Page 11 of Barrett

Because Barrett didn’t trust me. He didn’t think I was worthy enough to know how he felt. He couldn’t let himself open up.

His loss. I was damn well worth more than he thought.

5

BARRETT

The screen blurred in front of me. How long had I been looking at it? There was a mountain of documents to read through and videos to watch. Yet, nothing was concrete.

Young men were disappearing in Dremest. It wasn’t strictly on the eastern or western side. This involved the entire city. They were single men, aged eighteen through twenty-five. My gut told me they were being taken and trafficked, but nothing I’d found led me to that. Or to where they were at all.

Some were unhoused men who frequented shelters or slept on the street. Some were men who lived alone and were going about their day. Each one disappeared out of range of a camera. There was footage of them in front of buildings, in stores, at work, and then… gone.

The city couldn’t afford to put up more cameras. We weren’t exactly rolling in it. And the money the city did get certainly didn’t go to the police department. Jordan donated or fundraised the majority of it. He hated the East Dremest PD.

Although, this was something going on in his city. Maybe I could ask him for help. He had people all over the place. I also wondered if he already knew about this and had his ear to the ground, trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

I pushed back from my desk, the chair wheeling easily over the floor. I shut the lid of my laptop and put it into my bag. There was a mafia boss I had to see.

Except the chief stopped in front of me. There were other people between my lower rank and his at the top, yet for some reason he liked to get in my business all the damn time. “Where do you think you’re going, North?” He was tall, with more gut than muscle and a receding hairline. He honestly shouldn’t be in this role. He was as crooked as everyone else. He didn’t work for Jordan though. It was the opposite. He wanted Jordan behind bars.

When Vail’s ex, Gil, was missing, the chief wanted Jordan nailed for it. Gil had cozied up to the chief and become friends, all the while having him play into Gil’s hand. The more important people on Gil’s side, the easier it was for him to not face charges.

Gil had abused Vail for years. When Vail was free from him, Gil still kept tabs. When Vail fell for a mafia boss, Gil flew into a jealous rage. One thing led to another, and Gil staged his own disappearance, framing Jordan, while plotting to get Vail back.

Needless to say, it didn’t end well for Gil. There I was in the aftermath of Jordan’s fury, having to stage the mess so it didn’t look like Jordan and his men went on a murderous rampage.

“I was leaving to work on the case you gave me.” He didn’t only give it to me. There were others working it too.

“You can’t do that from here?” He knew damn well I couldn’t do it all from my desk, but he loved to push every one of my buttons. We despised each other.

“No, sir. I need to follow up on a few tips.” Calling him sir made me want to grind my teeth to dust. It went against everything inside me.

“Don’t fuck this up. Everyone is watching us. If we can solve it first, we’ll get the accolades.” Right, because that was what was important here. Solving the case before the West Dremest PD did. Not finding who was doing this, rescuing the men who were taken, and preventing it from happening again.

Instead of saying what I thought, I nodded. “Of course.”

He finally stepped out of the way so I could make my exit. I didn’t worry about leaving personal items out in the open on my desk. There was nothing here. I’d gotten teased about it over the years. The people I worked with knew I had a brother. They found it odd I never talked about him.

They also couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t fucking every eligible person in sight since I wasn’t tied down. I didn’t bother coming out to them. My choice of partner wasn’t their concern. So, I let them believe I was bi. I wasn’t about to hide my preference for men, but at the same time, pretending I liked women as well kept the bullshit to a minimum. These weren't the friendliest assholes. In fact, if I walked out the door and never saw them again, I’d consider myself lucky.

That wasn’t to say there weren’t good people here. There were. But, like me, they kept to themselves and became targets as well. Initially, I’d tried to stick up for them or befriend them, but no one was interested. I developed thefuck all of you, I don’t need youmantra. I could look after myself. I’d been doing it long enough already.

Outside, I kept my eyes forward as I found my SUV. It was new, thanks to my old car getting wrecked while parked. A guy who was too busy texting and not paying attention creamed it. I wasn’t in it, and no one was seriously hurt. The department gave me a Ford Explorer, one of a handful they’d just gotten in. I was surprised they didn’t give me something else. I wasn’t a favorite, but I was in need, and there was no reason not to hand one over.

I got inside and put my bag on the seat. Beating my head on the steering wheel was a solid idea, although I could be seen doing that, so I decided against it. Time to start it up and get the hell out of here.

Driving through the streets of East Dremest was where I was happiest while I worked. Sitting behind a desk didn’t thrill me. It was part of the job, so I did it because I needed to keep doing well. I wanted to be promoted again, but fuck, I loved being out here.

The problem I had now was I couldn’t contact Jordan while riding around in this—not with the cameras on it. So, I did what I’d told the chief I would: I stopped at a few of the businesses that had already been investigated and asked for their footage and if they’d seen anything. There was no harm in following up again. It looked like I was doing my job.

I was far enough away from my SUV when I noticed Jordan’s Maserati Quattroporte parked outside one of his businesses, a legit one, not the illegal kind. And it just so happened I had to go in there. I barely reached the front desk when there was a distinct growl behind me. A chill raced down my spine in the best way.

“Barrett,” Reghan ground out. I wasn’t Bear today. Good to know.

Spinning on my heel, I came face-to-face with six-foot-six of pure muscle and obvious hatred. He only had a few inches on me, but I felt at least a foot shorter in times like this. I couldn’t let him know that though.

I stood straighter and pasted on my best fake smile. We were in public, after all. Reghan could be pushed more here than if we were alone or no one was paying us any attention. “If it isn’t the local mafia’s favorite guard dog. How’s it going, Reghan? Did you help Jordan wipe his ass today?” That was my limit. Everything else from me during this encounter would be less poking the bear and more fanning the roaring flames.

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