Chapter 55 BLOOD TRAIL (ii)

Chapter 55 BLOOD TRAIL (ii)
I stayed silent, keeping my eyes fixed on the passenger window, refusing to give him the promise he wanted. 

After a while, he let out a heavy, defeated sigh, his fingers tightening on the wheel as he guided the car back into our garage.

When we parked and entered the main floor, we met the rest of the crew already there. 

Kael, Leo, and Mina were seated on the couch, their eyes glued to the television set mounted on the wall, which was showing a breaking news report.

“...an horrific event happened at a branch of Trust Bank this afternoon.” The reporter announced in a grim tone. “The victim is rumoured to be a retired detective whose identity is still unknown.” 

They all looked up at us as we walked in, their eyes widening as they saw my blood-speckled boots. Then immediately looked back toward the news report.

“Why is there blood on your boot?” Leo asked, his voice incredulous as he pointed a finger at the screen, then back to my shoes. "Did you do that?" 

I looked down. “Nope.”

“Just nope?” Leo asked. “That’s your response?”

"Oh, fuck, no, I did not," I replied immediately.

“Oh thank goodness,” Mina said, relief in her voice. “So how did things go with the detective? Did you get anything useful?”

"That was Detective Miller." I said, nodding at the TV, my voice flat as I dropped into a sofa. 

The room went so silent that the hum of the television felt deafening.

"Shit," Kael muttered, running a hand through his hair.

Jax dropped into a chair nearby, looking completely exhausted, his shoulders dropping. "Yeah. Shit is right."

“What happened?" Mina asked, her voice shaking slightly as she walked over to the cabinet to grab a garbage bag.

I unlaced my boots with numb fingers, pulling them off and dropping them into the plastic bag she held out. 

"He said he had the real evidence concerning the Cruz massacre," I replied. “We went to the bank to get it from his safety deposit box. But someone got to him."

A cold sweat broke out over Leo’s forehead as his eyes flashed to the television. 

Mina shook her head aggressively, dropping the garbage bag onto the floor for it to be properly cleaned later. 

"Let's just stop it, Si," she said, shaking her head. “From today we can see Maddox doesn’t want anyone digging into that. And we all know how awful he can be when he wants to. We can’t handle his heat.”

“Fuck,” Kael muttered, his eyes widening. “Do we even know if the killer saw you with Miller?"

"There is a huge possibility in that," Jax supplied from his chair, his eyes dark. "We don't know if they followed us from the mall, or if they were already waiting at the bank. We don't know how they knew we were coming.” He sighed with frustration. “We don't know anything."

“How was he even able to do that in a federal bank?” Mina mused, her voice awed. 

Kael shrugged. "Well, that is also Maddox’s territory. It wouldn't be a surprise if some of the workers in the bank are on his payroll, especially the security guards. People would just look the other way while they carried out the hit."

"Yeah," Leo muttered, wiping his brow. "That makes more sense. That sounds like the Ice King's style."

I stayed quiet, my fingers tracing the sofa’s armrest. My mind wasn't on whether it was Kanan's style or not. It was on the half-sentence Miller had choked out while he was dying in the pooling blood.

“He was here. There's an—”

What was he trying to say to me? 

I felt a heavy gaze on my face and looked up to see Jax staring at me, his eyes narrow and sharp.

"What?" I snapped.

"I don't know. You tell me," he said, his voice flat. "You've got that look on your face again."

The rest of the crew turned toward me.

"What look?" I muttered, defensive.

Leo let out a heavy sigh. "The look of trouble, Si. What is it?"

"I was just thinking," I said, leaning forward and resting my hands on my knees. "Where was Miller staying before this whole thing happened?"

The entire room groaned.

Leo released a dry, humorless chuckle, shaking his head. "Of course. Of course you're asking that."

"No, listen to me," I insisted, my voice urgent. "We've already started this journey. It's better if we end it well. Leo, can you find out where he was staying?"

“He was staying at the Riverside Motel.” Kael replied before Leo could. “Room 12."

He shrugged when we all looked at him in surprise. “I was watching because ‘cause Si said to.”

Cold resolve settling into my chest. "Let's go there."

They all stared at me like I had completely lost my mind. 

"Now?" Mina gasped.

"Yes, of course," I said, my voice hardening. "Before the police get to it, we need to go to that motel and see if he left anything behind."

"Sienna, we just left the body," Jax growled, standing up to face me. "The police will see you with the body when they check the security footage from the bank. If they saw you crawling around his motel room too, it wouldn't be funny. Getting onto the police radar is the last thing we should be doing.”

“Especially now that you want to work with Maddox," Kael added. “The man is trying to go clean; he won’t want a police suspect on his payroll."

I paused, the logic of their words slowing me down for one brief second. 

Should I risk it? Should I just stay back and let this lead go cold?

Then my bastard ex-husband's cold face flashed through my mind. 

"No," I said, my voice firm with finality. "I am going. Whether you come with me or not.”

Detective Miller was dead and whatever answers he had died with him... unless they were still waiting somewhere inside that motel room.