Page 67 of Wicked Enemy
“I never sell information about my own clients.” A knowing glint shone in her eyes as she flashed me a grin. “But you already knew that. Otherwise, you would never have approached me in the first place.”
I chuckled and tilted my head in an acknowledging nod. She sure was a shrewd one.
Since our business was now complete, I took a step back from the counter and gave her a nod in goodbye.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Maggie asked, and shot a pointed look down at the counter.
I deliberately looked down at the stack of money still sitting there before shifting my attention back to the old lady again and shaking my head. “Nope.”
The smile on her lips grew. Reaching out, she scooped up the money and slipped it into her apron pocket. Then she met my gaze and bowed her head. “I like how you do business, King of Metal. Come back anytime.”
With one last nod, I turned around and disappeared back into the shadows of the nearest alley.
That kind of money was nothing to me. But being on good terms with someone like Maggie might mean the difference between life and death someday.
Chapter28
“This is unacceptable!”
The words tore through the meeting room with enough force to make the other Junior Constables flinch. Around the table, where I should have been sitting too, Captain Smith and the Senior Constables just looked back at Chief Anderson with stoic expression on their faces.
“It has been two days,” Chief continued, his stern voice slicing through the air like a blade. “Two days. And you’re telling me that we still don’t have a clue how they got out of their cells?”
“No, Chief,” Ulric replied.
“Those prisoners wereyourresponsibility, Smith.”
“Yes, Chief.”
Guilt twisted inside my stomach like cold snakes. From where I stood by the wall, I studied Chief Anderson and Captain Smith. Chief’s gray hair that normally was always perfectly slicked back now looked disheveled, and his blue eyes were crackling with anger and frustration. The scar on his jaw looked tighter than usual.
Ulric, on the other hand, looked like he always did. Calm. Collected. Humbly taking the blame for everything that had gone wrong. Taking the blame for whatIhad done.
“I was summoned before the parliament,” Chief Anderson growled. “Summoned. As if I’m some kind of dog.”
Tension pulsed through the air, but no one dared to say anything. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if some of the Junior Constables dared to breathe.
“And I had to explain to them that the prisoners, who were the only people that we had captured after a nine-month-long undercover operation failed, had now escaped as well. How do you think that was received by those paper-pushers in parliament?”
“Not well?” Jamila said, her voice soft and her dark eyes hesitant.
“Not well is the understatement of the decade! They threatened to cut our funding. Because, and I quote, if you cannot even make sure that your prisoners don’t escape from right underneathyour ownbuilding, then why should parliament continue to invest in the constable force?”
It took all of my self-control not to close my eyes and cringe. Our whole department was getting punished for a decision that I alone had made.Ihad decided to let Levi walk, multiple times now. AndIhad decided to free his people. If parliament cut funding for the constable force, we would be stretched even thinner than we already were.
“We need a show of force now to save face,” he continued.
Frank furrowed his pale brows. “What does that mean?”
“It means that we will be launching a full-scale attack on the south side.”
Shock flashed across everyone’s faces, and several people by the table sat back in their chairs and blinked in stunned confusion.
“A full-scale attack?” Jamila said. “I thought we had agreed that it was too risky. That we couldn’t win if—”
“Enough! No buts. No ifs.” Raising his arm, he stabbed a hand towards the door. “Now, get out and start figuring out a plan to make it happen. A plan that will make it succeed.”
“Yes, Chief,” the whole room murmured.