Sixteen: Adam
Sometimes we have to choose between doing what's right and protecting the people we love.
While I respected Detective Bailey for wanting to help his sister out of the mess she'd gotten herself into, part of me wondered if Priscilla was like Everly. Maybe she felt stuck in the gang. She could have friends or a lover in the Black Vipers. As far as we knew, none of the other Bailey's were involved with them, so I ruled that out right away.
Part of me still wondered if Priscilla wasn't the White Dragon. Something just didn't feel right in my gut about it. I needed to talk to her more myself. I could get her to open up about her role in the gang.
After changing out of my brother's stinky ass clothes and freshening up in the men's restroom, I got myself a cup of coffee then sneaked into the interrogation room they held Priscilla in. Her lawyer still hadn't showed up yet. That didn't surprise me either. They always took their sweet time getting to their clients.
Ensuring nobody paid close attention to me, I eased the heavy door open and stepped inside the small box of a room. Priscilla kept her head down until the door sealed up behind me. She suddenly looked up, acknowledging me with a frown when I took a seat across from her, sipping on my cup of steaming hot coffee.
"Chris is worried about you," I told her, placing my cup down on the table.
"I know. I disappointed him." Priscilla slumped her shoulders, keeping her gaze fixed on the table.
"You wanna talk about how you got involved with the Black Vipers?" I asked.
"Not really."
"How about we discuss you pepper spraying me then. Fuck was that for, huh? I thought you said you wanted to help me."
Priscilla grinned like a mischievous child. "You were asking for it. I couldn't let you arrest me that easily. They were watching me. Had to put on a little show."
"They?"
"I asked for a lawyer a while ago. Nice try though, Adam. Thought you could be clever by dropping in, didn't you?"
"Not really. In fact, I don't care who you deal for. I'm here about something else."
Hopefully she'd let her guard down with a change in the topic. If I pretended to show no interest in her drug dealing, she might let something slip out. It was a long shot for sure, but maybe Priscilla at least knew something about the hit put out on Everly. We'd been grappling at straws for far too long. We'd found no more leads since the Nelson kid and my girl's stalker's been silent for far too long. She had to be planning something.
Priscilla raised a brow. "Oh yeah? What do you want?"
"Did any of your people put a hit out on Everly?" I questioned. "Have you heard anything at all on the streets?"
"My people? You really think I'm in that deep? Nah, I haven't heard anything about that. Rumor has it someone in the Voiceless Rebels is responsible," Priscilla replied. "You're searching the wrong gang."
"Who?" I asked.
Priscilla shrugged. "Shit if I know. I don't associate with that gang. They're crazy. I heard their leader's a cannibal."
The image of Emmett committing cannibalism was morbidly hilarious. How people didn't know the blond bastard's true identity was beyond on me. The only reason I kept his secret was for Everly's sake. If they busted Emmett, I know they'd get Everly too.
"You're sure you've heard nothing? Please, this is important," I told her. "I can help you out here, you know."
"If I knew anything, I'd tell ya. I like Everly. She's a sweet girl. Didn't deserve what happened to her," Priscilla said. "Those assholes treat us women like shit. I wouldn't put it past any of the Black Vipers or Voiceless Rebels to shoot her."
"Any men treat you badly lately?" I asked her.
"If I told you that, you and Chris would go kick their asses." She scoffed, fighting back a grin. "Chris has always been like that. Protecting us. I guess it's just what big brothers are supposed to do."
"Yeah, family protect each other. Even if it means bending some laws."
"You do that a lot for your family?" Priscilla asked. "Bend the laws? Is that what you're trying to do now? Let me guess. You'll make me give you a list of dealers in exchange for my own freedom?"
"You're a smart girl. I'm sure you'd choose to protect yourself over that gang," I replied.
"Snitching doesn't end well for people like me. You know that. They've got eyes and ears all over this town. It wouldn't take them long to figure out I'm the one who turned, and then they'd kill me. Death isn't the freedom I want."
"We can protect you, Priscilla. I promise. But you have to give me something. You know nothing about Everly case, so I need something on the Black Vipers. Tell me who you're really working for. I'm pretty damn sure that you're not the White Dragon. You were the decoy. But I have a feeling you know who the real White Dragon is."
"You shouldn't be in here, Adam."
