Overruled

I wouldn’t hide the fact that I was quite surprised. What are the odds that the girl I had a one night stand with just a couple of hours ago would be the DA? There are thousands of people in this city paired with thousands of jobs, this has to mean something.

She mirrored the look of surprise on my face, but it was gone as fast as it appeared. We shared a look, very subtle to not raise any suspicions from Lisa, signaling each other to pretend we weren’t in the same bed 20 minutes ago. To be fair, we don’t really know anything about each other.

“DA Jennie Kim,” Lisa nodded her head to the DA before pointing to me. “Detective Brae.” She looked back to Jennie. “She’s new.”

“Obviously.” Jennie rolled her eyes. “Now Detective Manoban, brief me. Save my time and ear by skipping the obvious.” She walked past us, observing every nook of the place. I took this chance to read her. As everyone knows, I have a knack of reading people based on their subtle actions, facial expressions, and the way they speak. It allows me to view my options on I’ll to approach the person. It’s a much-needed skill that’ll do you good in the drug business, any business actually.

“No other fingerprints were found. Particles of heroin on his clothes…” Lisa went on informing the DA about the pieces of evidence and educational guesses she had.

What I’ve gathered on Jennie Kim so far is: she’s intelligent, that’s kind of a given though, she knows her area and won’t waste a chance to make you feel incompetent by waving it to your face, not the relationship type as she’s mentioned earlier, very confident to the point that she can come off as conceited, wealthy, and guarded. 

“Done staring?” Her voice brought me back to earth. She had her back on me, inspecting the cadaver. Lisa was talking with an officer by the corner.

I felt the edge of my lips tug up. “DA, huh?”

She stood up, facing me with a smug face. “Impressive, I know.”

Lisa walked towards us, looking like a zombie from the walking dead. “I’m going to head home and take a shower. I’ll be at the station in an hour.”

Seconds after Lisa went out, Jennie took one last scan of the room before heading for the door herself. “Aren’t you going home?”

“Just a sec.”

“You wouldn’t want to keep the Princess of Genovia waiting, would you?” She smirked, turning her heel around, disappearing through the hallway. I can see us getting along pretty well. 

Unlike my predicted future of my relationship with the DA, I don’t think this case is going pretty well. In fact, I’ve just gone back to the crime scene after taking a quick shower and breakfast and since then I’ve been knocking door to door for any witnesses but so far, nothing. The most I got was a guy from across the room saying he saw a tall Hispanic guy knocking on the victim’s door. I was taken at the very top of the mountain only to get dragged back to the foot when I found out he was under the influence of alcohol that night. What even is the point?

After knocking at literally every door in the apartment, I went back to the precinct to read over the files in hopes to find something I didn’t notice before, although very unlikely.

Right when the elevator door opened, Rosé was the first thing that I saw. “Oh good, you’re here.”

I placed my hand on my chest, batting my eyelashes. “Very delighted to see me. I’m flattered.”

Rosé decided to ignore my comment. “I just got a call from an informant just before you came in. He said that Non-Altum is in a vulnerable state and then hung up.”

Vulnerable state? Bull. I’ve only been gone for two weeks and Bogum hasn’t mentioned any problems the last time we talked. 
I raised an eyebrow, leaning on her desk. “How trustworthy is this informant exactly?” 

“I don’t know. But as much as I hate to admit this, we’re desperate for any information. Non-Altum barely has any leaks in their operation. They’re difficult to trace.”

Although I’m positive that what the informant said is pure bull, he needs to be eliminated. You can never be too careless. “Do you have the name of the informant?”

“No. This is a different informant.” Rosé sighed. “I should call the service operator and—-“

“I’m on it.” I walked over to my desk, searching for the number and wearing my Bluetooth earpiece before dialing.

“Okay. I’ll just tell the I.T. guy to triangulate the—-“

“I’m on it as well.” I can’t really depend on slow I.T. guy. I hate waiting. 
I then opened my computer, activating the software. Rosé showed me the caller’s number. On the other hand, the service operator hasn’t answered my call yet. Sloths.

A second later, they finally answered. They said they’d get back at me in a minute.

