The Gun and the Rose

7 | White Dust

   I headed out the crime scene early the next morning. I flashed my badge to the police officers standing in front of the yellow tape, stepping under it to get to the other side. The warehouse was crawling with police officers. Near the loading bay in the back, stood Aerion his back to me. I approached him, brushing him by to get a closer look. Several trucks were lined up with boxes that held canned soup, but one of the stacks were knocked over. The center cans had been opened by the police and inside were bags of cocaine. A thin layer of white dust covered the surface of the truck.

I stepped back, grimacing. "I want to talk to the employees working here," I said, not looking at Aerion.

"Rose..." he trailed off.

I snapped my head back at him, raising a brow. "Yes?"

"Are we not going to talk about last night?" I sighed, turning back and glancing over the crime scene again. "I know I overstepped my boundaries."

"Look, the whole thing was a mistake that won't happen again. It's inappropriate. Now, can I talk to the employees or not?" Maybe I was being a bitch, but Aerion assumed control over my life, though I had not given it to him. He huffed angrily and muttered "fine" before pulling his phone out of his pants and storming off.

I walked around the scene, inspecting it from top to bottom. There was a low chance the boss handled low-level jobs like drug smuggling, but we were desperate for anything. This specific warehouse was linked to the Genovese family and their leader had been called into the police station. I was to interrogate him first, then the employees.

"Let's go, they're at the station," Aerion called. I nodded, following behind him. We got into his car and drove across town to the precinct they were being held in. I was let into the interrogation room and sat across a man whose face was partially hidden by the shadows. Aerion glanced at the camera facing the man.

"For what reason have I been dragged into the precinct today?" he asked. "Detective Walker, your face is not what I had hoped to see today." Salvatore Genovese raised a groomed brow, his dark eyes bored.

"Now, now, Salvatore. Behave or else we might be more inclined to arrest you for the cocaine soup," Aerion tsked, shaking his head. I studied their interaction, gathering that Salvatore had obviously been interrogated by Aerion several times before. I also suspected he has escaped getting arrested before. Many times.

"Cocaine? Nah, that's not me," he replied, shaking his head. I narrowed my eyes. "I don't do shit like that."

"Convincing," I muttered, barely refraining from rolling my eyes. His head snapped in my direction.

"Almost didn't notice this sweet peach. Come ti chiami, bella?" Salvatore scanned my upper half, eyes settling on mine. (Translation: What is your name, beautiful?)

"Il mio nome è Detective Rose," I answered, proud of the little Italian my parents had taught me. Salvatore leaned back in his chair, a slow smile spreading across his cheeks. "We're partners." (Translation: My name is Detective Rose)

"Aerion has been good to hide you away," he said, then coming forward and whispering, "other men aren't as polite and well mannered like me." I kept my face blank, then pulled out a photo of the raided warehouse, sliding it towards him.

"We know you were the brains behind this operation," I started, but was quickly shot down.

"I wasn't."

"Give up the act, Sal. We're here to see if anyone else was involved in this." Aerion snapped. Salvatore looked amused, humming to himself. I could tell Aerion was agitated, his hands fists in his lap, squeezed so tight, his knuckles white.