Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 102754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
The mayor turned back to me, his smile fading into something colder. “Think about what I said,” he murmured. “Everyone can be bought, which means there are always people out there doing the buying.”
His gaze shifted to the kids in the corner—Kairo holding Kaida protectively, both of them trying to stay small and unnoticed—and then, slowly, he let his eyes drop, dragging them over me in a way that made my skin crawl.
“Even bodies,” he added.
I didn’t flinch, I wouldn’t give him that, but inside, I was burning. Because now it wasn’t just about surviving, it was about making sure these bastards paid.
My heart was hammering, but I didn’t let it show. I kept my eyes on the mayor, even as every protective instinct flared like wildfire at how he looked at the kids. I took a small step forward to put myself squarely between them and those two monsters.
“You don’t need to involve the kids,” I said, my voice low but firm. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just leave them out of it.”
Russo’s eyes slid to me with something like amusement. “I don’t doubt that,” he replied smoothly, folding his hands in front of him like he was giving a lecture, not holding people’s lives in his hands. “But let’s be clear—you, on your own, aren’t of much use to us. Not without Roque, the sheriff, or the rest of his little band of moral crusaders.”
He tilted his head slightly, almost curious. “So, if Roque doesn’t cooperate and doesn’t do exactly what we tell him, then keeping you and those kids around becomes a liability.” His voice dropped, colder now. “Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
The threat was clear.
I swallowed hard and nodded once. “I understand.”
“Good,” the mayor cut in, too quickly, like he’d been waiting for me to say it. “Then we’re all on the same page.”
He smiled again, and it made my skin crawl. “When we bring a phone down to you in a little while, you’ll tell Roque exactly what we say. You’re going to tell him to do what we ask, to fall in line, and to stop playing hero.”
He took a step forward, not enough to close the distance, but just enough to press the words in deeper. “Because your safety—and theirs—depends on it.”
I didn’t need to respond. They thought they’d cornered me, that fear would make me obedient, but they didn’t understand who they were dealing with or provoking.
My thoughts had shifted entirely, rooted in the one person I knew would never stop, falter, or walk away from this fight. Roque. He was out there somewhere, probably already tearing through every lead, burning through every lie, and closing in with that relentless drive that made him the man he was. They’d made the mistake of touching what mattered to him. And while they stood there gloating, thinking they were in control, all I could think about was the storm building beyond these walls—one with Roque at the center of it. And when it hit, nothing they’d built would survive.
Judd
I was damn glad Roque was level-headed. With Sayla and the kids in the hands of monsters, anyone else might’ve lost it and charged in without a second thought. Hell, I wanted to ignore Kapono’s message and go full throttle into that building. But Roque hadn’t moved an inch, even though I could see it in him—the fury simmering beneath the surface and the restraint pulling at every muscle. His knuckles were white around the wheel, and his jaw locked so tight it looked like it might snap.
But he listened.
Because he knew Kapono wasn’t being cautious—he was being clever. Charging in would corner whoever was inside, and people like that didn’t respond well to pressure. You push them too hard, back them into a corner, and they’ll use whatever leverage they have left. And right now, that leverage was Sayla and those kids. But if Kapono could remove them from the equation without setting off alarm bells, those bastards would be left holding nothing. Game over.
I glanced at Roque again. He was the kind of quiet that only came from a man holding himself together with sheer will.
I thought about Cyn, Ned’s daughter, and her boy, Wick. We weren’t together, and she probably hated me more often than not, but if someone laid a hand on either of them, I’d burn the goddamn state to the ground to get them back.
So yeah, I understood the silence, the stillness, and what it was costing Roque to sit there and wait.
My mind drifted, just for a moment, to the building I’d looked at last week, a dusty old corner spot that I’d been thinking of turning into a bar—a real one. No bullshit, just good drinks, good people, and a jukebox that played music that meant something. I hadn’t said anything yet because part of me was still clinging to the job and the badge, even with all the filth we were uncovering.