Neon fever, p.14
Neon Fever, page 14
Kate shrugged. “She thought wrong.”
“No. She thought right. Just… too late. We’re listening now.”
Kate tilted her head, studying him. “You really believe that? That two cops from Oldtown can blow this open?”
Siro met her eyes across the table. “I believe it’s our job to try.”
Her smirk was tired but real. “You and your damn principles. What are we supposed to do?”
“We have to bust that place somehow. They’re murdering people there, Kate. For fun.”
She took another drink. “Fine. What’s the move, partner?”
Siro leaned back, rubbing at his temples. “We can’t go after the Court. Not directly. Not yet. Too many VIPs, too much money. We’d be corpses before we made it to Llewellyn’s desk.”
Kate nodded grimly. “Agreed. So?”
“We start small. We start where we have jurisdiction. Nadia.”
Kate’s grin was wolfish, sharp. “Knew you’d get there.”
“She’s Oldtown. She’s tied to Venus. And she was there, working with Robynn, delivering victims to the Court. We bring her in, maybe she cracks.”
Kate tapped her glass against the table. “Or she tries to sweet-talk her way out again.”
“Not this time. We’ve got enough to hold her. Surveillance match at the bar. The implant payroll trail you found. Her ties to Alysa. And proof that she was at the Court. We can make it stick long enough to put pressure on her.”
Kate’s eyes gleamed through the smoke of her e-cigarette. “And while we have her, we put the fear of God into her. Hard.”
Siro shook his head faintly. “Careful. If we push too hard, she shuts down.”
“Or she opens up because she realizes the Court won’t protect her once she’s burned.”
Siro swirled his whiskey, watching the amber liquid catch the neon glow. “Either way, she’s the thread. Pull her, maybe the whole thing unravels.”
“And Robynn?”
Siro’s lips pressed into a thin line. “We keep him in the wings. We need more than suspicions. But if Nadia links him directly, we’ve got leverage.”
Kate raised her glass again, her grin sardonic. “To leverage.”
They drank.
Neither spoke for a while again. The rain hammered harder outside, neon bleeding into the puddles on the cracked pavement. The jukebox in the corner crooned a love song from long before they were born.
Finally, Kate broke the silence. “So. You’re saying tomorrow we knock on Hoodie Girl’s shiny Oldtown door and drag her sorry ass into a cell?”
Siro nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Good. I’m in the mood for a fight.”
He studied her, the way her shoulders were tense, even slouched, the way her exhausted eyes burned. She was angry, but it wasn’t just at Nadia or Robynn or Venus. It was the system. The machine that made slavery look like luxury, that called butchery loyalty, that killed Alysa because she’d dared to hope.
Siro understood. He felt it too. The rage didn’t fade with whiskey. It just simmered.
He drained his glass and set it down, the empty clink final. “Tomorrow, we start with Nadia.”
Kate raised hers in a mock toast. “And maybe we work our way up to Mr. Slimebag.”
Siro smirked despite himself. “One step at a time.”
Kate finished her drink and leaned back, smoke from her e-cig curling around her. “Sure, man. One step. But I’m already picturing the bastard’s face when the cuffs click.”
Outside, the storm raged on. Inside, the bar held its silence, its shadows, its ghosts.
And in that booth, two soaked, exhausted detectives carved their plan into stone.
Tomorrow, the hunt continued.
Chapter Thirteen
By the time the car slid to a stop in front of Nadia Crowe’s building, the storm had burned itself out. The air hung damp and heavy, the pavement shining neon in the puddles. The high-rise loomed above, smug in its survival, its glass and chrome face reflecting Olympias’ indifferent skyline.
The sun was still very low, hovering between the buildings like a red fireball. It wasn’t even 7 AM yet. They wanted to catch Nadia early.
Siro and Kate stepped out of the sedan, both in plain clothes again—though plain in Oldtown meant worn leathers, boots that could handle mud and blood, and jackets that wouldn’t blink if ash fell on them. At least for Kate. Even after three years in Oldtown, Siro hadn’t gotten accustomed to the district’s chic.
