He looked to his left and noticed an older Caucasian couple staring at him as he examined his surroundings. He stared at them right back until they finally looked away and hurried toward the building.
Cannon rounded the car and opened Mr. Avery’s door before opening Nahla’s and helping her out of the vehicle. Cannon perceived that Mr. Avery was a proud man who liked to feel like he was still in charge of things, so he stood back for a moment and allowed Mr. Avery to lead the way.
Once they made it inside, Cannon observed as Nahla handled her business. He was grateful for the abundance of windows in the waiting area, because if he stood on the wall to the right, he had a clear view of his truck.
Although Mr. Avery seemed indifferent at best toward his daughter, she was so tender with him. Cannon watched the way she adjusted his jacket, steadied him when he appeared to lose his footing a little, but held the phone as he spoke to his other daughter, with whom he seemed a lot more enthusiastic to interact with than Nahla.
Cannon also noticed how sensitive she was to his mood. Knowing that her father liked to be in charge of things, she stood back and allowed him to answer the receptionist’s questions, no matter how slow his speech became at times. However, when he was getting irritable at the receptionist desk, she gently took over the conversation in a way that assured him he wasn’t the problem.
Although Cannon was sure he didn’t like her father even a little bit, he enjoyed seeing this side of Nahla. He liked that she was nurturing and attentive. He likedher. . . too damn much, it seemed.
Once it was time for her father to go back to the exam room, Nahla stood with him, and Cannon assured her that he would be right there when she returned. After a while, the seat next to where he stood became available, and he sat, his eyes on his vehicle. Although he planned to check it for bugs and trackers before they got back on the road, he wanted to see if anyone lingered near it.
He wanted to know if the police department knew about Nahla’s last visit before she showed up or if they had just spotted her out randomly. This doctor’s trip was unplanned for her, so today would help him answer this question. He had a hunch that someone she interviewed—orplannedto interview—had tipped the sheriff off to her arrival.
Cannon’s phone rang. It was Capri.
“Yo,” he answered.
“I just sent you something you need to look at ASAP. If you’re still in the doctor’s office, put your pods in.”
There was an urgency in her voice that had him feeling slightly anxious, so he hung up the phone and immediately took his pod case out of his pocket and put one in his ear.
He went to his sister’s message thread and opened the most recent message she sent him.
His blood immediately boiled after he pressed play. It was none other than Sheriff Redding standing behind a podium. It seemed that he had called a press conference in honor of Nahla’s article. In his remarks, he said her story was a fabrication and that he was “surprised” a paper as respected asThe Citizen’s Eyewould publish someone who engaged in “reckless journalism.” According to the Sheriff, the city planned to sue the paper if it continued to publish such “defaming material” about Lyle officials.
Cannon chuckled, although he didn’t see a thing funny. Not only were they attacking Nahla’s credibility, but they were also clearly setting the stage for something bigger.
The only positive about this was that Sheriff Redding was attaching his face to all this. If anything happened to Nahla, he would be the first person anyone with a brain would look to.
Damn.
He looked toward the door to the exam area. He wanted to go snatch Nahla up and leave. These people had a plan, and he wanted her nowhere near this city when they put it into action.
Although they had been in the waiting room for a while, the doctor’s visit itself didn’t take long at all. After about twentyminutes, Nahla and her father were emerging from the exam area door, both wearing satisfied expressions.
He was glad to see that the visit didn’t stress her further but knew that hearing about this press conference would. He decided against telling her about it until they got her father back home. Capri had caught wind of it because Cannon asked her to keep tabs on Lyle’s local news. Since the video was filmed only an hour ago, he hoped no one she had talked to in Jasona had gotten a hold of it yet.
“Everything okay?” Cannon asked.
He was talking to Nahla, but her father spoke up.
“Things are as good as they can be with this heart of mine.”
Nahla nodded. “It was a good visit,” she added softly.
“Cool.”
The three of them left the office quietly, and when Nahla and her father were safely in the car, Cannon did a security sweep of the vehicle. Once satisfied that it was clean, he got in and wasted no time leaving.
As they drove, Cannon continuously checked the cars around him, ensuring they weren’t being followed. None of them talked to each other much for the ride. Mr. Avery dozed off rather quickly, and Nahla had spent most of the drive on the phone. First, she spoke with her siblings for the first half of the trip. Cannon couldn’t help but notice her clipped tone and furrowed eyebrows as she provided her sister and brother with updates about their father.
Her mood lifted during the second half of the trip, though. Dream, who Cannon realized was her best friend, called, and they talked until they were pulling into Mr. Avery’s front yard. It took a little while to get him inside, because he was still groggy from his nap, but once they did, they went straight to the safe house.
The sun was setting when he pulled into the garage. Cannon turned the car off and turned toward Nahla. She had fallen asleep during the forty-five-minute drive, and he almost didn’t want to wake her because of how peaceful she appeared.
“La,” he said, in a low tone. She didn’t budge, so he called her name again.