As I wait for the radar to pinpoint the location, I felt someone’s eyes on me. It could only be one person. “Don’t tell me you’ve caught feelings for me,” I joked, my eyes not leaving the screen.

“I have a boyfriend,” Rosé said, it was almost like she was convincing herself.

I glanced at her, grinning. “That’s what they always say~”

“Look, can you not do whatever this is?” She motioned with her hands. She’s taking this too seriously. “Cheating on him was the worse thing I’ve ever done in my whole life and the guilt is eating me alive.” It really isn’t that bad, but I mean, I can’t really compare her to me.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve done way worse things in my life. Trust me.”

This seemed to pique her interest as she leaned closer to my desk. “Like what?”

Let’s see, I have a long list of people that I’ve killed, I’m operating a drug cartel, I’m a liar, and the list goes on. But of course, I’d never tell her that. “For one, I shot my pet rabbit when I was five.” That’s true. And it’s probably the only thing I regret out of the things I mentioned.

Rosé gasped. “That’s terrible. Why would you do that?” Her eyes were glistening and a pout formed on her lips.

“My father made me. Rest in peace Twinkie.”

As if she wasn’t about to cry a second ago, she laughed. “You named your rabbit ‘Twinkie’?”

“I was five.”

Her laughter slowly died down, and all was left was the beeping noise my computer was making and other detectives shuffling around. I broke the silence. “How long have you two been together?”

She smiled as if all the memories they had flashed on her head. “Four years.”

I gasped. “Oh wow. How’d you last that long in prison?”

Her smile turned into a frown. “We’ve been together for four years…” At this point, I assumed that she wasn’t listening to the last thing I said. She suddenly shook her head and whispered, “I should tell him what happened.”

“You should. That’s your get out of jail card.”

“He deserves to know the truth.”

“What’s so great about the truth anyway?” I mumbled, half caring whether she hears me. It’s true though. Truth is overrated. Because let’s face it, people don’t want to hear the truth anyway, they want confirmation. People choose lies for the sake of avoiding confrontation with the harsh reality. And it .

I could tell by Rosé’s face that she’s about to oppose my comment, but her phone rang. “Hey, granny.”

Right when Rosé went out to take the call, the service operator called me back saying they couldn’t trace the phone since it’s turned off. In cue, my computer didn’t get anything as well. The informant was using a burner phone. Of course. 

Not long after, Lisa messaged me regarding the autopsy. Apparently, there was an injection mark behind his neck, but we’d have to wait for a week for the body chemical test. At last, something useful. We can now officially throw suicide in the trash bin.

It was around 5 in the afternoon when the DA came by. I’ve been reading past cases and trying to connect the pieces of evidence together.

“Give me an update.”

“Let’s see…No witnesses we can use in court, family is dead, and oh, autopsy came out, they found an injection mark at the back of his neck.”

She had her arms crossed, standing beside my desk. “And you didn’t tell me?”

I grinned. “I forgot.”

“Are you sure you’re really a detective?”

“Geez. Everybody makes mistakes.”

“I don’t.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Anyway, I asked for a handwriting analysis. Results should be here in two days.”

Jennie handed me her business card then turned around to leave. “Tell me everything you find important.” 

As fast as I can, I saved her number and messaged her: Me

I watched as Jennie turned around, looking at me, clearly unamused. “Really?”

I shrugged, and although it was a brief second, I swear I saw her smiling.

Reading files didn’t get me anywhere. It was getting boring and boring as the clock ticked slowly, showing that it was only 9 in the evening. I need to do something or else I’d resort to going back home and just sleep all the way until tomorrow. Just then, I had an idea. 

I moved my chair a little to my right to get a glimpse of Lisa, who was doing something with her computer. “Lisa, I’m going back to the crime scene. I’ll see if I can get anything.”

“Okay.”

She didn’t even bother to remove her eyes from the computer. So I stared at her until she does. She hates it when I do that.

Lisa suddenly snapped her head towards me. Finally. “What?” 

I smiled. “Say ‘I’ll come with you, Y/N’.”

