Page 41 of Reverence

“What’s his call sign?” Ares’ gaze flicked to me and aside from his obvious annoyance, he answered.

“Dominion.”

Eleven

Amala

After interrogating our suspect, we were forced to let him go because his confession wasn’t enough to hold him any longer and we needed to delay an official arrest because we were still trying to identify accomplices.

Or in this case, our main suspects.

We were back in the administrative office, everybody on edge after the incident that occurred last night.

“Valiente and Rivera.” Kayden appeared out of nowhere. “Asher needs to see you.”

When Braun summoned you, it meant one of two things.

We didn’t complete a task to his standard and needed to face the repercussions or we’d be briefed on a new case that required urgent attention.

I grabbed my jacket that was draped over the back of my chair and quickly put it on while walking towards his office, Ares followed behind me judging by the footsteps but I didn’t pay him any mind.

When we reached his office, the door was already open but I still knocked. Waiting for the signal to enter.

When he nodded his head, Ares and I entered simultaneously. “I’ll be removing you both from administrative duty. You’ll be handling the dominion case.”

For some reason, I knew this would be the next move.

We were present when the shootout at the Bureau occurred, so from an analytical standpoint this partnership made sense.

However, that didn’t mean I was onboard with this decision.

In the end, it didn’t really matter how I felt about the situation because it wouldn’t make a difference.

In this field, you were required to accept change and be adaptable.

Regardless of personal preference.

“There’s been a homicide reported downtown and we suspect that it may be related to this case. I need you both to head there now.

The air downtown felt colder, crisper. Every inhale burned the inside of my nose and lungs, the sharpness of the morning settling deep into my chest.

When we arrived at the scene, several police cruisers were parked outside a local corner store, their lights still flashing against the surrounding buildings.

Crime scene tape cordoned off the sidewalk, enclosing the area where a body lay beneath a black body bag.

A police officer who looked to be in his late thirties approached us, both hands buried in the pockets of his jacket.

“Mornin’. I’m Officer Williams.”

He turned and led Ares and me toward the crime scene.

“We’ve got one DOA. Male, no identification. Three gunshot wounds to the chest and one to the head. No suspects at this time. The only witness is the store owner, but he couldn’t give us a clear description of the man who fled the scene.”

“I’m Special Agent Valiente, and this is my partner, Special Agent Rivera.” Ares folded his arms across his chest. “Do we know when this happened?”

“About an hour ago.” Ares nodded. “Can we see the body?”

Williams nodded, lifting the crime scene tape and gesturing for us to duck underneath.