FOUR

Chapter 4 Aviana

Aviana’s heart thumped faster faster than she could catch her breath

The redhead had been here just a minute ago.

Where the hell did he go?

How could he even move?

She wondered, looking around in confusion.

No sign of him.

This didn't make any sense…

She proceeded towards her bedroom, her gun in hand now. He couldn't have gone far.

She came back to the living room and then made her way to the backdoor where she found that her backdoor was slightly ajar. It was then she noticed the trail of blood leading to the door.

Something was up and she didn't like what her mind was telling her.

Knowing he couldn't have gotten far, she marched towards the door and carefully opened it, afraid that he might be lurking around somewhere or worse, someone had come to get him or something and he was lurking somewhere ready to kill her. There was no way he'd be able to walk out of here with his leg and hands injured.

She scanned the yard, her senses on high alert.

The night air seemed to have frozen in place, killing every night creature in sight. The silence was deafening and Aviana didn't like it. The last time the night sky was like that, she'd been called by the chief and her case has been taken away from her.

She felt like she was being watched but at the same time, she didn't sense anyone’s presence.

Her eyes landed on the staircase

She followed the smell of blood, her senses on high alert as she tried to find the redhead, she moved now, following the trail of blood until it stopped somewhere close to the road.

It was like he'd disappeared.

Aviana wasn't about to give up though, she drove back to the bar but couldn't find the redhead.

“Shit! Shit!” She cursed, hitting her steering wheel over and over again, Ignoring the pain.

Her one chance to get direct Intel on the Mafia was gone, not just that, she'd probably been responsible for shooting her colleague; detective Salone.

How had things gone so bad within the span of a fucking day?!

Everything was going terribly for her but she wasn't about to give up. Not when she'd come this far.

She'd confessed what had happened to the chief tomorrow and whatever happens to career, happens but for now, she had to think.

***

Aviana woke up to the sound of her ringing alarm. She begrudgingly grabbed her phone from the dresser and turned it off.

She'd only slept for two hours or less. She had no idea. She'd been up all night trying to piece together everything that had happened last night. She'd still not found a single trace of the redhead and wondered how he'd escaped

She'd even asked Dory about it in the most single way she could manage and Dory had told her a man with injuries like that couldn't walk.

Aviana threw the bed cover off her and jumped to shower.

She was at the precinct within an hour.

As soon as she passed through the glass door, the first person she came face to face with was Chief Donovan.

Detective Douglas, see me in my office

His stomach twisted into knots.

She knew exactly what he was going to do, he was going to accuse her of shooting at Detective Salone and fire her on the spot.

She was prepared, Hell, maybe being a detective has held her back enough. It was time she went solo.

With her coffee ín hand, she followed the chief through the old marble covered hallway into his office.

“Have a seat, Miss Grey,”

Aviana nodded, ignoring the knot getting tighter and tighter in her stomach.

She hesitated just not before pulling out an old looking chair from under the mahogany desk and sitting down.

Aviana stared at the bald spot on his head as she waited for the inevitable.

“Do you know why you are in my office today?”

“No, sorry,” She answered with a straight face that it was hard to tell what she was thinking.

“Well, Salone was at a bar last night and was shot… he's currently in the hospital, he's going to be alright but it's going to take a bit of time for him to recover. I want you to take his case… only till he's back on his feet in three months that is…if you haven't been able to bring results by then, you are off the job”

Aviana blinked.

“Y…you are giving me the case?’

She'd not been expecting that at all.

“Indeed. Here is your case file. You worked on it before… you can start now…”

He handed Aviana the file.

Did he not know about the shoot out?

Aviana wondered briefly.

It had been at the Boulevard bar, there was no way Salone hadn't seen her, right?

Then again, if she hadn't seen him, then maybe he didn't notice her, she was after all mostly hiding behind a dumpster.

A smile crept onto her face and she stood up abruptly. “I won't let you down, sir,”

The Chief responded by rolling his eyes.

“Get on with it then,”

Aviana nodded. “Of course,”

Without wasting a second more, she made her way out of the detective's office.

“Why are you smiling?” Timothy asked.

“Because, Tim, I got the case.

“ Aviana grinned wide

It was the first time she's seen smile before

“I guess we get ready for the case, huh?” Timothy asked and Aviana nodded.

“Damn straight!”

It was about five hours later when Aviana was arranging her case file when she find something on the internet:

.

An opening for a job.

At first, it didn't look like much, until she discovered who the listing was from.

It was from the Iron Vine Mafia. She recognized them.

“Everything okay? Timothy asked,”

“I just found something. The iron vine are looking for an accountant,”

“What? How do you know that?” Timothy who'd been at the window going through the evidence asked,

Aviana turned her computer to face him.

“I've been following them on the dark web for years. This is the first time I've seen an opening. This is the perfect way to infiltrate,”

Aviana pointed, her excitement palpable.

“We gotta let the chief know,”

“Way ahead of you,” Aviana said as she rose…

Finally, her chance had come. It was time to take down the Iron vine and find her mother's killer and destroy everything they stood for.