“I get it, man, but this criminal ring hurts a lot of vulnerable people. This isn’t zero-sum.”
“Since when are you the logical one?” I feel the brunt of his reason holding me back. Or maybe what I’m feeling is my own inflexibility. I don’t go after things frivolously, so when I do—
“Wait!” Blake points.
Cecilia and Trena are coming out of a second-floor apartment. We rush over, flying up the steps, trapping the startled friends.
“How did you—you better not have used your spy stuff to find me. You need to leave.” Cecilia motions for Trena to open the door.
Trena doesn’t.
“We need to talk,” I say desperately.
Trena smiles. “That’s what I told her.”
Cecilia elbows her.
Trena rubs her side. “This is sort of my business since my bestie’s involved, so let me see if I understand the problem.”
Blake and I nod, finally able to breathe.
“Not here, Trena.” Cecilia tries the door but it’s locked.
Trena steps in front of Cecilia and squares up with us. “You lied to my bestie.” She wings the statement like we’re about to be skewered.
Blake and I stutter over each other, making no sense.
Trena waves a hand and discreetly says, “You lied because you’re undercover. Part of the job, right?”
I glance around, hoping no one heard. “Yeah, we never meant to hurt you, Cecilia.”
Trena redirects us. “Hey, I’m running this show. Talk to me.”
“Okay. We never meant to hurt her. If we step inside, we can explain, but we need discretion.”
She turns to Cecilia, who nods. Trena unlocks the door and we file into the living room of the small apartment. I’d like to ask her for privacy, but Trena made it clear who’s running the show.
Cecilia lets us sit on either side of her on the couch. Trena pulls a chair in front of us. It feels like I’m in high school all over again, explaining myself to the principal.
We lay out the situation, the check scam, and clarify that if we’d met her any other time, we would have been completely honest and that we asked her to move the parade because it coincides with our sting. “And to answer your question… Yes, I am Henry’s dad.”
Trena waits expectantly for Cecilia to say something. Under her scrutiny, Ceci finally relents. “It’s just hard to wrap my brain around you being someone entirely different than I thought. And you’re only here for the job.”
Trena speaks softly. “You’ve done crazier things than give decent guys a chance.”
Cecilia nods slowly, a small smile playing on her lips. My heart races. I breathe. Life feels possible again.
Trena jumps in. “This is wild. I can’t believe you have Ofelia under surveillance.” Cecilia’s hands fly to her mouth. “Sorry, I won’t let it slip again. I’ve just never been involved in something this exciting.”
Ofelia.I make a mental note that the courier may be female and we have her name. There’s a more urgent matter. “Yeah, this all needs to stay quiet. But Cecilia, what do you need from us?”
Blake wraps an arm around her. “We’re here for you, Firecracker. What’s your biggest concern?”
“I don’t know where the lies end.”
“Everything about you was real. We didn’t expect to fall for a local.” I kiss the side of her head, letting my nose linger in her citrusy scent. I wish there was a magical thing we could tell her that would convince her our feelings are honest.
“Or are you here because you need me to keep quiet?”
