“Exactly. Come on.”
Slipping out of his embrace, she skipped over to the counter, grabbed her phone and purse, then headed to the door that led to the garage. Cannon just peered at her, half-aggravated and half turned on.
“Nahla, no. I also said I don’t know what I’m walkin’ into over there.”
She turned around and rolled her eyes dramatically.
“Cannon, it’s a stakeout. I’ve done plenty of those in my line of work.”
Cannon couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped. “I bet you have. Crazy ass girl.”
“Yep. So, I’ll be fine. Oh, wait,” she said and scurried over to the pantry. She was in there for a few minutes. When she emerged, she had a grocery store bag filled with snacks.
“For our stakeout,” she said, sounding slightly out of breath.
Cannon shook his head but smiled. “You’re somethin’ else, La. Let’s go, man.”
She grinned victoriously.
They parked a couple of blocks down from theBarrett Performance Solutionsbuilding. It was a narrow brick unit tucked between an auto shop and a nail salon. The sun had just gone down, so it was early enough that there was foot traffic at the salon, but late enough that the traffic was light.
Nahla handed Cannon a bottle of water then reclined her seat slightly.
“So, what’s the plan?”
Cannon chuckled. “Slow ya roll, killa. I told you I just wanted to put eyes on the place. If I see someone walkin’ in or out, even better.”
Nahla nodded. “How long are we gonna stay?”
“Not too long.”
“You wanna play a game?”
“Nah, I wanna watch the building.”
She sighed. “Fine.”
They settled into silence, and Nahla watched Cannon as he watched the building. Several minutes passed before Nahla spoke up again.
“I’m scared, Cannon.”
That made him look at her. This fear she spoke of hadn’t registered on her face. She didn’t appear scared; she seemed solemn.
“Ain’t no need for that, La. I ain’t letting anything happen to you.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I know that. I’m not afraid of something happening tome. I’m scared of losing this story—of letting the families who trusted me down.”
Nahla dropped her eyes briefly. Cannon grasped her hand, lifted it to his lips, and kissed it.
“You’re not losin’ anything on my watch, baby. I promise.”
“We uncovered a lot of information today. We connected some of the pieces you’ve been holding for months. We’re gonna follow every lead through and make the people that need to, pay. Aight?”
He searched her eyes as she gnawed on her bottom lip. Eventually, she smiled. “Aight.”
She then looked past him.
