Reignite

Chapter Two

•Chase•

"Wah wah wah, I am so damn tired of hearing you bitch and complain about Emily every fucking day," Cole spits out as I sigh. "I'm sorry, man. I can't help it. I don't know what to do anymore. I need some advice." He dramatically rolls his eyes and then starts to laugh. "You want advice? What have I been telling you for the last 6 months? Divorce her if you're not happy. Clearly neither of you are happy."

I take a deep breath and look out of the window. I guess he's right, I mean I was so happy with her. We were high school sweethearts for christ sake. We saw each other every day no matter what, we went on cute dates we just were completely and utterly enamored with each other. I mean, I thought we still were, but ever since she got promoted at work last year she just seems to have dropped me.

"Not only are you not happy but you're not happy and not even getting laid!" He laughs and slaps my arm and I try to laugh with him, but that actually hurt. I know he means well and maybe this is tough love but he knows we haven't been intimate in a long time and it's tearing me apart. "Look," he says glancing at me with a sad look, before looking back at the road," Don't bring that shit to work with you. Focus on yourself. We have a big job to prepare for now, and this is serious. This might be what you need to get your promotion, and I'm here to ride that wave with you." I awkwardly smile in response as we pull into the gated parking lot at the station.

"Hey, Chase!" I look over and see Camilla at the entrance. "Hey Cam, happy Monday," I reply with a smile. "Happy Wednesday!" she says, jokingly pulling a sad look, as Cole and I walk past her to get inside. "God, she acts like a school girl whenever she sees you!" Cole laughs.

I just shake it off with a laugh, I know everyone thinks Camilla likes me but we just did academy together and have been friends for a while, we don't see each other like that. "You're laughing but I'm serious, I mean who knows, maybe your next great love is working here with you," I slap Cole's arm, "Don't say shit like that. I'm already married to my great love." He just sucks his teeth and we keep walking.

"Sir," I say as I see our Sargent, "Matthews and I are ready to prepare for the club. Is there anything else we need to be briefed on before tonight?" Sarg leads us to another room where there are many people working on this case. Whiteboards full of information, names with circles and names with an X through them, locations and dates. I've never been able to get this close to an investigation like this before and I'm mesmerized by the atmosphere. "This is Mando, he's the lead detective in this case, and has been the one to develop this case from the ground up. He will be the one briefing you, the one you will report to, but you all still answer to me. Capiche?" We all nod as Sarg nods his head and pats my back before leaving the room.

Mando briefs us on this case beginning to end. He told us about how it all started, with the two brother club owners, Carlos and Ignacio Garcia. They have an extensive record to say the least, from drug trafficking to assault to burglary with a deadly weapon. Of course, they've been let free no matter the charge because they have many connects, and the Miami police have been trying to take them down for years now but just can't seem to get anything to stick.

They opened a club called Pulse in 2017, and since then it has become a pretty popular strip club, although still a bit off the grid. There are rumors that the strippers at this establishment are also sex workers, and that there are secret codes you can utter to get those kind of services. With people as shady as those brothers, there is no doubt to the police these women are sex workers and that this place is used to launder money and sell and import drugs. There are also rumors that these women were forced into this and are being trafficked, which when Mando had dug into had found that multiple women who worked at this facility and knew the brothers are missing.