The Bursting Heat (Book 2) ✓

25 - Necessity

Ralph

A phone was ringing somewhere close to me. I was feeling way too comfortable to try to move. But the weight on me had other ideas. I felt it move, then a grunt, and a few seconds later, the ringing device was pushed to my ear.

"Answer the damn thing." I guess Ali wasn't happy with the way she was woken up. I took the offensive device from her while keeping my other hand on her back, lazily rubbing it and enjoying the feel of her.

"Romero."

"We have a big fucking problem." – It was Max and he didn't sound happy at all.

"Yeah?"

"Ken is dead."

"What do you mean...?" My body was no more relaxed, I was fully alert, my hand around Ali hugged her even closer to me while I was listening to the answer.

"What I said. He is dead. In the arrest. Shot in the head."

"How the fuck happened? He had a guard there, right? Who didn't do their job and let that happened?"

"Well, that's what we are trying to figure out. The officers that were supposed to guard him are nowhere to be seen, and no one can contact them. We are looking at the CCTV cameras, but they are missing a big chunk of footage when the shooting happened. I guess whoever did it knew what he was doing. Roberts is trying to get access to the 2nd place the footage is kept, but with no luck so far." This didn't sound good at all. Whoever was responsible knew what he was doing. Could it be the officers? Did we have a mole in our ranks?

"What about Akerman? Any news there?"

"She's still alive, but barely. Doctors don't have a lot of hope but are doing their best. Some detectives are now looking through her belongings and searching for clues. They don't want to share anything with me at the moment, but I'm sure they'll change their mind soon enough."

"How so?"

"I talked with Chief Adams. Luckily, he was on my side to let us have all the information, so I'm expecting some reports from the detectives soon. Until then, keep your eyes open and don't leave Ali alone at any moment. We don't know if the person who killed Ken knows about her whereabouts." I didn't like that at all. I was unhappy that Rooster managed to find her so quickly and was in constant fear that he told the others, too. But until now, no one was coming to my place. That didn't mean they didn't know about it. I needed to find a new one as soon as possible. That was for sure.

"Okay. You want something from me? Any suggestion? Instructions?"

"Honestly, Ralph, I know Ali is still healing, and I don't know if it will be good or bad idea... but I think you need to leave the town for a little bit. At least for the weekend or until we figure out Akerson's mess, and now this thing with Ken...I...I have a bad feeling about this." I was on the same page with Max. We needed to leave this town until it was safe.

"Okay. I'll see what I can do. Talk to you soon." I disconnected the call, trying to find a way to tell Ali the news.

"Something happened with Ken, didn't it?" Ali was the first to interrupt the silence.

"He was killed in the arrest. We don't know who did it. The footage is compromised, the officers that were in charge of him nowhere to be seen." I felt the shiver rocking her small body. I used both of my hands to hug her. My lips were kissing her temple in a small attempt to keep her grounded at the moment.

"What were the instructions you got?"

"That it will be a good idea to leave the town for the weekend." Deep exhale left her lips.