Kate stretched her neck, making a cracking sound. Siro hated it when she did that. “Feels like we’re about to knock on the devil’s door.”
“The devil doesn’t hide behind doors. Just masks.”
They crossed the lobby without pretense. The doorman scanned their badges and didn’t argue; OCPD overrides trumped everything. The elevator hummed them upward, scent dispensers flooding the air with lavender. Siro thought it smelled like poison.
The door opened on Nadia’s floor with a cheerful chime. They strode down the hall, boots echoing on polished marble, and stopped in front of Nadia’s apartment.
Kate shot Siro a grin as she raised her fist. “Wanna bet she plays innocent again?”
Siro didn’t smile. “Not today.”
She knocked hard.
The door opened a sliver, and Nadia’s face appeared. There was no mask this time, auburn hair spilling over her cheek. Her eyes widened, though not with surprise, but calculation.
“Detectives,” she said sweetly. “Back so soon?”
Kate shoved her badge into view. “Step aside. We’re coming in.”
Nadia hesitated for half a second, then the sweetness curdled. She slammed the door.
“Shit!” Kate growled, slamming her shoulder against it.
The lock held.
Siro was already moving, sprinting down the hall. “Service exit!”
They caught her halfway down the back stairwell, heels clicking like gunfire on the steel steps. Nadia glanced over her shoulder, eyes blazing now, no tears, no weakness. Just a look of survival.
“Stop, Nadia!” Siro shouted, his voice echoing off the stairwell walls.
She didn’t stop. She vaulted the last few steps and shoved her way through the door into the alley.
Kate cursed. “Told you she was poison.”
They hurried after her.
The alley stank of rot and rain-soaked trash. Nadia sprinted across puddles, her expensive shoes splashing filth. She was fast—faster than Siro had expected—ducking between dumpsters and darting into a narrow cut between two buildings.
Kate’s laugh was sharp even as she ran. “Guess her cardio classes paid off!”
Siro’s lungs burned as he pushed harder. “She won’t outrun us.”
Nadia shoved over a trash bin behind her. Siro vaulted it; Kate kicked it aside with a snarl.
The cut opened into another alley, this one lined with the neon-lit back doors of clubs. Music throbbed through the walls. A couple of junkies scattered at the sight of them, one muttering curses.
Nadia darted toward the end of the alley, but a delivery truck blocked her path. She skidded, doubled back, and clambered up a fire escape like a cat.
Kate stopped, hands on her hips. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
Siro was already climbing. “Go around!”
He hauled himself after Nadia, boots slipping on the wet steel, his breathing harsh. She reached the rooftop first, the skyline bleeding red with the glow of the morning sun. He followed after her, the city sprawling below like a circuit board alive with hunger.
Nadia ran across the rooftop, her silhouette sharp against the sky. She looked back once, and for the first time, Siro saw her without the performance: cold, calculating, utterly unafraid.
“You don’t understand!” she shouted, her voice carrying in the wind. “You think you can stop them? You’re nothing! Just pawns!”
Siro pushed harder, closing the distance. “Stop, Nadia! Let us help you!”
She laughed, bitter and wild. “Alysa thought the same thing. Look where it got her!”
The words hit him like a blow, but they gave him speed. He lunged, tackling her just as she tried to leap to the next roof.
They crashed to the concrete floor, sliding across wet gravel. Nadia fought like a cornered animal, clawing, kicking, trying to bite. Siro grunted, pinning her wrists, but she twisted with feral strength.
Then Kate arrived, breathless, boots hammering the rooftop. She didn’t hesitate, swinging her boot and planting it inches from Nadia’s face.
“Enough, missy.”
Nadia stilled, chest heaving, eyes blazing up at them both.
Siro tightened his grip on her, his voice steady but hard. “You’re under arrest for obstruction, evasion, and suspected conspiracy in the murder of Alysa Rivera. You can scream all you want, but you’re coming with us.”
For the first time, Nadia’s mask cracked. Not the sweet victim’s mask—that had shattered already. But something deeper, colder. Fear flashed in her eyes.
