“What you doin’ out here, baby?”
She huffed and folded her arms.
“I needed some air. I was about to walk to the coffee shop around the corner.”
Cannon grasped her hand. “We can go there before we head to the spot. Come on.” Cannon opened her door and helped her into the car. Once he was inside, he pulled off silently.
He didn’t ask her what was bothering her until after she had had four sips of her coffee.
“Why did you need air, La?”
“Because Mr. Hill showed me this,” she said, grabbing her phone. She pulled something up and extended her arm so that he could see the screen as he drove.
It was that damn sheriff, and he was calling Nahla’s name again. This time, though, he accused her of paying Lyle citizens for false narratives. According to him, the ones she couldn’t bribe, she threatened, and they had witnesses who confirmed this on the record. He ended the press conference by saying they were going to ensure that she could no longer threaten their “quaint city,” because they planned to press charges.
“How is this even possible, Cannon?” she asked when the video stopped playing. “I haven’t set foot in Lyle. I haven’t contacted my sources; I haven’t leaked any of my intel.”
Cannon was wondering the same thing. He checked his vehicles, the perimeter of the house, and all their devices daily. Her car had been parked at her home since the day they moved into the safe house. There were no bugs or tracking devicesanywhere near them. But there must have been something—a trigger—that caused Sheriff Redding to publicly threaten Nahla one whole month after his first press conference.
Nahla continued. “This is really not making any sense to me. I mean, for all they know, I’ve moved on. I haven’t even been telling my co-workers about where we are in the case. The only one I update is Mr. Hill, but?—”
“Fuck,” Cannon said, cutting her off. He pulled into his office building.
“What?” Nahla asked.
Cannon sighed as he put the car into park and sat back.
“I’ve been so caught up in protecting you that I didn’t think about the other people connected to you. You haven’t been bugged, but your boss prolly was. He’s the only one other than us who knows what you’ve been working on. They bugged his shit. Damn,” Cannon said, annoyed that he didn’t consider that possibility sooner.
Nahla paused. “Wait. You don’t think that?—”
Cannon shook his head. “Nah, he doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
Nahla had been checking in with Mr. Hill every step of the way. He was the one who hired Cannon in the first place, so Cannon didn’t waste time considering him as a culprit.
“So what are we going to do?” she asked.
“We’re gon’ move forward, and I’ma keep you safe. He’s doin’ this because you’re rattling’ the right cages. Somethin’ you told Mr. Hill in your last update has them nervous, and that means we’re on the right track.
“You got this, La. And I got you.”
She nodded. “I know. I trust you.”
“Good. Let’s get inside.”
With that, they headed into the office. Capri went straight to her.
“I saw the press conference. You okay?”
Nahla sighed but nodded. As she began to explain everything we’d just realized to Capri, I headed to my office to make a phone call.
By the time I sat behind my desk, he answered the phone.
“Cane, wassup, homie?”
“What’s good, man. Look, I was thinkin’ ’bout what you said yesterday, and I ain’t lie ’bout what I said. I’ve always trusted you with my life. I ain’t lookin’ for that to change, so I’ma be up front witcha.”
“Aight,” Mace said. His tone wasn’t necessarily defensive, but it was a little clipped. Like he was preparing himself for some bullshit.”
