“Okay, cool. We’re going straight to the appointment then straight back to Jasona. If your pops needs to eat before, we’ll eat here, but I’on wanna linger in that city. I’m sure the sheriff has officers stationed all over the city who might catch a glimpse of you. I need you to do what I ask while we’re there. Aight?”
She nodded silently. “I can do that.”
“Good.”
Nahla then opened her laptop. Cannon glanced at her plate and saw she was done eating, so he grabbed his plate and circled the island to her. As soon as he was standing behind her, an email popped up on her screen. He didn’t mean to be nosy, but the subject line had him suspicious.
The Truth About Lyle_Restricted Access
Before he could tell her not to open it, she did.
The body of the email read:
They took more than land in Lyle, and these documents prove it. I wouldn’t ignore this if I were you. Download before the information vanishes.
As he suspected, the email contained an encrypted file. He noticed her cursor hovering over the file and stopped her just in time.
“Don’t open that file.”
Looking up at him, she frowned. “Why not?”
“Because you don’t know who it’s from. Encrypted files can contain all types of shit, and it could be someone trying to gain access to your computer or location.”
“Hmph.”
“Yeah,” he said, walking toward the sink with their plates.
“But what if it isn’t that? What if it’s someone trying to help me?”
Cannon began washing their dishes before he responded.
“That could be the case, but I ain’t willing to take a chance about no damn email.”
He heard her sigh dramatically. “Cannon, I told you I’m not letting go of this case.”
“And I told you that that’s okay with me, as long as you stay inside my boundaries. Opening that email right now is a boundary, Nahla.”
She paused. Then, just as he was turning off the faucet, she said, “I like La better.”
“What?”
“Earlier, you called meLa.I liked the way it sounded, so let’s go with that.”
This made Cannon laugh, because it must have rolled off his tongue. He didn’t notice it at all.
“Aight then,La. Leave that email where it’s at for now. We’ll pick up a hard drive from my office and look at it on another device.”
Nahla groaned. “I’m not good at being patient.”
“Well, take a minute. Pray about it. Patience is a fruit of the spirit. Either way, you ain’t opening the email right now, so this will be good practice for you.”
He approached her, lifted her laptop from the countertop, and closed it.
“I’ma hold on to this for now, because I know your hardheaded ass is bound to piss me off if I leave it with you. I’ma go get dressed, then we can head out.”
With that, he exited the kitchen, leaving Nahla frustrated and turned on beyond belief.
She loved his take-charge attitude, even though her hands were itching to read that email. After yesterday’s incident, however, she decided to do things his way—for now at least.
