Finally, he exhaled, smiling again—but this time, it was tighter. “I’ll have to take all of this back to Mr. Moreno.”
Esther didn’t react.
Daniel tilted his head slightly. “He won’t like it.”
“I don’tcarewhat he likes,” Esther snapped. “This is the price of peace.”
Daniel studied her, then sighed. “I’ll let you know his answer soon.”
Esther arched a brow. “How soon?”
“A day. Maybe two.” His expression sharpened. “And if he refuses?”
Esther leaned in, voice low and deadly. “Then we go to war. Lexi makes himself comfortable in Red Onion. And every law enforcement agency in Charlottesville comes down on Moreno’s business empire hard and often until there’s nothing left but dust and bad memories.”
Larimore’s mask slipped. For the first time, uncertainty flickered across his face. He nodded, quietly. “I’ll be in touch.”
Esther didn’t move until he was at the door. Only then did she rise, smoothing the front of her jacket. Poised. In control. As if she hadn’t just issued a declaration of war against a mob kingpin. “I look forward to it.”
When Esther returnedto the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, she found Norm and Colin both pacing in her office.
Colin stopped midstride the second she stepped through the door. “Well?”
Norm wasn’t far behind. “Did he bite?”
Esther shut the door behind her, took her time removing her coat, and set her bag down on the desk—unbothered, in control. Then she met their eyes and said, “We’ll know soon.”
Colin let out a long breath, part relief, part frustration. “That’sit?”
Norm crossed his arms, observing her. “How hard did they push?”
Esther arched a brow. “They pushed hard. But I pushed harder.”
Colin huffed a laugh, half-admiring, half-shaken. “Jesus!”
Norm nodded, steady as always. “Now we wait.”
Esther settled into her chair, lacing her fingers together with a quiet laugh. “I think I scared the bejesus out of Moreno’s baby lawyer.”
Norm scoffed out a laugh while Colin fell into a chair with a sarcastic snort. “I’m not surprised to hear it.”
“How is Josh handling all of this?” Esther asked.
“He’s OK,” Colin said with a shrug. “He understands that negotiations like this one take time.”
“I know how much both of you want to go home.”
Colin turned to the window, his gaze distant and unreadable. “More than you could ever know.”
“A few more days, Colin. Just hang in there a few more days.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
A HARD-WON HOMECOMING
Colin strode down the Rainier Therapy Center hallway, two security agents at his back. He paused at Joshua’s open doorway and leaned in with a crooked grin.
“No lock on this door, Doctor Abrams?”