“I won’t come with you, Y/N.”

“Oh come on! What if someone kills me there?”

She snickered. “And who will kill you? The ghost?”

I gasped. That didn’t occur to me. “Don’t scare me you jerk. Just…come on. Someone is always trying to kill me.” It’s true.

“You can kill anyone before they can even touch your hair. You’re just scared of ghosts,” Lisa teased, fully knowing it’s one of my very few weaknesses.

“I’m not!”

“You are.”

“You know what? I’m going. Alone.” I stood up, gathering my things. “I hope you feel guilty if I die tonight.”

After getting my evening coffee, I went straight to the crime scene. The hallways were barely lit and it didn’t really help that the only light bulb in the crime scene that was working was in the bedroom. I walked around slowly, trying my hardest to think of something that’ll give me an idea where to look around the apartment. But that seemed impossible as Lisa has engraved ghosts in my brain. 

I stood in the middle of the living room, couldn’t really see much, and took a sip of my coffee. What am I even doing here at night? I could’ve just went home, took a shower, ate, and slept, but no, I’m here at some sort of a rat house, trying to force myself to believe that ghosts don’t exist. 

This had got me thinking, was I taking this too seriously? I left Scotland to be a detective for fun and thrill, but all this job is giving me is half of what I wanted. But then again, I’ve only been here for two weeks. Plus, I did meet some interesting people through this—- 
Footsteps behind me alerted me of someone’s presence. It was almost too faint to hear but my senses have been heightened since the day I got kidnapped and blindfolded for three days. 
When I knew the person was behind me, I quickly turned around, hooking my left arm to the person’s elbow, turning them around and cutting down my hand near my chest, easily putting the person into a hammerlock, while I was careful enough not to spill my coffee. “Who sent you?” I placed more pressure, and the person, it was a girl based on the small figure, bent down, screaming in pain. Oh, I know how painful it is. 

“Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! You’re gonna dislocate my shoulder!” The familiar voice made me let go immediately, causing her to drop on the ground, letting out another scream. It was the DA.

“Oh! Hey! Didn’t see you there.” I chuckled nervously, just like I wasn’t about to tear down her arm a second ago.

“ing Christ!” Jennie sat on the floor, massaging her shoulder, still hissing.

I offered a hand to help her up but she rolled her eyes and slapped my hand away. She stood up for a second before almost tripping. I caught her just in time and helped her sit on a chair. For some reason, she’s limping. That has nothing to do with me. 

“You sprained my ankle and you almost dislocated my shoulder. I’m gonna sue you.” Jennie glared.

“Okay, first, I didn’t sprain your ankle, I only touched your shoulder. And second, I was just defending myself from possible danger.”

“If you didn’t let go so suddenly, I wouldn’t have fallen down and sprained my ankle. This is all your fault. How am I supposed to wear heels now?”

“Seriously, that’s your problem?”

“No, you’re my problem.”

I sighed, scratching my eyebrow. “I’m sorry, okay?” I crouched down, taking off her heels and placing my iced coffee on her ankle, it can work as a cold compress for now. 

“You know, I’m wasting my iced coffee on you,” I joked. Half joked.

“You know, I’m wasting my time on you.” She sassily commented, crossing her arms but immediately regretting it when her right shoulder started hurting again. 

We ended up talking about jujitsu, milk, collar bones, Taylor Swift, and drugs. I don’t know how, it just happened.

Jennie was telling me the first and last time she tried smoking weed. She wouldn’t believe that I haven’t tried it yet. Nobody will believe a drug lord if she says she hasn’t tried smoking pot. “If I learned anything from drugs, it’s: Everything is not what it seems,” Jennie shared.

She was right. Everything is not what it seems. Literally. I’ve thought of thousands of ways on how to smuggle and cannabis. Insert them on teddy bears, speakers, tiny screws, heck Jisoo even thought of placing it inside lollipops. It was really cute and—-Lollipops. Candies. 

Holy cow.

I stood up, quickly picking up a pack of skittles on the ground, ripping the wrapper open.