"Probably not, but I am. Like you said, family protect each other," I said. "You seemed to be honest with me so far. I've got another question."
Priscilla rolled her eyes. "You're full of questions. Can't you just arrest me like you're supposed to do?"
"Not when I know you're not the dealer you're pretending to be. You won't even deny what I said. Who the hell are you protecting? Is it someone with power? Someone in the department?"
She tensed the moment I suggested one of our own people could be involved. "Enough of this, Adam. Please, just go. Someone's gonna catch you in here."
"It's someone in my department, isn't it?" I asked her. "Tell me who it is. We can keep you safe. This person will never know you ratted them out."
Priscilla shook her head. "I can't."
"Fine, you don't have to tell me. We can come up with a code word. I'll walk you around the station, then when you see the White Dragon, you can say the word," I told her. We used that trick countless times for children who feared their abusers. "The word can be detective Bailey. Nobody would suspect anything if you brought him up, as he helped arrest you."
"I can't do that, Adam. It's not worth the risk." Priscilla trembled in her seat.
I sighed. "Well, there's something else I wanna know."
Priscilla leaned forward just a bit, sighing. "Will your twenty questions game ever end?"
"How long have you been dealing to Archie?"
Priscilla blanched, biting on her trembling lip. "Bout two months probably. I'm sorry–"
"Don't be." I cut her off. "If it wasn't you, then he would've went to somebody else. I just wanted to know how long its been since he relapsed. I really thought he would stay clean this time, but I guess I was wrong."
"Archie talks about you a lot. Your other brother too. Adrian. Said he hates being the fuckup of the family," Priscilla said. "I kinda understand where he's coming from. I turned out to be the fuckup of our family too. Just look at my brother and sisters. You don't see any of them drug dealing, do ya?"
"If he'd just stay clean and keep a job, he wouldn't be a fuckup." I groaned.
Priscilla shrugged. "It ain't that easy. Especially with his brothers being outstanding officers of the law. He told me how he enlisted in the army then bailed cause he got freaked out."
"For real? I had no idea..."
"Yeah, he told me he wanted to do something to make his family proud. He thought it might straighten his ass out too, but he chickened out. Realized he wasn't meant for that life."
"Me and Adrian would've helped him, if that's what he really wanted to do."
"Maybe that's why he didn't tell y'all. He knew you'd want to help, then he'd be the fuckup again by bailing. I've done the same thing. Our mamma saved up enough money to put me through college and I dropped out after not even a year. Then I decided I wanted to give beauty school a chance. Chris gave me a loan for it, and I promised to pay him back once I made it big. But I dropped out of that too. I'm still working on paying him back."
"Was Chris pissed off?"
Priscilla hung her head down. "No, just disappointed. Which is so much worse. I'd rather him have been mad at me. People like Archie and I don't belong anywhere. That's why we turn to the gangs. They make us feel like we have a place in this world, whether it be dealing or buying. They act like our family, in a sick way. They promise us whatever we want. You wouldn't believe how much money I've made dealing. I lie about working at a department store to our family. I even stole a uniform from the place and pretended to work there so they'd believe me. Pitiful, right?"
"Why do you do it?" I asked her. "Why don't you just work at that department store? Or, give beauty school another chance?"
"You wouldn't understand." Priscilla shook her head. "Archie was right about you trying to fix everyone's problems. It isn't that easy to turn your life around."
"Wouldn't you want another chance though?" I asked her. "Do you wanna be a dealer for the rest of your life? However long that might be. Those gang members don't fuck around. When they get tired of you or you make a mistake, they won't hesitate to kill you. They've already turned on Archie for stealing from them. They won't give you a second chance, but I'm willing to."
Priscilla didn't argue back. Instead, she stared at me, speechless for a moment. "What kind of second chance are you offering?"
"If I make a deal with you, will you abandon the gang?" I asked her. "Whatever you want to do, we can help. Dealing drugs seems like the high life now, but it'll only get worse. I've seen how it destroys people. They get in too deep and they can't get out."
Memories of my old partner resurfaced. No matter how hard I tried to block out Luca's face, I couldn't. I hated myself for letting him go undercover for the Voiceless Rebels. He got in too deep and got addicted to meth, then later down the line, those fucking rebels murdered him.
"What kind of deal would I be looking at?" she questioned, folding her arms across her chest.
