Sugar

Chapter 7

Sugar ducked under the bar when she saw her brothers Andy and Jacob walk in. She didn't know if they saw her, but she saw them. Sugar held her breath. There were three hard taps above her head. She knew they knew she was there, but she still waited.

"Sugar, get up. We saw you." Andy said

Sugar got up slowly. "Jacob Andy, hey, I didn't see you there. What's um, what's up, guys."

"We wanted to see you because Paris and Bobby were heading to your station earlier, but you weren't there," Jacob said

"Thank god. I know you probably would have shot him dead." Andy said

Sugar hadn't seen Bobby in eight years since she graduated high school. Her dad said he had been traveling since he was four years old.

"Bobby was with Paris?" Sugar asked

"Yeah. Why?" Andy asked

"She said she wasn't with him anymore when she found me at the precinct."

"And you believed her?" Jacob asked

"No."

***

Victor and Derek walked over to Sugar, Andy, and Jacob.

"Derek." Andy and Jacob smiled, slapping his back

"Ow, guys, those slaps get harder every time."

"Who are you?" Andy asked

"I'm–"

"He's my partner, Victor Petrov." Sugar smirked, and Victor's face flew to one in horror. Andy and Jacob looked at him. Each had their own scowl and raised eyebrow, but they looked exactly the same. Derek just sat there and smirked along with Sugar.

"No. No. She meant ha she meant partners as in on-the-force police partners, detective partners, not romantic partners. Well, there was that one time when she had a sleepover at my house. Oh s**t, I meant we just..."

"You mean our s*x sleepover." Sugar's smirk widened

"You had s*x?" Derek asked

"No. I mean, yes, but it was nothing. No, I don't mean it was nothing. I was scared it would become more, so I ended it. I mean, she's my work partner. We can't be physical. I'm just going to stop talking." Victor said

"Now I think that is the best idea you've had tonight. Never heard you talk so much." Kevin said, slapping Victor on the back as he sat beside Victor, softly pushing Derek out of the way.

"Kevin," Derek said

"Derek," Kevin said with a secret smile.

"Oh, stop the s**t you two are dating. We all know it." Andy said

"Now, back to you, little sister," Jacob said

"What? It's not like I was the Virgin Mary. I've had s*x. Ask mom. He'll ask Kevin. He put my last boyfriend in jail because my wrist turned red." Sugar said

"I never wanted to meet any of the men you've slept with," Jacob said

"Well, luckily, he's the hit-it-and-quit-it type, so he's done." Sugar managed to say with a straight but there was laughter in her eyes as she stared at Victor.

"What, that's not true. Being her work partner might make things awkward, so I suggested we not do it again." Victor said

"Victor," Jacob growled but then smiled. "She's giving you a hard time. We like you."

"I don't," Andy said

"He's a pain in the ass, but he's good with our sister," Kevin said

Victor looked at Sugar with a hint of a smile, which quickly faded when she checked her phone and frowned. Then he got a strange text from an unknown number.

Update on the case someone wants to talk to you. Sugar read the text.

***

An immediate chill went up Sugar's spine, and she knew it had to do with the text from the unknown number she had just received. Sugar tried to trace the number, but it led to a dead end. She had a bad feeling she couldn't shake, but when she looked up at Victor, it looked like he had it, too.

"Excuse us," Victor said, gently grabbing Sugars' arm. They walked to the empty end of the bar while Sugars' brothers and Derek stared at them.

"I'm guessing you got the same text as me?" Sugar asked

"From the unknown number. Yeah, I got it." Victor said

"I have a feeling it came from the woman who killed our Victim." Sugar sighed

"Someone wants to make it known that they know about our case. Maybe it's someone who wants to help?" Victor asked

"Doubt it. If they wanted to help, I wouldn't have had trouble tracing the number. They used a burner phone." Sugar said

"You already ran the number? How?"

"My brother Dante installed a program on my phone, and he's a nerd. But he's still a cop, just a nerdy one." Sugar laughed

"Got it."

Sugar's phone rang with a new text alert. When she looked at it, she rolled her eyes, but she also smiled.

"What's wrong?" Victor questioned her.

"My mom sent me an 'Are you dead.' Text. Because I didn't call her at nine." Sugar closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I wish my mom was that worried about me." Victor sighed

"I'm sure she is." Sugar said, touching his arm.

"She never shows it. I wish she were as worried as my stepmother," Victor said, not looking up.

"How about we get off this topic? I don't need my partner to be depressed—not when we need to act on this text," Sugar said, bumping him with her shoulder, making him chuckle.

"We should get back to your brothers before they come searching for us," Victor said. Instead, Sugar pushed him into the wall, got on her toes, and planted her lips on his. The kiss quickly got heated as Victor turned and pressed Sugar into the wall, sliding his tongue into her mouth.

"Well, I guess we were worried about nothing. They were kissing." Derek said

"Kissing?!" Kevin shouted

"Damn." Victor placed his forehead on Sugars, then chuckled again. "You knew they were coming, didn't you?"

That made Sugar nod.

"Yeah, I recognized the collective footsteps. But you can't say you didn't enjoy that kiss. These aren't the marks on my teeth on my bottom lip." Sugar said, smirking and walking away, throwing a wink at Victor before following Kevin, Derek, Andy, and Jacob, knowing Victor was right behind her.

"So, are you two together now, or are you playing with each other," Andy asked. "Wait, I didn't like the way that sounded. I don't like the idea of my sister playing with anyone."

"He's right; that sounds bad," Victor said

"We're just feeling things out, and I'm unsure if he wants to be in a relationship anyway." Sugar said

"Don't start this again," Victor said

"You're going to make us think ol' Victor has a heart," Kevin said

"What makes you think he doesn't," Sugar asked

"I'm sitting right here. Can we talk about–"

"You make him different, like he cares about what you think. You know he apologized to Dr. Martin for pushing him out of the way of the door to my office." Kevin said

"What makes you think that has anything to do with me?" Sugar asked

"He said, 'Sugar would be mad at me if I didn't apologize to you.' And then Dr. Martin walked into my office and told me everything." Kevin said

"f*****g rat," Victor mumbled

"So, you think about me? How often am I on your... hold on." Sugar stopped and picked up her ringing phone. "Havana."

"We got another one." Dr.Martin said

"I'll be right there." Sugar said, looking at Victor, whose brows furrowed.

"What?" Victor said

"We got another body." Sugar said, "You drove, so I guess we're taking your car."