“Who is he?” Jack’s tone was skeptical, his voice rising.
“Guess,” Sookie suddenly wanted to tease him.
“I don’t guess. Gossip is Macey’s specialty. I just want to know one thing.”
“What?”
“Is he a good guy?”
Sookie kept silent about this. Is he a good guy? She wasn’t sure. Who defines a good guy, the police, or the Catholic Church? Certainly not her, she couldn’t figure it out.
Her silence prompted Jack to change the subject, “Well, at least, is he better than Kalvin?”
“Of course,” Sookie chuckled, “Who could be worse than him?” With a comparison like that, the standards for a good person had been lowered.
“Did he help you escape danger?” Jack pressed on.
“Yes, he did, brother. Not only that, he also helped me beat up Kalvin and crushed his, well, you know…” Sookie couldn’t help but laugh, collapsing onto the handmade carpet.
“Well, that’s good then. Tell him that if he dares to bully you, I’ll come and get him.”
“Thank you, Jae,” Sookie said softly, “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”
Family was good, caring, but occasionally too violent and impulsive.
After saying goodbye to her brother, she hung up the phone and closed her eyes.
It was difficult for her to explain her relationship with Enzo. They were both single, in the prime of their sexual impulses, and had ended up together in a moment of passion. What else could their relationship be?
Sex is just sex, nothing more. She was an adult, not an inexperienced girl. She understood what it was all about. She understood that they had come together under the pressure of mutual attraction. Enzo wanted to entertain himself with her, and she needed to alleviate her own loneliness.
Feeling bored, Sookie decided to go downstairs to buy a drink, “Hey, miss, can I chat with you?”
“Oh my god!”
The person raised a badge, the faint light reflecting the words on it, “I’m Agent Hayde, miss. I think we can have a chat.”
It was the FBI guys. They were only coming to her now. If this had happened before she got involved with Enzo, she might have cooperated actively, but now, she couldn’t. She wouldn’t cooperate with them at all.
“Do you know why I’m here?” Hayde asked, smiling with scrutiny.
The man wasn’t old, probably only in his early thirties based on the age of a seasoned detective, but he had a head of white hair, and his sharp eyes were like those of a bird of prey hunting for its prey. His gaze made her shiver. She felt guilty.
“I don’t know,” she didn’t intend to admit anything.
Hayde smiled lightly, “You really don’t know?”
“Yes, sir,” she tried to look experienced, as if to hide her guilt, “Perhaps I ran a red light in a hurry, or got into a fight because I refused to pay protection money. But God is my witness, I haven’t done anything to warrant the attention of the FBI. I don’t even have a gun license, or drive illegally.”
Hayde thought to himself, this girl is pretty clean. If it was a rookie who came today, they might have been fooled by her innocent look and naive appearance.
Hayde continued to stare at her, until the cold sweat on Sookie’s back soaked her T-shirt.
“Of course, these little things are not enough to alert the FBI, but if I find you, it must be because you have seriously done something wrong. Miss Hammond, although I don’t know how you got involved with Enzo Dawson, I think you should know that he is a key figure in our FBI records.”
“… I know,” she said softly.
Enzo’s business included drug smuggling, the trade of human organs, forcing young girls from the slums to engage in prostitution because he knew they couldn’t afford rent, nor could they afford the medicine when they were sick. Surrogacy and arms trafficking were also everyday occurrences. They made a living out of these activities.
But that was a long time ago. After Tessa took over, she was able to legitimize the organization’s business, and Enzo hadn’t done anything illegal for a long time, except for a few idle lower-level members who had to rely on some gray industries to earn a basic living.
Hayde pulled out a file envelope, thick with what seemed to be letters. Sookie’s trembling hand took it and tore it open.
Fear instantly engulfed her mind. In the photos, the body had no head, and the two hands were only half there. It had been too long; the blood had oxidized into black. Even through the photos, Sookie could barely hold back the nausea.
“Don’t stop, keep looking, there’s more,” Agent Hayde said coldly. He knew these photos would have an effect, after all, she was just a young girl.
Sookie didn’t want to continue, but Hadey’s gaze forced her to look down. When she flipped to the next photo, she involuntarily retched at the charred body. It was black like charcoal, but still recognizable as a human form. She could almost smell it, the stench of burning flesh.
“Have you ever set a fire? Have you seen bodies in a fire scene? Have you seen people screaming in pain, struggling, and then slowly dying?” Hayde’s voice was menacing.
“By the way, this is just his everyday life. If you want to see, I have more, as long as you can handle it.”
She averted her eyes, trying to swallow the nauseating feeling. “Why are you showing me this?”
Hayde’s gaze grew sharper. “Because I need your help. I need to bring the villain to justice, to do right by those who died, and for my badge.”
Sookie remained expressionless. “I won’t be involved in any help. I don’t know him.”
“I’m not asking for your opinion, Ms. Willis.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have many ways to make you cooperate. As you said, you’re not entirely clean. Fighting, theft, I have a thousand ways to make you suffer in prison, and when you can’t take it anymore, you’ll beg me and tell me everything I want to know.”
It was a blatant threat.
“What do you want?”
“Any information you have about when you were with him.”
Sookie frowned, not understanding the specifics of the information.
“I want to know what happened in his little bachelor pad. I want to know when he leaves, or when you leave, or when you both decide to stop playing house and move out.”
“I don’t know-”
“In fact, you do,” he hissed. “You’ve been backed into a corner, miss. Play along, and you can get out of all this. I don’t care about how you met him, what your relationship is. What I really care about is Dawson’s whereabouts, because he is crucial to the other members of the Shadowy Saints. Understand?”
Hayde stared at her, gritting his teeth, his hand still on the disposable phone.
“Help me out, and I’ll overlook your little mistakes. Can you do that?”
She swallowed. She nodded slowly.
Hayde smiled faintly. “Ms. Willis, have a pleasant evening with your friend. Think about what he said to you. Listen to what he said to you. No matter what you think it is, playing house with a robber? Whatever you think you’re going through, it’s just a small phase.”
She felt her teeth clenching, a rising anger within her.
Hayde chuckled. “Do you think you’re the first girl to think he’s handsome?” He laughed. “Ask him about Mia.”
Ice ran through her veins-a chilling cold seeped into her body.
Agent Hayde smiled darkly. “Go ask him about the last girl who fell for the tricks of a bad boy, and see if you want to spill everything and call me.”