Chapter 36 MAYBE A CRIME
Linda caught me off guard when she slammed the brake without warning, jerking me forward. The seatbelt dug into my chest, holding me back, while a sharp ache pressed against the back of my neck.
"Linda! Are you trying to get us killed?" I snapped, my hand instantly moving to rub the sore spot at my neck before my gaze landed on her.
She wasn't even looking at the road. She was staring at me-wide-eyed, pale-like I was a ghost that had just materialized in front of her.
"What do you mean by Linda is missing?" Her voice was sharp, laced with disbelief after what felt like an eternity of tense silence.
I inhaled, steadying myself. "Remember when I stepped out to pick a call that day at the bar?"
She gave a short nod, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Well... it turned out she was reassigned by the loan shark's agent. And this time-" I paused, my chest tightening, "-she was sent straight to Ravyn Vale."
Linda's lips parted as her eyes widened. For a full minute she just stared at me, confusion and horror written boldly across her face.
"Mia was assigned to Ravyn Vale?" she repeated, her voice rising. "How the hell is that possible? I thought you said Ravyn Vale was tangled in a case that forced him to leave town. How would Mia cross paths with him? Or-" her words quickened with panic, "-was she deliberately sent to his location?"
Her questions cut into me like knives, demanding answers I didn't have.
"If I had answers, Linda, I wouldn't be sitting here looking this lost," I said, my voice cracking. "I wouldn't have risked my own life flying to Brentmere to track Mia at the last address she gave me. Do you think I'd put myself through that if I knew anything?" My words rushed out as I struggled to breathe.
My chest felt heavy, my thoughts scattered. Every memory of Mia's frightened whisper echoed in my head, and I hated how helpless I sounded.
"Wait-what?" Linda blinked hard. "You went to Brentmere? To find Mia? And what do you mean by her last location?" Her face mirrored my turmoil: lost, frantic, barely holding it together.
I swallowed hard. "After she told me she was with Ravyn Vale, I demanded she send me an address. She did. Lennox Luxe Hotel, downtown Brentmere. That was the last message she ever sent. After that, her phone went dead. No calls. No replies. Nothing. So I went after her." I spoke quickly, averting my gaze to avoid Linda's piercing stare.
"Nancy..." she whispered, suspicion dripping from her tone. "What did you do?"
"Nothing," I shot back too quickly, forcing a breath I didn't believe in myself. "I just went there to find Mia."
Her brows furrowed. "Or maybe... you went there to find Ravyn Vale."
The accusation hit harder than I expected. A long sigh escaped me, my shoulders slumping under the weight of guilt.
"Well-yes, at first I did," I admitted, my voice low, heavy. "I thought if I could find him, I could unravel everything. But when I walked into Lennox Luxe, I realized too late... Mia was gone. And so was Ravyn Vale." The guilt twisted in my chest, forcing me to look away.
Linda dragged her hand through her hair, exhaling hard, as though she was piecing the puzzle together faster than I could. "So let me get this straight-Mia called you about Ravyn Vale. Then she sent you the hotel's address. After that, she vanished. Just like that." Her voice turned sharp, like she was interrogating me, every word striking like a gavel. She quickly scribbled into her notebook, her frustration bleeding through each movement.
"First," she muttered, "we need to figure out why Ravyn Vale was at the Lennox Luxe Hotel."
But. I already knew.
"It was because of the party," I finally whispered, my voice trembling. Linda's pen froze mid-air, her eyes lifting from the notebook. She studied me sharply, her gaze locking onto mine.
"What party?" she asked, her tone low but demanding.
I let out a heavy sigh, struggling to decide where to even begin. "When I got to Lennox Luxe Hotel, they refused to let me in. The security claimed the hotel was fully booked for the entire week, but that only made me more suspicious. I wanted to leave since Mia hadn't officially been reported missing, and I didn't have enough evidence to prove she was last seen there. But then..." I paused, the memory flashing vividly in my head, "...a bus arrived. It dropped off a group of girls."
Linda's brow furrowed.
