Dangerous Secrets

Chapter One

Exposed

A young woman weaved her way through the numerous groups of desks holding a stack of papers to her chest. She slipped past police officers, not bothering to apologize as she bumped into them. No, her sole attention remained glued to one desk, one officer. Her mentor, of sorts.

She walked briskly up to his desk and dropped the papers in front of him. He looked up, a full on glare ready to kill for interrupting his work, but a light smile appeared on his features when he saw who it was. "Kori."

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, a scowl forming on her face. "Officer Redd," she replied curtly. She motioned to the papers she had just brought. "Here are the papers on the kidnappings from Officer Doug."

He leaned forward in his chair, eyes narrowing, disregarding the papers for a moment. She never called him Officer Redd, only when the chief was present or they were on duty. Or, of course, when she was upset with him. It was always Xavier to her, or X, when she wasn't in a good mood altogether. "What did I do this time?" he sighed.

She narrowed her eyes, fixing a deadly glare on him. "Why did you keep information on the recent kidnappings in Jump away from me?"

Xavier straightened, taking a more serious attitude towards her. "You know full well why."

"No, I really don't," she snapped. "I can help with the case!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, releasing another heavy sigh. "We don't know what criminal we're dealing with, and we don't know what he's capable of yet."

Yes, the usual routine. Xavier would assign Kori to a different case, less dangerous, and Kori would find out and confront him about it and they would have the same argument each time. Though this time was different. This case involved someone else, someone he didn't want her to get involved with.

"The department already has this covered. End of discussion."

Kori let out an exasperated sigh. "You never let me do anything."

"You're being overly dramatic about this."

She opened her mouth to protest but quickly shut it. Okay, so maybe she was. But she had a right to be upset. For years she had been trained by Xavier, never getting the big, major cases; always being looked down upon. She was good at what she did; she just hadn't had a chance to prove it yet.

"Anders," one of the police officers interrupted. "Chief needs to speak with you in his office, now." Before Kori left, she sent a look to Xavier, and he knew this conversation was far from over.

Kori closed the door behind her, and walked in silence up to a desk, where a man, about the age of fifty, sat reading a file report. Her file report.

"You called?" she asked wearily, eyeing the folder.

"Yes; please sit down." He set down the file and motioned to the twin chairs, and she sat reluctantly, chewing on her lower lip. "Anders," he said eventually, clasping his hands in front of him, "you need to leave."

She clutched the chair tighter. This couldn't be happening. She had worked too hard for too long only to be let loose now. "Wait, chief—"

"I'm not firing you," he said, reading her thoughts. "You're being transferred. You aren't safe here anymore." The chief placed his hands on the desk, leaning forward. "He's back."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, confusion replacing vexation. His eyes darted to the door behind her, only causing her anxiety to heighten.