"Community service and assistance on helping you get a steady job and stay away from those fucking gangs," I replied. "It's part of the new drug reform program they want to implement here in New Syracuse. It hasn't passed yet, but it's only a matter of time. You're not an addict, right? Normally, we give this deal to them along with rehab. But I'm making this exception for you. On one condition."
"Of course there's a catch," Priscilla muttered.
"You gotta give up some of your big clients, since you won't tell me who the real White Dragon is. Any identities of the Black Vipers too," I told her. "All this information will remain confidential. Nobody will know you were the snitch."
"You realize how hard it is to leave a gang, right? They'll kill me. They'll know I went to the cops the minute I stop dealing," Priscilla said. "You think that's really it? You're more delusional than I thought."
"You won't stay in New Syracuse. I know that would be too dangerous and stupid. While there's always a chance that they'll come after you, we'll do our best to make sure that doesn't happen. We'll lock the big guys up and turn them on each other instead." Lowering my head, I whispered, "If you'd like, you can fake your death too. It would be an unofficial witness protect program. Not with the department's help, of course. There are other means..."
"Aren't you afraid of someone listening in on our conversation right now?" Priscilla asked, narrowing her eyes at me. "This seems like something from a movie. Fake my death? For real? You've gotta be bullshitting me."
It was my plan for Everly, if she ever needed to escape the Voiceless Rebels. We'd helped other young woman in similar predicaments too. Nobody could hurt you if they believed you were dead. The gang members don't chase ghosts.
I didn't tell Priscilla that about Everly though. It was my secret. Not even Everly knew how I'd planned such a crazy escape plan.
"What about my family?" Priscilla's voice came out barely above a whisper. "Would they... Think I'm dead too?"
Most of the young woman we helped weren't close with their families. Sometimes they hid from them too. It would be difficult to convince family members to keep quiet about such a thing, but if she trusted them enough, then it might work.
"That would be up to you," I told her. "I'd caution against visiting or calling them for a few months though. It would be too suspicious and some of the gang members could catch on."
Priscilla nodded. "I understand that. Makes sense."
Before we could discuss our plan further, the door creaked open. The lawyer who stepped inside the box of a room was actually an old friend of mine from college. Our secretary, Annie followed behind Mr. Briscoe, seeming surprised to find me there. I gave them both a half smile as I rose from the chair, hurrying to slide by them. Surely, Annie wouldn't say anything to our sergeant. He'd chew my ass out for disobeying orders.
"I'll give y'all some privacy," I murmured.
"Before I make a decision, I want to talk to Detective Bailey," Priscilla said. "I want to know how he feels about this."
I froze for a moment, struggling not to let the shock show on my face. Priscilla stared directly at Annie.
Gulping, I nodded. "I'll go get him for you."
What the hell just happened? Priscilla wouldn't lie to me like that. Her fear couldn't have been fake either. Annie clearly scared her and she used our code word. Priscilla wanted my help to get out of that gang for a second chance. I'd keep my word and get her out of this mess.
The problem would be proving that Annie was the White Dragon. I couldn't just accuse the secretary without any evidence to back it up. She had a squeaky clean record and attended college with our sergeant. They were old friends, which is why he hired her.
That afternoon, the police station room felt suffocating. Learning that Annie possibly dealt drugs as the White Dragon was a bombshell I hadn't expected. It came outta left field for sure. Priscilla needed our help now more than ever. She couldn't face jail time. I needed to find Chris and tell him everything.
Just as I was about to call him, Chris came up behind me. Worry lines stretched across his freckled face.
"She accepted your deal. I've got the list of dealers she worked with here. Sergeant Davidson gave it to me." Detective Bailey held the sheet of paper up. "What happens now?"
Too many people were in the station. I couldn't tell my partner what Priscilla confessed to me. Not yet. I needed to wait until we could all gather someplace safe, where nobody would listen in. Especially not Annie, who overlooked our desks from the front of the room.
"After we make sure they're legit, your sister has to die in front of the gang members," I told him.
"As if that's easy," Chris muttered. "How exactly would she do that?"
"Don't you worry." I retrieved my cell phone from my back pocket to send my guy a text. "My guy's done this several times before. He's a retired police officer,"
Tomorrow, Priscilla would be officially dead while living her life wherever she desired as whoever she wanted. At least she'd be safe. For a while.
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