I leaned my elbows on the counter, phone pressed tight to my ear.
“She told me she needs to find herself,” I shared.
Nita was quiet for a beat.“She does.”
“And I’m the problem,” I added.
“You’re not,” Nita replied firmly surprising me.“You’re the proof that she’s changed.And Dante, that scares her more than anything.”
That landed in my chest with a dull ache.
“She doesn’t want to do this tied to anyone,” Nita went on.“Not because you’re wrong for her.But because right now, she needs to know who she is without leaning on someone who makes it easier.”
I swallowed hard.“So what am I supposed to do?”
“Let her go,” Nita replied straight forward.“For now.”
The words felt like alcohol poured on an open wound.
“She didn’t run because of you,” Nita added.“She ran because staying would’ve forced her to confront parts of herself she’s not ready to face.You have to let her go, Dante.”
That was the final blow.I thanked her.Hung up.Sat there staring at the wall like it might offer a rebuttal.
Let her go.
It went against every instinct I had.
I was trained to pursue answers.To follow threads.To close loops.Walking away from an open question felt like failure.But this wasn’t a case.
This was a woman who’d survived by learning when to escape.And I’d promised her honesty, not ownership.
I wanted to call her.Wanted to tell her she didn’t have to figure everything out alone.Wanted to tell her I wasn’t going anywhere.
Instead, I set the phone down carefully and stepped back.
Her eyes hadn’t been empty because she didn’t feel anything.They’d been empty because she was holding everything in.And that told me one thing with absolute certainty, this wasn’t over.
Not because I couldn’t let her go.
But because whatever went dead inside her over forty-eight hours was still alive somewhere.
And when she was ready to face it, I would be ready too.
Chapter5
Loco
The radio crackled just as Lamonte and I were pulling out of the gas station, coffee steaming between the cup holders, the city still caught somewhere between dusk and night.
“Go figure,” Lamonte muttered.“I swear dispatch has a sixth sense for caffeine.”
We were on the other side of town from the call on the radio.Another unit chimed in claiming the job, but we headed in that general direction in case back up was needed.Not too much longer before shift change.I had managed to settle it in my mind that this call would be the last before shift change.Another day, another dollar, the night was a quiet one.
Something a cop never said aloud because it was a curse.Apparently, thinking it was just as bad.
I was smiling when his phone rang.That was the last normal moment of the night.
Lamonte glanced at the screen, his brow furrowing.“It’s Nita.”
