She taps my hand and gives me a sad smile. “We’ll be right outside. Just press this button if you need anything.”
I nod my head and wipe the tears from under my eyes I didn't even realize had escaped.
After a long time, reality slowly registers.
My throat closes and I cover my face as I lose all composure.
I don’t stop crying until I hear a knock on the door and the police walk in.
Kade
I’m walking into a setup, and I know it. I have nothing to lose though.
I’ve got a vest on and three guns on me. I’m going with the one with the silencer first.
I shut the door to the car and take a look over my shoulder.
Gabriel and Andrew are parked across the lot at a café. They know it’s going down. My heart beats chaotically in my chest, trying to escape. Andrew is Gabriel's right-hand man. He doesn't know everything, but he knows enough. I saw the surprise in his eyes though. I felt like a traitor.
It'll be worth it after today though.
Gabriel may kill me the second I walk out of those doors. If I walk out. But if he gives me the paperwork and I can pull this off, everything will be worth it.
I could’ve called my handler, Gates. I could’ve been pulled. But I keep thinking about James and Olivia. If I leave now, it was all for nothing. His death and everything I put her through would be meaningless. Gabriel won't give me the papers until Stone is dead. This has to happen.
Gates wanted me out when he called. He said we had to abort. My boots crunch on the gravel as I walk up to the old packaging center. Ricky bought it for cheap, and his office is in the back.
No fucking way. Not after Gabriel offered me this deal. If he’s telling me the truth.
She’s safe. And that’s what matters.
I push open the double doors and take a look around. A few men are playing cards on a cheap table to my right. One’s smoking some skunked pot, and the scent fills my lungs.
I don’t know who all knows I'm undercover. Intelligence says it's just Ricky. So I'm taking my chances. But it could be all of them. I nod at the men and they give me a nod back, and one even a quick wave.
I hope I’m right. I walk down the hall and all the way to the back. With each step my heart beats louder and louder knowing I’m walking to my death… unless I kill him first.
Being back here reminds me of what happened that night.
I thought about it the entire drive back up here. What would've happened if she’d never walked down that alley? I never would have met her. I never would have ruined something so beautiful. But I also wouldn't have gone to Gabriel. She's a bigger part of this than she'll ever know.
I stop in front of the closed door to his office and hesitate before knocking. I could still run. I could leave and never look back.
But I have to do this. I knock on the door twice with the back of my hand. Knock. Knock.
I can feel the sweat on my brow and I wipe it away as I hear him say, “Come in.”
I take a deep breath and turn the knob. It opens slowly with a creak, and Ricky’s right where he always is, smoking a cigarette behind the old desk. I take a quick glance around the room. No one else is here. I shut the door with a loud click and look at the man who thinks he’s about to kill me.
“Have a seat, Maddox.” The way he says my last name makes me want to cringe. It’s like he’s poking fun at it. He knows that’s not my real name. Barrow’s my real last name. How many times has he done that? How many times has it slipped by me?
I take a seat across from him and let the leather jacket I'm wearing slide up some as I sit back. My hands slip into my pockets, but the right one has a hole at the bottom. My hand slides through and I grip the butt of my gun.
My finger rests on the trigger.
“Kade, I have a few problems with the order coming up.” Ricky leans back in his seat, his fingers in a steeple and taps his pointer fingers against his lips.
“We need virgins. They get the good money.” I keep my eyes on his and nod.