Kate pulled out the restraints, snapping them around her wrists. “Congratulations, sweetheart. You just earned yourself a guided tour of the OCPD’s hospitality suite.”
Nadia spat, her voice venomous. “You’ll regret this. You’ll both be dead before sundown.”
Kate hauled her to her feet. “Funny. Everyone keeps telling us that. We’re still here.”
Siro exhaled, chest heaving as the adrenaline ebbed. The storm might have passed, but thunder still rumbled somewhere in the distance.
He looked out across the city, drenched in red morning light, then back at Nadia. “Let’s see if you’re still laughing when you sit in the interrogation cell.”
Kate smirked. “Hell, I’ll bring the popcorn.”
They shoved her toward the stairs, the skyline bleeding behind them. Olympias didn’t care who lived, who died, who screamed.
∆∆∆
The interrogation room smelled of stale coffee and cold metal. The overhead light buzzed faintly, washing the concrete walls in a pallid glow. One wall was a full-length mirror—Nadia’s reflection stared back at her, her hair damp from the rain.
She sat at a table with her arms folded, ankles crossed, head tilted just enough to suggest indifference. But her eyes flicked to the door every few seconds.
They hadn’t let her make a call. They hadn’t told her the time. She’d been left in silence for nearly an hour, the hum of the light her only company. When the door opened, she looked both relieved and furious.
Siro entered first, sleeves rolled to his forearms. He carried two paper cups of coffee, setting one gently on the table across from her. Kate followed, all sharp lines and coiled anger, dragging a chair out with a screech before dropping into it.
“Thought I’d been forgotten about,” Nadia said coolly, her voice scratchy from exhaustion.
Siro slid the coffee toward her. “We didn’t forget. We wanted to give you time to think.”
She eyed the cup but didn’t touch it. “Think about what? I’ve got nothing to say.”
Kate leaned forward, elbows on the table, cigarette tucked behind her ear. “That’s fine. We’ve got all day and all night. And believe me, sweetheart, I don’t need much sleep.”
Nadia smirked faintly, but her eyes flicked toward the mirror again.
Siro sat across from her, his posture calm, his voice even. “Nadia, this doesn’t have to be hard. Help us, and maybe we can help you. Keep stonewalling…”
He let the silence finish the thought.
She leaned back, crossing her arms tighter. “I don’t know what you think you saw, but I wasn’t at any party.”
Kate laughed, a sharp and humorless sound. “That’s adorable. Problem is, we did see you. Mask or no mask, we got your auburn hair, five-foot-four, birdlike frame—real subtle. You were glued to Mr. Golden Feathers himself.”
Nadia’s lips twitched, but she forced her expression back to calm. “You’re mistaken.”
Siro slid a tablet across the table. The screen lit with a still image—grainy, red-lit footage from the Court of Nadia, her head tilted, whispering to Robynn Anderson, his golden mask gleaming.
Her breath caught before she masked it with a scoff. “Could be anyone.”
Kate slammed her palm flat on the table, making the coffee jump. “Bullshit. That’s you, Nadia. We watched you parade that girl like a prize cow. You’re not getting out of this with eyeliner and a sob story.”
Nadia flinched but recovered, lips curling. “And what will you do with it, Detective? You think Olympias will thank you for dragging the Court into the light? You’ll be shut down before you finish your report. Or worse.”
Siro’s voice cut in, calm but steady. “Maybe. But you’ll still be the one left holding the bag.”
That landed. Her eyes flickered, just a fraction.
Kate pounced. “You’re a small fish, sweety. Disposable. Robynn? He’ll feed you to the machine and walk away clean. You know it. I know it. He probably knew it the moment Alysa opened her mouth.”
The name struck like a spark. Nadia’s composure cracked for a heartbeat—a twitch at the corner of her eye, a tightness in her jaw.
Siro leaned in, his voice softer now. “Alysa trusted you. She came to you for help. You met her in Oldtown. You let her walk into that bar thinking she had a friend. Then she ended up dead.”
Nadia’s voice sharpened. “Don’t you dare put that on me. I didn’t kill her.”
Kate’s voice was ice. “No, but you didn’t stop it either.”
