The Secret Love Scandal

2

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For the entire weekend, she was entertained by a splitting migraine that would not subdue even after swallowing pain relievers. Every time the phone rang through the apartment, and Jordan brought it her, the blonde groaned. Because if it wasn't Andrew ringing to check up on her, it was some other asshole from the NYPD that wanted to gloat from her failure. Because Samantha had told the most surprising lie concocted from a long, and terrible night of tossing and turning from conflicting thoughts.

She admitted to everyone that she had willingly released Adriana due to insufficient evidence obtained to add flesh to any obvious crime.

Now, even the Chief refused to have a decent conversation with her. Although she had the authority to let Adriana go, he felt that a little more pushing wouldn't have been that bad. In other words, because he didn't get to stick his fingers into this one, Samantha had behaved like a selfish officer. So for one minute tops he had tolerated Swan's presence in his office before commanding that she relieve herself from duty for two weeks.

Her badge was seized and of course there was a weapon to go into the black tray on the chief's desk. Because Adriana had willingly left the gun lying by Samantha's side so that the blaring truth would confront her upon waking up. That the brunette had kept her promise. She didn't mean to implicate Swan. No. All she had wanted was to run free. So now, like a depressed puppy with his ears hanging low, Samantha dragged her feet out of there and into the yellow bug parked outside.

Now it was Monday morning, and Jordan kept staring at the bruised skin covering two inches over her right temple where the gun had struck down hard. Of course he couldn't understand how painful the world could become. How beautiful people turned into monsters and their blood boiled like lava when the law threatened to cage them up. But for a ten year old kid, he really was equipped with enough knowledge to decipher the true meaning behind a lie. So that naturally, when Samantha claimed to have bumped her head on the roof of the car whilst getting out, Jordan pretty much realized that someone had done it.

A corner away and moving at a slow crawl, was a black Jaguar with heavily tinted windows. The car seemed familiar, almost as if she had cast her eyes upon it on a prior occasion. Maybe as they were heading out a few minutes ago. Or from some time ago. But the make and model wasn't in abundance in the Bronx. Cars like those were driven by wealthy citizens who either earned their money fairly or were eyeballs deep in drugs. The latter seemed like the most obvious as the vehicle trailed behind them in traffic or slowing down to park on the curb.

Why would a regular person decide to suddenly follow her tracks if not with a justified motive? Adriana, perhaps? Or one of Machavano's men? Keeping on the sidewalk in the eyes of passersby, she flipped on her hoodie, zipped up the front and headed towards Pete's Diner to kill some time.

After one week though, the Chief called her mobile to break the detention phase as if she was a petulant child. He claimed that they needed the manpower and great minds cannot go to waste. But she was still infuriated from being benched all because her own damn boss didn't believe in her worth. Really and truly she had done it before. Several times. So why was this time any different than the rest? Perhaps the chief had a bone to pick with someone in the Red X. Or maybe everyone was just waiting on her to fuck up so that they could spin their own webs of lies. Obviously that was what Savory thought as well when Swan walked into the compound the following Monday.

Her blue eyes rested on the blonde hovering over the water cooler and she sighed. "Look, it's a pity that you can't ever fall into his good favor," she referred to the Chief. "But suck it up and stop moping around. It's making me depressed."