Chapter 3

Anastasia:

“Nasia, if you keep this up; you will end up losing your job” Blake said as I drove toward the murder scene. This was the fifth one this month, and the pattern which would have usually taken a month or two to repeat itself has become too frequent for anyone’s liking “and how the hell are you sure that it’s another Z case anyway?”

“A pattern was followed, and it’s like the person is leaving the people on the same trail. Plus, he left him beside the car” I answered as I sped up, avoiding the cars as I did. They mostly moved out of the way at the sound of the sirens, but I still needed to reach the scene as fast as I could before the FBI claimed it as their case “as for Elijah, the man killed someone right before my eyes…”

“To save your life, Anastasia. Yes, it’s not right, but the system…”

“What the bloody hell are they doing here?” I asked stopping Blake. Blake followed my gaze to find Elijah and Yaroslav standing by the dead body, a few black cars were parked around him. Men in suits swarmed the area as they ‘guarded’ their boss.

I parked the car and got out of it, heading toward Elijah who was standing in a nearby distance as the FBI agents scanned the area for any proof. The yellow straps surrounded the victim and the car which was beside him as to keep anyone from approaching. The special forces stood around the body as to ‘stop’ the Volkovs from approaching.

“What are you doing here?”

“I don’t believe that it concerns you, Anastasia” Elijah answered glaring at me, his stance different than that of when he was alone with me, and I knew the reason; his men were around.

“This is a crime scene that doesn’t concern you”

“It does, malyshka. The man who was killed is one of MY men; therefore, if I’m letting your agents scan the area, it’s because I want to find out who did it” Elijah’s eyes were fixed on the man who was laying on the ground “his name is Alexander Volkov, one of my family members…”

“He has the Z mark, boss” the FBI agent said speaking to his deputy. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I heard his words and Elijah kept his eyes on me, wanting to understand what that means.

“Another Z case it is, then” Blake said walking toward the agent. He knew that he had to tell them that this was our case, and that their services weren’t needed for now. We have been tracing the case for a long while now for them to be claiming it now.

“I told you so” I said over my shoulder. I heard Blake mutter a few swear words before I turned my attention toward the mafia Pakhan who stood in front of me, studying my expression as he waited.

“I’m going t ask you a question though it may seem somewhat irrelevant to you, but did Alexander have any enemies?” I asked “I mean those who weren’t associated with you guys? Or those who wanted him dead? Someone who he’s been in conflict with?”

“Need I ask why?” Elijah asked.

“I’ll explain later, but I need to know the answer to the question as it might help lead us to something” Elijah shook his head in response and I sighed but nodded. The man wouldn’t be lying in such a state; that was something that I knew. He didn’t care enough to lie to begin with, and that was the main reason why I hated his existence. He would fulfil the crime as if it was nothing and would expect it to be accepted because he knew that he wouldn’t be getting in trouble for it.

“I’ll pass by your place to ask a few questions later”

“As if I would let you in”

“I’ll use force major and we both know that regardless your position; you need to respect the fact that I’m a cop” I said glaring at him “be sure to clear the house if any of the cops come with me to search. I personally won’t, not this time anyway, but I can’t say the same about the rest of the team”

“Whatever you want to ask, you can ask here”

“I don’t think that a crime scene is the best place to be investigating, finding answers, or listening to them” I said rolling my eyes at the man who I knew was debating on whether or not he should listen to me. He nodded before looking at the dead man on the ground.

“What are you going to do about him?”

“I don’t interfere with your job and you don’t interfere with mine. It’s already a while past midnight, I’ll be at your place tomorrow morning”

“Funny, you broke into one of my bars earlier tonight to ‘put it down’ interfering with my business” he stated coldly, his eyes were fixed on my own and I couldn’t help but notice how his jawline clenched proving that he was angry.

“We’re in front of the other cops, and you know the rules” Elijah looked behind me, probably looking at Blake who was most likely staring at us before nodding. I hated to admit that the two of us understood one another and knew how to get along everything despite the feud that we had.

“I’ll be waiting for you in the morning”

*******************

“You’re going where to do what?” Blake asked wide eyed. I just arrived to the station to pick my things up from my desk before heading out. I knew that Elijah would have been waiting for me and the earlier I got out of here, the earlier I would be back. I had told him about it yesterday, and also told him that he would be coming with me, but the man didn’t take me seriously and was no surprised that I was indeed being dead serious. This was an opportunity that I wasn’t going to lose. Of course, Blake didn’t agree with me on it being an opportunity, but he had no other option that no comply especially since he knew that I would be going either way.

“We, my beloved darling, I never said I. The two of us are headed to the Volkov Estate to speak to Elijah. If he’s the man’s boss, then he might know something about whoever Z was, and we aren’t stupid enough as to lose a chance that literally came to us on a golden plate” I said tucking my gun in the waistband of my jeans, making sure that I had extra bullets with me in my pocket, I turned toward the door expecting Blake to follow me. I could hear the man muttering behind me, but he did nothing to stop me as he went to get his own briefcase.

“You are going to be the death of me”

“And you are going to be thanking me when you’ve received the promotion you’ve been seeking for months when we solve this case”

“IF we solve this case. You do realize that we’ve been trying to trace this case for almost a year now to no avail, right?” Blake said being as negative as I expected him to be. I had to fight back punching him in the face for it, but I also couldn’t blame him for being worried.

“Yes, and the more we search, the closer we get” I said driving off. Blake shook his head and cursed me under his breath making me laugh. The two of us have been colleagues since I was assigned as a cop when I turned twenty-one. I was twenty-five now, and he was officially my partner.

“I just hope that you don’t risk your life trying to solve this case, again” Blake teased taking my hand in his. He kissed my knuckle as he did and I couldn’t help but laugh at his statement knowing how many times I have been put in life or death situations until now. I removed my hand from his and put it on the steering wheel knowing that he wouldn’t try taking it in his again.

“That’s bound to happen, darling. You just need to be mentally prepared for it. Plus, you of all people should be used to it by now”