Page 28 of Exposé

"Anything else?"

I shook my head.

"What about the raids? Have you looked into that?"

"Not yet." Rolling my lips, I flipped through another page. "I was hoping I'd have more information on the drug—"

"The drug isn't the story, Ava."

I gave a subtle nod. "That's what Aria said."

"She's a smart girl." Whitney leaned back in her chair and placed her hands on her stomach, her blue polka-dotted romper standing out against her gold hoop earrings. "Follow the anonymous source."

"I'm trying to, but he hasn't reached out yet, and it's already been a week."

She shook her head. "No. What I mean is, your source didn't send you to a drug bust on the side of the road so you could find the drug. He sent you to a drugraidbecause those aren't usual. Correct?"

"I guess." My brows furrowed.

"How much more did you say they'd had lately?"

I flipped through another page containing my documented conversation with Liam. "Three in the last week."

"You don't findthatsuspicious?" Whitney leaned forward and typed something on her computer, her long, decorated nails clacking against the keys.

"I mean, yes, but—"

"Last year in Riverfield, we had twelve…twelveraids. And you didn't think to look into the reason why we've had such an uptick? Honestly, Ava. Why do I keep you around if you can't use critical thinking skills when they’re needed?"

My stomach bottomed out, and a leap of acid hit the back of my throat. "I'm sorry. I thought I'd investigate the new drug and see where it took me."

"It took you nowhere. Did you look to see if all of the raids were dealers of this new drug?"

Shit.

"No."

"I see." Whitney sucked in a deep breath through her nose and sat back in her seat, resuming her previous position. "I'll give you a one-week extension because I want to see where this story goes, but you need to do it on the raids, not on drugs."

I nodded and swallowed my heart in my throat. "Okay. I'll talk to my contact at RPD and see what I can find out." Standing, I closed my folder. "Thank you. I won't let you down."

"See that you don't. I'd hate to lose such a talent."

Unease settled in my bones, wracking my body with a frostbitten chill as I left her office.

"Well, how did it go?" Aria said as she bounded up to me. "Oh God." She paused, dipping her head down. "Not good, I'm guessing, judging by your pallor."

"My pallor?"

"Yeah, Ava. You're pale as hell. What did she say?"

I looked over my shoulder as I made my way back to my desk. "She threatened to fire me if I didn't come up with something in a week."

"Okay, that's nothing new. She threatens me atleasttwice a week."

I plopped my folder onto my desk, dropped into my seat, and snagged the bottled water, downing half.

My mouth remained parched, and a slight twinge in my temples signaled a pounding headache on the horizon.

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