Page 6 of Exposé

He shook his head. “Something new. We hadn’t seen it before until recently.”

“What is it?”

“NeuraZene. Ever heard of it?”

“No. Should I have?” My head snapped back to him as my face screwed up in confusion.

“Yeah, I mean maybe. Depends on what side of the tracks you visit.” Liam chuckled as he leaned into the side of the car. “The kids started calling it Nzene and they’re all losing their minds over it.”

“Like literally, or they are excited?”

“Depends on the person. The side effects are all over the place. Hallucinations, catatonia, insomnia, paranoia, psychosis, lethargy. You name it.”

Interesting.

“Okay, so why are they—“

“This is bullshit.” The lean man bucked against the officers, dragging him towards a squad car.

“Buchanan.” Liam threw a look over his shoulder at the officer calling his name from the porch. “You better get over here.”

“Roger.” He glanced back at me. “You better get going, Ava. It’s not safe out here at night.”

I nodded as I shuffled my feet in the pebbles coating the street.

Sixty percent of sexual assaults happens during the night.

I shook my head free of the anxiety-inducing stats and fixed my attention on Liam. “Thanks, but you know I can handle myself.”

He spun around and grabbed the clipboard out of the squad car. “Yeah, but I’d rather you not be staring down the barrel of that situation if you catch my drift.”

Liam held the thick metal clipboard up into the air as he ran back to the team. “Found it.”

I spun on my heels, my brows tight as I gnawed on the end of my thumbnail.

Okay.

So, is this about drugs?

Or the police?

How am I supposed to determine the story here?

I peeked over my shoulder at the scene behind me as they carted off the alleged drug dealers in separate police cars, my shin grazing against my bumper, causing a slight stumble.

Plopping into my car, I locked the doors and dug out my pen and paper, notating the information Liam fed me.

A new drug.

Anonymous tips…

The same tip as me?

Uptick in drug busts.

I glanced up as a detective stepped out onto the porch with a massive black duffel bag in his gloved hands.

What does NeuraZene look like?

---