| The Unexpected Chase

𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒

JAMES

I ran down the street with the determination of a man on a mission, chasing a guy who felt it was okay to snatch and grab an elderly lady's pouch. Of course, I just had to be the one who had wandered around the corner at the exact moment all this was going down - as if some supernatural power was on the old woman's side. She might not have known this, but I was a cop, so It was my job, after all.

To be honest, this was one of the reasons I joined the police force. Why I became a detective. I wanted to be the one chasing after guys like this. Guys who thought they could do whatever the hell they wanted on these streets.

And although I knew I should be investigating big cases-cases that involved the Bologna or the Morellos, the worst and most dangerous families ruling these streets of Boston for lord knew how long, I'd take anything that has to do with protecting civilians in a heartbeat. Even if it meant me chasing dumb criminals who had shit for brains. What could I say? I loved my Job.

Sweat pooled underneath my arms and I couldn't help but groan to myself in annoyance. This guy was making me sweat, so now I was going to have to kick his ass.

The guy made a sharp turn and ran into a grocery store. Rookie mistake. Everyone knew you should never run into a shop unless you knew for sure there was a back exit. And it seemed like this guy was more stupid than I thought because I was a hundred and one percent sure he didn't know since I knew there was no back exit to this particular shop. Well, I won't complain. He just made catching him a whole lot easier.

I stormed into the store behind him and launched myself forward, grabbing him by the back of his jacket collar, pulling him down, and slamming his face into the floor before I pressed my knee into his spine.

I pulled his arms behind his back and cuffed him. "No one makes me sweat and gets away with it." Unless you were a six-foot-tall brunette with a decent-sized pair of tits and a mouth like a Hoover vacuum.

"Fuck you," the little asshole spat from the side of his mouth since his face was almost engraved into the cement floor.

"Jesus Christ. Rio? I should have known it was you." I pulled him up by his arms, turned him to face me, and shoved his back into the counter.

"You're a special kind of stupid, aren't you? How many times do I have to drag your ass down to the precinct before you realize you're too dumb for this shit?"

"Suck my cock, officer." He smiled, showing me a silver filling between his front teeth.

I raised a brow. "Oh, you got new jewelry. Whose corpse did you steal that from?"

"And suck my balls while you're down there too."

I noticed Mrs. Bossi staring at us from behind the cash register. "Sorry about this one's dirty mouth, Mrs. Bossi."

"It's okay, dear. I hear more cursing than prayer these days, anyway. What did this one do today?" She glowered at Rio.

"Disrespecting the elderly again, I'm afraid." I turned him around and started frisking him when I felt a little bump in his jacket pocket. "Rio, is that what I think it is?"

"No," he replied over his shoulder.

"How do you know what I think it is?"

"Uh...I don't."

I reached into his pocket. "Then how can you answer that question?"

"Because you're an asshole."

I snorted before pulling out a little plastic bag with white powder in it. Bingo. "Rio, is this cocaine?"

"No."

"God, you're a terrible liar." I jerked him back around and held the little bag in front of him. "Are you moving up in the world?"

He smiled that disgusting silver-filling smile of his. "I have no idea what that is."

"Really? Well, let me enlighten you, then." I brought the bag closer to his face. "This is what you call a real-fucking-stupid move." Rio continued to grin like an idiot.

"Where did you get it?"

He turned his head and looked to the right, but I jerked at his collar, forcing him to look back at me. "Who are you dealing for, Rio?"

"The Bologna." His answer was clipped, and I immediately felt that familiar tingle at the back of my neck. It happened whenever I heard the name "Bologna."

I frowned. "You answered that pretty quickly. You sure about your answer?"

"What the fuck, man? You asked me, and I answered."

I studied his ugly face for a few seconds, wondering why the hell he answered so damn fast. Around here, people didn't go tell everyone who they worked for on the street - especially a cop. So, either Rio was incredibly stupid, or he was lying.

I pulled him away from the counter. "I'm sorry for the mess, Mrs. Bossi. I'll come back around later and help you clean up, okay?"

Mrs. Bossi smiled. "You are such a gentleman, James. I'll make sure I have some of my mushroom risotto packed for you."

"Ah, Mrs. Bossi," I winked at her, "you know exactly the way to my heart." I pulled Rio away from the counter and smiled warmly at the old lady I'd come to know during the last two years. She is a good old soul.

"So, Rio, did I ever tell you about this girl I knew a few years ago?" I dragged him toward the door. "She also had the whole gap thing going with her front teeth, only she didn't patch it with a gold filling. But let me tell you, that girl sucked my cock like a champ."

"That's because your dick was small enough to fill her gap," Rio shot back. And then his face just happened to collide with the wall right next to the door. "Motherfucker!"

Again, his face hit the wall. "Rio, you need to go through the door, not the wall, my man." I smiled wickedly like I was trying to shove the fact that I had perfectly spaced teeth in his face.

"You're the one slamming me into the damn wall, you psycho."

"Me?" I feigned a look of innocence. "I would never do such a thing." And then Rio's face slammed against the wall for the third time, right before I finally led him through the door to the sidewalk.

The precinct was about a block away. Unfortunately, all this went down while I was on my way back from my lunch break, which meant we were going to have to walk. Where's a fucking squad car when you need one?

People stared at us while we made our way down the sidewalk. I didn't care. If I had to care about what other people thought, I'd be bat-shit crazy by now. The fact that I was half-African made for some serious gossip, and some piss-poor jokes back at the station. Especially since I was the best damn detective, and those doughnut-eating, useless, lazy asses I was forced to work with daily were jealous as fuck. And not only was I the best detective Boston had seen in a long time, but I was also the prettiest. I got more pussy in one week than those fuckers got in a year combined.

I glanced at Rio walking with his head hanging down.

"Oh, come on, you and I both know getting arrested makes you even more badass on these streets. And let's face it, snatch-and-grabbing an old lady's purse is a real badass."

"Go fuck yourself, Gunner."

I noticed a pole about six feet in front of us. "Mind the pole." Too late.

The sound of Rio's face hitting the pole vibrated next to me, and Rio cursed the longest f-bomb sentence I'd heard in a while.

"You should watch where you're going, Rio."

He opened his mouth, but then I glanced down the street at the ten-odd poles all lined up. Rio shut his mouth. Good boy. Now he knows not to fuck with me again.

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A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of TLAB. Enjoying the story yet? If yes, don't forget to let me know in the comments section. Just so you know, you are my inspiration for writing!

Xoxo Jenivalwrites ❤