The Dark Ghosts

49. Police Awards

Melanie's POV

I was done with being the little girl that ran to her room and cried just because something or someone hurt her. Being the youngest of the group doesn't mean that I'm the weakest, the one you always have to protect. I, for once, wanted to prove myself, to let everybody know my worth. I am a Dark Ghost, and it's time I let that side of me out.

Sadie explained to me what she found out about my sister and how she discovered it. I'm not going to lie, it's a relief that Hannah didn't mean any of those hurtful words. But now it keeps me wondering, what was she hiding? What kind of secrets did she have? I'm curious, intrigued and honestly a bit heartbroken. She lied to me; maybe she had a good reason to do so, but it still hurts that she didn't trust me enough to tell me if she had any problems.

But right now I wanted to forget about all those problems and focus on the current mission. The Police Awards, a formal, annual celebration that gives some members of the police force in New York a recognition for their work. This year, Holden is actually winning a prize, so he is assisting the event with some of his friends and colleagues as well as co-workers.

If my theory is right, Angelo might know about us working with Holden. It would just make sense he knows about a petty thing like that when he knows about stuff we haven't mentioned in years. That's why I believe he might think that we are assisting the gala in support. And in case he doesn't know, Sadie hacked into the system and changed its location to the hotel Alec's father owns so it would be more obvious that we'll be there.

If Angelo follows the same footsteps he had been following for the past weeks, he will take any opportunity he has to harm us in any way, so he will go too. And our theory was proven right when yesterday we received another anonymous message from him- or at least we think it was him- talking about this gala.

I know the plan is risky and it may not work, much more when we are about to confront a bunch of criminals in a place filled with police officers and people related to the right side of the law. But it's worth a try. We need to try or we'll be stuck in the same cycle until we slowly start tumbling down.

Holden doesn't even know about this. We already feel guilty enough for sneaking into his event, so we don't want to put any pressure or worry on him. It's his night and, even though he's a corrupt officer, we do know that he works really hard. In fact, we won't even disturb the gala. We brought silencers and knives with us. We want to make this as discreet as possible so everyone enjoys their evening and nobody's night is ruined.

"You all ready?" Alec asked us through the intercom.

"Yes," Josh and I responded simultaneously from our positions in the balconies.

The event was taking place in a wider hall than the last time we were here. This space had balconies from where we had a nice sight of the whole hall, so we could see who was coming or not from a discreet way. It was now filled with people, some of them dressed up as officials while others were dressed in their formal attires.

"Yes," said Sadie and Maddie, who were together infiltrated among the crowd, taking advantage of the fact that, while some of the boys' faces may be familiar to some police officers, ours aren't.

"Yes," the rest, who were moving around the hotel in search of any threats, concluded.

The violins started playing a soft melody and people started dancing by the rhythm of the music with their partners. I fixed my dress while scanning the view. I don't usually dress up like this, but today we all had to wear formal clothes in order to not stand out.

My eyes then fell on Holden, who was casually talking to a group of other four people while occasionally taking sips of his drink. Thankfully, he hasn't seen us yet. I don't want him to find out we're here at least until he's been given the award.