Alvarez leans forward. “We believe someone in your precinct is connected with the cartel.”
The words hit like ice. “What?”
Carter nods. “There’s no way anyone in Atlanta could’ve known Tyrique was cooperating with us. The way we set things up, the information was locked down. It had to come from inside your department.”
“How do you know the leak wasn’t in one of your agencies? Maybe one of your people sold him out.”
Alvarez shakes his head. “That isn’t possible. The sting was limited… only a handful of agents knew the details. We’ve accounted for every one of them. The leak didn’t come from us.”
I stare at them, anger boiling under the grief. “So you’re telling me someone I work with… someone I trust… gave my family up to the cartel?”
Neither of them answers right away. Carter finally says, “That’s what we believe.”
I press my hands against the blanket, shaking. “And you want to take me into protective custody? Hide me away while you chase shadows of what you believe?”
Alvarez’s voice hardens. “Detective, the Mendaro Syndicate aren’t known to leave loose ends. They won’t stop until you’re dead.”
I shake my head, tears burning. “No. I’m not going. I’m not running. If someone in my precinct betrayed me, I want to know who. I want to face them.”
Carter exhales, frustration in his eyes. “You really don’t understand how dangerous this is. It’s in your best interest to go with us.”
I glare at him. “No, you don’t understand. I’ve already lost everything. I’m not about to let this shit slide.”
After several more attempts and my repeated ‘no’, the agents finally leave, their words still echoing in my head. Precinct leak. Cartel reach. Protective custody.
The door opens again and Tony steps back inside. He looks at me, searching my face. “What did they say?”
I wipe at my eyes, trying to steady my voice. “Just… trying to convince me to go into protective custody.”
He frowns. “And?”
I hesitate. Inside, everything is jumbled. I don’t know who to trust anymore. Not the FBI. Not the DEA. Maybe not even my own precinct or partner. Everyone feels like a stranger now.
I force myself to nod. “I told them I’d do it. As a precaution. At least for a little while.”
Tony studies me, like he’s trying to read between the lines. “If that’s what think is best, I’ll back you.”
I manage a weak smile. “Thanks.”
But inside, I already know the truth. I’m not going into protective custody, hiding like I’m scared. I have my own plan forming, sharp and clear. If they think I’ll sit quietly while my life hangs in the balance, they’re wrong.
TWELVE
NIGHTMARE
I’m sittingin the dark, inside Londyn’s house, waiting. Turbo hacked her hospital records for me, and she’s being discharged today. He’s good at shit like that.
I wanted to see her at the hospital, but there were cops everywhere. Uniforms posted at every door, every hallway. No way I could get close without drawing heat. So I stayed away.
Now I’m waiting here, in her space. The room’s too damn quiet except for the TV droning low…news anchors circling the same details like vultures on a carcass. Ty. Their parents. The massacre at the house. Every channel replaying the footage: body bags, cruisers, flashing blue and yellow crime tape cutting across the yard.
I wasn’t inside, but I saw enough from the street… the coroner making notes as bodies were loaded, people crying, and her… Londyn… in the back of an ambulance, paramedics crowding around her. That image wedges itself behind my ribs like a bullet that won’t come out.
My body’s still running on leftover adrenaline. Leg bouncing. Shoulders tight. Hands locked together. Every time I blink, thescene hits again, and the weight of knowing her whole world just got blown apart.
Her living room smells like vanilla, clean, warm, and the second it hits me, something in my chest stutters. Then it pisses me off because I don’t know what the hell to do with that. I don’t know what she’ll want from me when she walks through that door.
Do I stand?
