Page 11 of The Dark Side

Adrik snapped his head back to his father. The mere comment made his blood boil. Who else would his father employ? There was no one good enough to handle their family name. It belonged to Adrik. He spent years to gain it, and to threaten him was an insult.

Adrik thought about fighting against it. There was evidence in their profits that Adrik’s changes had made a difference, but he had worked too hard to become the heir to lose it because of his pride. He fisted his hand, and said, “I can do that.”

“Good.”

Chapter five

FBI

Jolieshiveredfromthecold sting of the metal chair as she sat at a table in an interrogation room. A mirror revealed her reflection, a detestable sight that proved she wasn't as fearless as she hoped she looked. She took her fingers away from her mouth, sneering at the broken, chewed nails. She could hear the chastisement from her mother since she was in seventh grade.

Jolie watched the clock tick by minute after minute. Her body shivered from the cold and emotional turmoil she was going through. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours, and it felt like a week. More and more images from the shootout were attacking her. She replayed the event over a dozen times. Most of her actions were survival mode, so she didn't hate on herself for hiding cowardly in a candy shelf. What she did chastise herself about was how she spoke to the mobsters.

They could have killed me at any moment.

Jolie didn't know where the attitude came from. She was typically sweet and a friendly person. But in the middle of 'fight or flight,' she lost her consideration for others.

The door popped open, and she flinched. She hated how every sound since the shootout resonated like ground-shaking thunder.

"Miss Bell. I'm Special Agent Mally with the FBI." The fifty-year-old black woman in a gray suit stretched out her hand. Jolie shook it with a forced tight smile, trying not to let the woman's superior title whittle away her courage. "You are the last of my interviews for today," she announced happily, sitting in the stiff chair like it was a throne.

"I'm happy for you," Jolie sweetly said.

Mally opened her folder, sifting through papers, trying to decide where she wanted to start. "I'm sorry that you were involved in this terrible situation. I'm glad you weren't hurt. Many can't say the same." She plopped three photos in front of Jolie. Three dead people were covered in bullet wounds and blood.

Jolie slapped a hand over her mouth and looked away.

Mally sat back and watched, taking in every reaction, trying to assess the truth behind each flinch and emotion. She felt guilty for a moment, but that went away as it usually does. "This was caused by a blood feud between opposing gang members. Do you know which gang members they are?"

Jolie shook her head, wiping a tear from her cheek while she refused to look back at the table.

"These people shouldn't have died." Mally leaned in, pointing. "Xander, 24, buying formula for his newborn baby. Ginger, 33, paying for gas after working at the hospital as an ER nurse. And Paul. A homeless guy who's been a friend of mine for a while. So, I'm personally invested in finding out who did this."

"I'm sorry. I don't know."

Mally hated it when they lied. It was annoying, and it wasted time. "You're a good girl, Jolie. You pay your taxes, obey traffic laws, and you even turned in your boyfriend for robbing a bank. I'm sure he didn't like that. Did you guys break up?"

Jolie didn't want to feed into it, but that situation had escalated and stuck with her for years afterward. It was another reason why she had to get out of that town. 'Snitch' was pinned to the back of her head everywhere she went. No one would have cared if her boyfriend had been anyone else but the star quarterback.

Jolie nodded.

Mally shifted back in her chair with a smug little smirk. "Heard he got eight years. And it looks like parole's coming up."

Jolie didn't understand why the agent was talking about this. Jolie knew about her ex-boyfriend's parole. She was recently contacted to come in to testify against it.

Mally placed another photo on the table. It was a picture of Jolie holding Helina. "That's the daughter of Adrik Yakov Morozov. He will be the next head of a very powerful mafia family that stations here. I've been trying to destroy their illegal corporation for years."

Jolie latched onto anger. She was angry at the woman for bringing up her ex, putting horrible photos in front of her face, and acting like she was guilty. Jolie crossed her arms and met her gaze. "If you know who he is, why can't you go after him?"

"Because, like his father, Adrik does not get his hands dirty. They are untouchables." Mally shifted, sitting with her arms on the table, staring straight at Jolie. "Do you know how the original Five Family Italian Mafia was taken down in New York?"

Jolie shook her head.

"The tiniest listening bug placed on their phones." She placed one on the table. It was no bigger than a thumbtack. "So simple, right? It would be easy to slip one of these into their pocket or drop it in their car. But Adrik, Yakov, and their wives do not go anywhere without an escort. They do not talk to the lower soldiers that do all their dirty work. They are very, very good at staying off the radar. Plus, the county doesn't give us—" Mally took a deep breath, swallowing her words. "It's just impossible."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You saw him, didn't you?"