Chapter 19

Alexander grinned, "You've been a huge help with our case. The police will definitely reward you. Thanks for being such a cooperative citizen. Can you double-check the info you gave us?"

Seeing Alexander's friendly face, the guy's anger cooled off a bit.

Even though Zoey's words had ticked him off, she had a point: if he lost it now, he'd be in trouble for assaulting an officer.

And that was exactly what Zoey wanted, to get him locked up by his own doing?

No way! He grudgingly sat back down.

Alexander shot Zoey a look, and she knew he was trying to back her up. She gave him a quick glance and left the office.

Zoey headed down to the first floor.

There weren't as many customers now, so the few employees stocking shelves weren't as busy.

Zoey spotted a girl in a work uniform and walked over, flashing her badge. "Hey, can I ask you a few questions?"

The girl had her hair tied up and looked pretty efficient. "Sure, what do you need to know?"

Zoey nodded. "Alright."

Thinking this wasn't the best place to chat, Zoey asked the girl to go somewhere else with her.

The employee led her to the changing room on the first floor.

"Let's talk here," the employee said. "No one usually comes here until it's time to clock out."

Zoey glanced around the changing room and nodded. "Okay, let's start."

"Sure."

"How long have you been working here? What's your take on Lawrence? Noticed anything odd about him?"

The girl thought for a moment. "He's super tidy and never says anything that makes us uncomfortable. Plus, he can cook, which is pretty rare for single guys. I think he's awesome!"

Even though her info was different from the guy's, it was clear she liked clean, cooking-loving men.

Zoey dug deeper. "Are you close with him?"

"Not really. Besides the Monday meetings, we just have normal boss-employee chats. I like that he doesn't make inappropriate jokes. It makes us all feel comfortable."

Zoey nodded. "Got it." This was definitely different from what the guy had said.

No wonder they said women didn't understand men; only men got men.

Zoey asked, "Lawrence seems great to you. How do you feel about the way he assigns tasks?"

"I think it's fine. He's the boss, and he always gives us detailed notes. He's serious about his work."

Zoey could tell that if she asked more, the girl would start gushing about him.

She switched gears. "Did you know he likes to wear women's clothes in private?"

"Wear women's clothes?" The girl looked shocked. "A colleague mentioned it once, but I thought it was a joke. Someone as great as him couldn't do that."

She quickly added, "Even if he does, so what? You can't arrest him just because he has a different hobby."

Zoey figured there was no point in dragging the conversation on. She thanked the woman with a smile and left.

The woman, worried that Lawrence might be in trouble, hesitated and asked, "Is Lawrence in some kind of trouble? If it's not too much to ask."

Zoey replied firmly, "It's not something I can discuss."

Zoey met up with Alexander at the door, and they headed back to the car together.

She yawned, planning to catch a nap in the passenger seat, but an annoying voice interrupted her. "You've been at the police department for so long, and you haven't changed a bit?"

Zoey shot back, "And how exactly do my changes concern you?"

Alexander wasn't thrilled with Zoey's attitude today. They were cops, and the person they were dealing with could be a key witness. No matter how irritating, Zoey couldn't just do whatever she wanted.

Alexander said, "You just joined the criminal investigation department. Don't you want to make a good impression on Officer Davis? Aren't you worried about getting reported?"

Zoey shrugged. "Let them report me."

"You don't seem to care about anything; don't you want to stay in the criminal investigation department?" Alexander was at a loss with Zoey.

She was too reckless. It would catch up with her eventually.

Zoey, on the other hand, had already turned away, not wanting to deal with him.

Alexander looked at her lazy profile. Every time he tried to help her, she always acted indifferent.

A thought suddenly crossed his mind. "Do you not want to be a cop anymore?"

Zoey was fed up with Alexander's nagging. "Are you meddling too much? Whether I want to be a cop or not is none of your business."

Alexander remembered how Zoey had snapped at that guy earlier, took a deep breath, and silently pulled the car over.

Zoey felt the car stop and slowly opened her eyes, looking in Alexander's direction.

"We went through so much at the police academy. Are you serious?" Alexander stared ahead, clearly pissed. "You always wanted to compete the best with me. But what's the point now? Do you even know what you're saying?"

Zoey was beyond frustrated, and anger surged through her. She stared at him for a while, and as Alexander got more worked up and looked back at her, she sneered.

"Compete? You think too highly of me. You come from a privileged background; our starting lines aren't even close. What am I competing with you for? The word 'compete' doesn't even apply to us. Competing is for people on the same level, right?"

Zoey let out a cold laugh and continued, "Maybe in your world, you can't understand that the high tuition fees of the police academy can crush a family because you've never experienced the hardships of the lower class. When you think I'm 'competing' with you, I'm actually 'competing' with my fate! All my efforts are to earn scholarships every year so I can afford to go to school and sit in that classroom."