisected the right side of his face from forehead to chin.
“Sit down, Salix. We need to have a little conversation. It seems my orders aren’t penetrating that thick skull of yours.”
“Sir...”
“Nope, you don’t talk. I don’t need any input from you. All I want to see is your head nodding along with mine when I give you a directive. Can you do that?”
He nodded, and I gritted my teeth and nodded along with him.
“Excellent start. So, you ignored Hawk when he tried to start the interrogation, that much is obvious. You brought in a target we didn’t have orders for, despite the unions breathing down our necks about standards and safety. I also heard on the way you were fighting with this mage in the street.”
I folded in my lips and sat on my hands. I didn’t need to add anything else to get me into trouble.
“How many free passes do you think I’m going to give you, Zoey?”
I met his eyes at the use of my first name. His tone finally softened the slightest bit. I knew better than to consider it an opening though. Even if he had asked a question.
He continued. “And Hawk...why did he go along with helping you after you were clearly in violation of the office’s rules? I know he doesn’t condone bringing in targets without orders.”
I couldn’t hold my silence any longer. “This whole thing wasn’t Hawk’s fault. He argued with me. I’m just pretty persuasive when I want to be.”
The chief snorted and plopped into an overstuffed armchair he used as his desk chair. “Oh, I know that, Zoey. But Hawk is my right hand. He shouldn’t be easily persuaded by anyone but me. Explain to me why you did this.”
I sucked in a breath, using it to try and think of an answer, a lie. “I was on a case, and he was part of a follow up.”
I tried to piece together bits of what I’d told Hawk or Simon before, but I had to admit my story was starting to get a little blurry even for me to follow.