“You’re contaminating physical evidence. Put it back Detective Brae,” Jennie demanded. Too late though, the supposed to be candies fell on the floor. It wasn’t the colored candies as what I’ve suspected, it was a gray colored round thing, a little bit bigger than the true skittles. I crushed it with my fingers easily, powder came out of it. Heroin.

It was only a matter of time when Lisa, Officer Kim, and Officer Tuan came to the apartment. By then, Jennie and I have already figured the situation. Obviously, the skittles the victim was purchasing was heroin, the cashier worker is a distributor and possible accomplice to the first-degree murder if proven to be working for the gang. 

Lisa and I left to make an arrest. Thankfully though, we didn’t have to wait for a warrant since we had a probable cause. My adrenaline is rushing through my veins, I don’t think I can wait for anything.

We entered the convenience store, Lisa immediately went over to the cashier personnel. “You’re under arrest for drug distribution—-“

“Ooh~ Can I say it?” I grinned at Lisa, who was already behind the cashier guy, handcuffing him. She chuckled. “Go ahead.”

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.” I smirked, finishing the rights. “Cool.” I’ve always wanted to say that.

Lisa shook her head. “Now that you’ve had your fun, let’s go. We have a lot to do.”

Just like what Lisa mentioned, we were in for a very hectic day. Lisa conducted the processing and interrogation, leaving me to prove that the guy is a distributor and is associated with the gang in at most 96 hours if he doesn’t admit to the charges, which is most likely. If he is involved in a gang it’ll be difficult to make him confess.

While Lisa was inside the interrogation room, Jennie and I were on the first floor, along with the officers. “We’re looking at a first-degree murder and drug distribution charges. So far we have the results of the handwriting, injection mark, illegal substances, a drug distributor subject to questioning, and we’re still waiting for the chemical results,” She reiterated to me.

“I need someone to scan the CCTV footages for further evidence.” Jennie turned her head to her left, looking at B.I.

B.I scratched his head. “So, am I supposed to watch footages of the whole week?”

“Why don’t you ask your mom?” Jennie snapped, pointing to another officer instead. “You do it.”

She scanned the surroundings. “Officer Tuan and Officer Arredondo, patrol outside around the crime scene and triple check every corner.” The two went out without asking anything. “And you,” Jennie pointed at B.I, “Get me a double shot espresso.”

B.I had his mouth open, obviously offended. “Hey! I’m an officer too.”

“I thought being stupid was your profession.” Jennie raised an eyebrow, and I can’t help but laugh. God, I love her. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have charges to file.” She walked to the door, still limping, before turning back. “Nobody slacks for even a second.”

Once the DA was out of sight, I turned to face B.I. “I’ll take her double shot espresso.”

He stared at me. I’m not quite sure if I’ve offended him or what. Doesn’t really matter though ‘cause I feel bothered. “What?”

“This is the time when you mutter curse words and say that you hate her arrogant .”

I shrugged. “Her is quite nice.”

“Oh come on. Every officer and detective have cursed at her behind her back at least five times. It’s normal. You don’t have to feel bad. Even Rosé, our mother Teresa, can’t handle her sass.”

“The DA is quite a badass. She’s obviously smart and does her job well. I don’t see a reason to curse.”

B.I was clearly disappointed. “I see…You just think she’s hot.” He pointed a finger at me, sending me a knowing look.

I smirked. “Who doesn’t?”

“I left my iPad.” I turned to the door just a couple of steps away from where I stood, Jennie walked in, looking for her iPad on the counter. Did she hear what we were talking about? Nah, I doubt it.

I stood beside her, leaning on the counter. “We should get a drink sometime.”

She continued to look for her iPad. “No. What happened before was a one-time thing.”

I gasped, faking a hurt cry. “Objection, your honor.”

Jennie turned to face me once she got her iPad. She raised an eyebrow. “On the grounds of?”

“You’re hot, I’m hot. 1+1=2.”

“Overruled.” 

I groaned, rolling my eyes. 

Before she reached the door, she glanced back at me, smirking. “Now you have a reason to curse at me.”

Yup. She heard everything.

I'll probably insert Rosé's P.O.V. in the next chapter so...there's that. 

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