Beneath These Lies (Beneath, #5)(6)

I felt like I’d hit the jackpot. “Yes! Rix. That’s it. Do you know him? Can you help me track down Derrick, and if Derrick hasn’t seen Trinity, will you file a missing person’s report and start investigating?”

Hope bubbled up inside me—and then Hennessy crushed it. He clicked his pen shut and flipped the little cop notebook closed. Bad sign.

“Your girl never mentioned that she hooked up with a gangbanger, did she?”

I blinked, trying to comprehend his words. “What do you mean?”

Hennessy crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. “Rix heads up one of the biggest gangs in the city. I haven’t heard of D-Rock before, but it wouldn’t take me long to track him down, especially if he’s been arrested before.”

Shock ripped through me. “A gang? Like . . . what?”

Hennessy pushed his chair back from the table and rose. “Let me go run a search, and I’ll see if I can confirm it. But there’s only one guy I know named Rix in this town, and he and his crew are not people you should be messing with.”

He was already halfway out of the room when I gathered my wits and shoved out of my chair. Marching after him down the hall, I caught up with Hennessy as he turned a corner and entered a room full of desks and cops. The noise hit me first—everyone was either talking to someone or yelling.

Hennessy pulled out a chair at a battered metal desk covered in stacks of manila files, and began clicking keys on a keyboard.

My mind was on Trinity’s boyfriend and what that meant. She’d never once mentioned he was in a gang. It had to be a mistake. There could be more than one guy named Rix in this city. I dropped into the molded plastic and metal chair next to the desk without invitation.

“You should’ve stayed in the conference room, Valentina,” Hennessy said without looking away from the computer monitor.

“Well, I wasn’t just going to sit there and look pretty while you figure out if the girl I’ve known for years is caught up with something she probably doesn’t even understand. Trinity is good people. She’s bright, hardworking, and loves art, and she wants to paint and own her own gallery. She’s not the kind of girl who falls for a guy in a gang. She’s smarter than that.”

Hennessy finally looked at me. “Are you sure? Some people say you can’t choose who you fall for.”

When I didn’t address that comment, Hennessy’s attention went back to the monitor as mug shots started to appear. One was of a very handsome young black man, and Hennessy clicked on it.

“Derrick Rockins, also known as D-Rock, is a low-level member of the New Orleans Down ’n Out, also known as the NODOs, which is the gang currently headed by Rix.”

I straightened in the chair, disbelief warring with fear. No. Way. This had to be a mistake.

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Sorry, Valentina. Your girl got hooked up with a guy in the wrong crowd.”

My concern for Trinity mounted exponentially. “So that’s all the more reason to investigate that she’s missing, right? I mean, who knows what could have happened to her? She’s in danger. Clearly.”

My voice was rising with every word, and I could only imagine what my face looked like right now as panic zipped through my system, but Hennessy never lost his unflappable calm.

“She’s eighteen. She’s made her choices. Keep calling her, and if you don’t hear from her by tomorrow, get her grandmother to give us a call to file the report. For adults, it’s usually best if a close family member is the one to report the disappearance.”

“But—”

Hennessy stood, cutting off my words. “The girl is probably holed up with her boyfriend somewhere and will more than likely show up today. If she doesn’t, then we can worry.”

I shot out of my chair, crossed my arms, and stared down Hennessy. “You don’t know her. This isn’t like her at all. And I swear to God, if something happens to her, I’m going to rain down hell on this police department for refusing to take me seriously.”

Hennessy’s gaze dropped to the floor as he debated what to say in the face of my threat. Capitalizing on his inattention, my eyes shot to the computer screen where Derrick Rockins’s information was listed—including his address. If the police wouldn’t take me seriously, I’d do my own digging.

Without waiting for a response, I spun and took a step away from Hennessy. When his big hand caught my elbow and pulled me to a stop, I met his bright green gaze with my determined one.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Valentina. This isn’t something you want to get involved in. Get the grandmother to call me tomorrow, and we’ll figure it out.”

I hoped my face was set into an unreadable mask, because I had absolutely no intention of following his directive. Shaking off Hennessy’s arm, I straightened my shoulders and gripped my handbag.

“I’ll do whatever the hell I want. I care about her, even if it’s clear that you guys don’t.”

Whatever Hennessy was going to reply was lost when the doors to the room swung open and a loud group of officers entered.

I slipped out behind them. I was on a mission.





I SHOULDN’T BE HERE.

I knew it the minute I drove into this neighborhood, and so did the men on stoops eying my red Tesla roadster. I had a feeling they weren’t admiring its awesome engineering. But to find Trinity, I was willing to do whatever it took.