“Yeah.”
“You think it’s her?”
I paused. “No, I doubt it. Has to someone else. This is pro-work, probably someone Valdez’s been working with for years. Might be the same one protecting Kyle too.”
Crew picked up the bottle again, staring out the window.
“They spinning a web and using her to capture me in it or maybe they're just trying to confuse the hell outta me.”
“Then don’t get caught or confused.” I said, taking a step forward. “Remember who’s in that bedroom upstairs, carrying your kid and risking her life to be by your side. Don’t let a ghost from your past get you killed or worse, let it destroy what you’ve got now.”
He met my eyes. The storm was still there. But this time, it was focused, more grounded.
“Let me handle it,” he said.
I nodded. “You got it.” I said, before turning and walking out, knowing the next time we saw Sabrina. We’d either be saving her or killing her.
Crew
I felt it before I saw Blue pulling into the driveway on the security system he upgraded. He’d been off the past few days. He ain’t even look me in the eye for more than a few seconds. And he stayed buried behind his screens like he was hiding from something or someone. I figured that this was how he worked. Black and Blue ain’t the most open men I had met. They were usually quiet and withdrawn unless it was necessary to engage in conversation and even that was only if the topic was something that interested them or affected the people they cared about.
Even though things felt off, I didn’t press. I had my own ghosts creeping in. So how could I pressure that man about his. After he left last night, I sat thinking about what we discussed for a few hours before going upstairs to check in Nova and baby girl. After that morning, came too quickly, so I sat alone in the kitchen sobering up before they came downstairs for breakfast.
Right now, Nova was in the garden with Timberly, helping her replant a flower they’d both overwatered last week. She was smiling, the light dancing in her eyes looking more whole every day. I sat close by in a t-shirt and shorts watching them enjoy the sun. I turned as Black stepped out the back door with his morning coffee and handed me a file.
“They’re settin’ up shop in town. The Valdez name was linked to a mansion in the city.”
I flipped it open to see an alias on the lease. No image, just a woman’s name I didn’t recognize. But the signature…something about it stuck. It was hers.
My grip on the folder tightened. “Time’s almost up.”
Black nodded. “You ready to finish this?”
I glanced back at Nova. I had to be.
“Get everyone ready. We need to be on high alert until they showed their hand.” I said before going back to watching my family. I was going to enjoy the time we had together. A few hours later Timberly and Tati were in the backyard chasing each other with plastic water guns. Nova and Anesia lounged on the porch with iced tea and bare feet, laughing about something I missed. It was perfect and I hated it, because perfect never lasts. I caught Blue watching me from across the yard. He looked like a man carrying too many secrets. He started to walk over, then looked like he changed his mind when I gave him a quick shake of my head. I couldn’t talk about my secrets right now. I just wanted to enjoy this moment.
I sat alone on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, staring at the floor like it had answers. My Glock rested beside me. My phone was off, but my mind wasn’t. Black and Blue had been on edge getting the men ready for what's to come. And every time I looked at Nova, holding her stomach like a shield around the life we created, I thought of Sabrina what we lost.
I used to dream about what life would’ve been like if she never left. If she hadn’t texted me that goodbye and she loved me at 6:17 a.m. while I slept with her engagement ring in my palm. If I had answered her earlier call. Or if I had fought harder to get to her. Would Nova still be mine? Would I even know what love really was? I rubbed my eyes. The guilt of what had happened to her was eating at me alive.
I hadn’t told Nova I’d been dreaming about Sabrina. Not in the way she would need to hear it. Hell, I hadn’t even told myself the truth. But there were missing pieces of my puzzle now. And I didn’t know if I could face the questions when it finally came.
The next day, the team locked in. Mecca and Kema were running recon with August on the Valdez estate. Janelle and Del started coordinating exits and safehouses just in case this went sideways. Blue finally came to me to say what he found since our last talk. He didn’t say a word at first just handed me another fuckin flash drive like it was a live grenade.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Everything I’ve learned about Sabrina in the past 24 hours.”
I slid the drive into the encrypted tower in the corner of the room and watched the first file open. Sabrina’s beautiful face stared back at me change but still the same. And then a live security feed showed a woman stepping into a building two days ago. Her hair was slicked back, and she had sunglasses on. But I’d know her anywhere.
“Where was this?” I said, my throat dry.
“Another estate linked to a Valdez shell company in Miami. She was moving between cities moving cargo for them.”
I clicked into the second file. It was a case brief, one she wrote about land seizures and missing women and children near the border, Valdez territory. She wasn’t working against them anymore. She was working for them or with them.
“She knew our systems.”