"They were young, Linda. Too young. Most of them were barely in their twenties, the rest no older than their late twenties. At first, I just wanted to know what they were doing there, but they all looked so confused, so lost, like they didn't know what they'd gotten themselves into. And then, two security guards appeared and started leading them inside. That's when I... I slipped in with the crowd."
By the time I was done, Linda's mouth was hanging open in shock.
"Why on earth would you do that?!" she burst out, slapping her palm against her forehead. "How could you just follow them in?"
"I know it was reckless. Insane, even," I admitted, my stomach twisting as I realized just how careless I had been. "But I needed answers, Linda. I couldn't just walk away."
"And you didn't think-" she leaned forward, her voice rising, "-that there was a reason security kept you out? A reason that was probably dangerous?"
Her words hit, but all I could focus on was Mia. My heart was screaming her name. "That doesn't matter right now," I shot back, my voice shaking with urgency. "What matters is finding Mia. What matters is helping those girls I saw-girls who had no choice but to be there, trapped, paying off debts they could never escape from." The image of their hollow eyes and hesitant steps burned in my mind, breaking me a little more.
Linda let out a long sigh, her shoulders slumping. When she looked at me again, there was defeat in her eyes. "There's little to nothing we can do, Nancy. Those girls... they're not here, in Hollowmere."
Her hopeless tone felt like a slap, but I refused to accept it. "We can do something," I pressed, desperation sharpening every word. "If we take Ravyn Vale's case from the head officer, everything changes. He told me himself-we ask for what we need, and it'll be provided. But I can't do this alone, Linda. I need you. Please."
She shook her head slowly. "It's dangerous, Nancy. This isn't just a case-it's a war. A war we don't fully understand."
"I know that," I whispered, leaning closer, pleading. "But it's all we have. It's the only way to save Mia. To put men like Ravyn Vale behind bars, where they belong. And I don't want to take this case unless you're with me. I promised you a safer assignment, I know I did. But right now, I need you. I need all of you."
Silence stretched between us. Linda didn't answer, but her shoulders slumped further, like the weight of Ravyn Vale's name alone was already breaking her down.
"Let's just head to the station," I finally muttered, the lump in my throat making it hard to speak. "I have a phone call to make."
"Fine," she said at last, her voice strained. "We'll take the case. But, Nancy-no more reckless moves. I mean it. How could all of this happen and you not bother to call me until now?" Her frustration was sharp, but I barely registered it.
Relief surged through me, overwhelming everything else. I threw my arms around her in a hug. "Thank you, Linda," I whispered against her shoulder. Pulling back, I lifted my right hand like I was swearing an oath. "I promise-the head officer can handle the dangerous work. We'll just do the rest."
"Now, if I didn't know you, I'd believe you could stay out of trouble-but you, Detective Nancy, are trouble itself," Linda said, and I only chuckled before she kicked the engine on, pulling us back onto the road toward the office.
"Okay, first things first. If we're going to find Ravyn Vale, we might as well start with Lennox Luxe Hotel. We need to get our hands on their CCTV footage," Linda said, sounding determined.
But I already knew the chances of that happening were slim-very slim. "I doubt that will be possible. That party wasn't just any ordinary party, Linda. It was crawling with top politicians, men with money and power. There's no way they'll ever let us touch those tapes," I replied, falling into heavy thought. Then it hit me-Jaxon Lennox. I can't believe I almost forgot about him.
"So what do we do then? We can't possibly sit back and wait for Ravyn Vale to appear again," Linda said, her frustration sharp in her tone. Meanwhile, my mind wrestled with whether or not to tell her about the deal I had made with Jaxon Lennox. If she knew, she'd lose her mind-but what other choice do I have? None.
She's going to freak out.
"Actually, there's something I didn't tell you," I began, biting down on my lower lip as Linda's gaze cut toward me, sharp and suspicious, before returning to the road.
"And what would that be?" she asked, her voice low, edged with distrust.
"While I was inside... I met Jaxon Lennox. And I might have... kind of made a deal with him."
The tires screeched, a crushing brake tearing through the silence as Linda slammed on the pedal. The sudden stop threw us both off balance, the car jerking violently.
Linda. Not again.