Chapter #6

((Zara Lang))

What else am I supposed to do?

That question had been circling in my head for the past thirty minutes. It was infuriating. I was still angry.

Failure wasn't anything new to me when it came to missions.

But for some reason, this failure stung far more than the others. Eiser had gotten under my skin like no one else.

I jabbed the elevator button harder than necessary, as if taking out my frustration on it. My blood was still boiling. Just thirty minutes ago, a devastatingly handsome man looked like he wanted me more than anything.

Then that same man threw me away.

God.

I growled inwardly.

I had been so close to getting Eiser to let his guard down. Just a little longer, and I could have started digging for information about where he kept the evidence of all his crimes.

I was also convinced he was behind the string of serial killings that had dominated the news lately. Every victim had one thing in common—they were all connected to Eiser.

There was the city's biggest drug kingpin, found dead inside his own laboratory. Then came the cross-border illegal arms supplier, whose body had been discovered most recently.

Before that, the mastermind behind a human trafficking network had turned up dead. I would never forget how dramatic it had been when Danny and I tracked down the money-laundering suspect.

Or the time Danny and I found the lifeless body of a legendary contract killer buried beneath a pile of snow on New Year's Day.

A hitman who had never once failed a mission.

That discovery had felt like hitting the jackpot for Danny and me.

But it had also become the trap that tied every one of those deaths to a single name.

Reins Eiser.

I headed down to the lobby, where Danny was already waiting for me. I'd texted him earlier, asking him to pick me up at Hotel Noirvelle.

“Danny,” I called to the man in the green plaid shirt.

He turned around and immediately walked over. "Are you okay?"

Concern was written all over his face.

“I'm fine.”

Danny let out a relieved sigh before handing me a paper bag filled with clean clothes.

“Change into these. You're attracting everyone's attention, here.”

I couldn't care less about being the center of attention.

But my outfit was incredibly uncomfortable.

I accepted the paper bag and went to find somewhere to change.

I slipped out of the damned black mini dress and stuffed it into the bag, replacing it with a loose black flannel shirt and a pair of dark jeans.

Danny's choice caught me by surprise. Somehow, he knew I'd been wishing I could change back into clothes like these just a few hours ago. 

“So, did you find out where he went?" I asked as soon as I finished changing. We walked toward the Jeep together.

“I had someone tail him, but…” Danny sighed before shaking his head. “His car disappeared.”

Fuck.

That meant we'd lost Eiser.

I bit the inside of my cheek until I could taste blood.

God, tracking down Reins Eiser was unbelievably difficult.

“Dann,” I called.

“Yeah?”

“We need a new plan. Eiser isn't the kind of man who'd fall for a honey trap.”

Danny nodded. “So… you’re admitting you failed?”

I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw.

I hated admitting such a humiliating defeat.

“It's okay, Z. Eiser's a tough opponent.”

Danny was right.

I'd rushed into the plan.

Pretending to be a nightclub hostess to seduce a man as cunning as Eiser had been far too obvious.

“So, where do we go?”

I took a deep breath before making my decision.

“CID,” I said firmly. “We need to rebuild our strategy. And I want to review every CCTV recording and every movement Eiser made before he disappeared.”

“Okay. I'll have the others get everything ready.”

Danny started the Jeep, and we drove away from Hotel Noirvelle. 

***

I replayed the CCTV footage in my office at CID. Danny was right. Eiser's black sedan disappeared the moment it entered a blind spot at the intersection. The next camera never picked it up again.

It was as if the car had simply vanished into the darkness.

Danny pushed open my office door, carrying a cup of coffee, and set it down on my desk.

“Find anything?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“Any leads besides the footage?” I asked.

Danny shook his head, pulled out a chair, and sat across from me.

“About that…” His voice dropped to little more than a whisper. “Have you heard the latest?”

This time, I was the one who shook my head.

“There's one thing all the victims have in common. The serial murder victims weren’t just connected to Reins Eiser. They were also…”

Danny trailed off instead of finishing his sentence. He slid his chair closer to mine.

“Also what?” I asked impatiently.

“Listen... they all had dealings with Double W.”

“You're talking about White Wolf Holdings?” I turned to him sharply.

Danny fixed me with a serious look.

“This is still classified, so keep your voice down, Z.”

Within the police department, the company was more commonly referred to as Double W. A logistics and retail conglomerate that had long been regarded as one of the city’s greatest success stories.

“They're a publicly traded company, Dan.”

“On paper, yes.” Danny held my gaze. “Unofficially... no one really knows.”

I fell silent, turning his words over in my mind.

A moment later, I looked up at him.

“I need to dig deeper into Double W,” I said firmly.

Danny let out a weary sigh.

“If I told you not to, you'd go anyway, wouldn’t you?”

I didn’t answer.

We both already knew the answer.

***