Nadia’s mask cracked further, her breathing shallow. She looked at the mirror, at the ceiling, anywhere but their faces.
Siro pressed gently. “We know she was asking questions. We know she wanted out. And we know the Court doesn’t forgive curiosity. Nadia, they killed her because of what she learned. And you were right there when it happened.”
Her hands trembled against her arms before she clenched them tighter. “You don’t understand,” she whispered.
Kate leaned back, her arms folded, her voice razor-sharp. “Enlighten us.”
Nadia’s eyes darted to the door, then the mirror, then back to the detectives. Her voice cracked when she spoke again. “They’ll kill me.”
Siro’s tone softened further, conviction burning in his chest. “Not if we can help it. Nadia, listen to me—we saw what they did. We know how deep this runs. You don’t have to carry it alone. If you talk to us, we can protect you.”
Her laugh was bitter, brittle. “Protect me? You two? You saw what I saw. You know who was there? Judges. Executives. Board members. You think OCPD badges mean anything against that?”
Kate’s eyes narrowed. “Better than standing alone when they decide you’re inconvenient. Which, by the way, could be any minute.”
Nadia looked at her, then at Siro, then back at the table. Her fingers tapped against her arm, restless, frantic. She shook her head.
Siro leaned forward, voice steady, every word deliberate. “Alysa believed she could fight back. She was alone, and they killed her. You don’t have to die the same way. Help us. Give us the truth. Let us carry some of it.”
For a long moment, the only sound was the hum of the light. Then Nadia’s shoulders slumped. The fight drained from her face, replaced by something raw and jagged: fear.
Her voice was a whisper. “It started with the agency. Venus. They handpick companions for the Court. Girls, boys—doesn’t matter. The ones who won’t be missed, or the ones who owe too much to walk away. They call them ‘curated experiences.’”
“Fuck me,” Kate muttered.
Nadia kept talking, the words spilling now. “Alysa figured it out. She saw too much at one of the parties. She came to me, begged for help. She thought I could get her out. But Robynn already knew. He told me she was marked. My job was just to… keep her calm. Keep her from running too soon.” Her voice broke. “Then they sent the cleaners. Two men. They made it look like suicide.”
Siro’s stomach cramped, but he kept his face steady. “And you? What did you get out of it?”
Nadia’s eyes glistened. “Money. Protection. A promise that I wouldn’t end up like her.”
Kate’s voice was as sharp as a knife. “Guess that promise didn’t last long.”
Nadia’s laugh was hollow. “Nothing lasts long in the Court.”
A heavy silence settled over the room.
Finally, Siro spoke, his voice low but certain. “Nadia, you’ve just put yourself in the crosshairs. But you’ve also given us the key. Robynn, Venus, the Court—it’s all connected. And now we can prove it.”
Her eyes snapped to his, wide, desperate. “You’ll never survive this.”
Kate grinned. “Watch us.”
Siro held her gaze, steady and unflinching. “Then we’ll go down trying.”
Kate rose to her feet. “Welcome to the fight, sweetheart. Hope you brought armor.”
Nadia slumped back in her chair, defeated, trembling. For the first time, the mask was gone.
∆∆∆
The door clicked shut behind them, muffling Nadia’s ragged breathing and the hum of the interrogation light. For a moment, Siro and Kate stood in the corridor outside, the silence heavier than the concrete walls.
Kate exhaled deeply, dragging her hands through her hair. “Well… fuck.”
Siro leaned against the wall, arms crossed, staring at the scuffed tiles. “She gave us everything. Venus, the Court, Robynn. The whole pipeline.”
Kate barked a laugh. “Yeah. And with that pipeline comes a tidal wave aimed right at our faces. You know that.”
Siro didn’t argue. His chest was tight, his mind replaying Nadia’s words. The fear in her eyes when she’d said they’ll kill me. The same fear Alysa must have carried, right up until the moment the cleaners threw her body from that roof.
Kate lit her cigarette with hands that trembled only a little and took a long drag. “If Llewellyn knew half of what we’ve just heard, she’d already be down here roasting our asses. But she hasn’t called.”
