Her gaze flicked to me. “You said this went higher.”
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “It goes all the way to Washington.”
She exhaled, steadying herself. “Then we take it there.”
Aaron gave a dry laugh. “Not so fast. We can’t move until we verify this data chain. If we hit too soon, the guy in charge, we believe his name is Reese. He will bury everything and make us ghosts before lunch.”
Julia crossed her arms. “So we just sit here?”
“For now,” Aaron said. “But when we move, it’ll be loud.”
She didn’t like it—I could see it in the twitch of her jaw—but she nodded. “Then I’ll help however I can. Torres was my friend. I believed him when he said he was tricked. When she left to wash up, Aaron looked back at me. “You should talk to her.”
“About what?”
He gave me a look. “You know what.”
I poured another cup of coffee, not meeting his eyes. “We’ve talked. Besides, there’s a war starting. It’s no one's business, but we’re fine.”
“There’s always a war starting,” he said. “Doesn’t mean you get to wait forever.”
He walked off, leaving me alone with the soft clatter of keys and the sound of Julia moving in the next room.
An hour later,she stepped out onto the porch, hair still damp, the morning sun glinting off the badge clipped to herbelt. She looked tired, beautiful, and determined—everything that had always been trouble for me.
I joined her, coffee in hand. “You planning to run headfirst into D.C. corruption today or wait for breakfast?”
“Depends who’s cooking,” she said lightly, then sighed. “They really think they can hide this forever?”
“They’ve been doing it for years, but not anymore. We have to take our time and make sure we shut everything down. We’ll destroy the cartel and whoever is behind this in Washington.”
She leaned against the railing, staring out at the fog-drenched trees. “I used to think justice meant following the rules. Doing things the right way. But maybe the rules were written by the wrong people.”
“They usually are.”
She looked at me then—really looked—and for once, didn’t pull away.
“You think we actually have a chance?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Because I’ve got you. And you don’t quit.”
Her lips parted, maybe to argue, maybe to say something that would have changed everything. But the radio on my belt crackled before she could speak.
Miles’s voice cut through. “Hawk, we’ve got movement—unmarked vehicles leaving Halcyon’s local warehouse. Looks like a convoy.”
Aaron’s voice followed. “All units, gear up. We move now.”
Julia straightened. “Guess that answers our question.”
I tossed my coffee aside, chambered a round, and met her eyes. “Ready, Detective?”
She smiled, that fierce edge I loved. “Always.” I pulled her to me and kissed her right there for anyone to see. When I stepped back, she swayed toward me. I put my arm out to steady her. I have to admit I was grinning.
We moved back inside, into the whirl of motion—gear, weapons, orders shouted in clipped tones. Delta Five loading up for a hit that would echo all the way to D.C. That’s when I saw Aaron twirling his finger in the air, and we all loaded up.
And as I caught one last look at Julia before we rolled out, I realized something I’d been avoiding since the moment she walked back into my life.
This wasn’t just a mission anymore.
