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15

LOCK

“Alright, someone give me some good news,” I said as I walked into the conference room.

Rae brought up a map on the big screen, pinpointing a city in Florida. “Since I tracked Jade to Florida two weeks ago, there’s been no activity since she fell off the grid.” Her eyes flicked to Eva before returning to me. “He probably stuck her in a safe house.”

“God forbid he check in,” I muttered.

“That would require him to acknowledge us,” Eva said, her anger shining through.

I nodded, feeling like shit that she had to witness this every fucking meeting. “What about other leads? Any news elsewhere? Anything from Reed Security? Fox?”

“Afraid not, kemosabe. As much as I hoped my beloved brother’s wife would indulge in some late-night gossip, it appears she is not interested in swapping secrets about the Kamau.”

“So, no,” I nodded. “That’s all you had to say.”

Asher, who had been showing up daily to work, shifted in his seat. “Not that it hasn’t been great to see you guys, but this can’t last forever. Holly and I have a life to get back to. Wyatt and Noelle, hell, Holly’s parents…they all dropped everything and ran. And I get it. It was necessary, but this has to end.”

“We’re doing everything we can.”

“I know,” he sighed. “But it’s not enough. I left this life for a reason. I can’t get dragged back into it.”

He seemed to be acclimating pretty well, but I understood where he was coming from. “Understood.”

“On that note, where do we stand with our rotations?”

“Team three is currently on Isabelle’s detail,” Rae said, taking note of the day’s log. “Tonight is the three Js.”

I shook my head. “Pull them. I don’t want them on rotation yet.”

“Why not?”

“Jason hasn’t even had a month with his kid. Let’s give him some time to bond with her before we throw him back into the rotation.”

“He might need the break,” Rae noted.

That was true. “I’ll talk to him about it. If he’s ready, we’ll put them in. If not, we wait until the month is up.”

“About Isabelle,” Eva spoke up. “I talked to her doctor this week. She seemed pretty confident that with Isabelle’s progress, she could be back within the month.”

“That’s good. That’ll ease things up on our guys.”

“But we expect her to stay here.”

I narrowed my eyes at Eva, wondering what the fuck she was saying. “Eva, we’re in the middle of a fucking crisis, and you want me to let her go wandering around?”

“Not wandering around,” she bit out. “She was kept on an island for thirteen years. She didn’t have any freedom. She’s going through therapy to get past that. When she comes back, we can’t exactly tell her she’s not allowed to go anywhere. That’s like sticking her back on the island.”

“Fuck,” I muttered, staring up at the ceiling. “So, you want me to allow her the freedoms that no one else gets?”

“I’ll go out with her.”

“Not a fucking chance in hell,” I snapped. “Are you fucking crazy?”

Her temper flared as she pushed back from her seat, pressing her hands into the table as she stood. “As you’ve pointed out to me many times, this is still my fucking company, and as the owner, I will come and go from this property as I see fit.”

“And put everyone else at risk in the process.”

“I don’t think you understand what you’re asking,” she retorted. “I will not put Cash’s sister back in the same mental state she was in just a month ago after she’s been working so hard to pull herself out of the fucking gutter! And if I have to risk my own life to help her gain back her own, so be it.”

I clenched my jaw to keep from calling her out again. Cash would hand me my ass if anything happened to his wife, but he would also caution me against pushing her too far. I had to find a middle ground.

“Fine. You’ll have a team go with you whenever you go out.”

“No. She was always surrounded by bodyguards.”

Fuck, this woman was going to be the death of me. “They’ll keep their distance. You won’t know they’re there. They will follow only, and only intervene if a threat appears. And if that’s the case, they will have an excuse for being there.”

Eva considered this before nodding. “That’s acceptable.”

Thank fuck for that.

“Vira will also be allowed to come with us.”

I rolled my eyes, feeling the tension build in my body again. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“She’s roommates with Isabelle,” Eva argued.

“Vira is here under our protection for a reason.”

“Yes, and she has been miserable for a long time.”

“What the fuck do you want me to do?” I snapped. “If she doesn’t want to end up dead, then she needs to stay in hiding.”

“For the rest of her life?”

“Unless you know how to take the target off her back,” I argued.

“She goes with us and that’s final,” Eva said.

I looked around the room, hoping someone would be on my side, but everyone else was looking anywhere other than at us. Fuck this shit.

“Explain the consequences to Vira.”

“Fine.”

“I’m serious, Eva. You tell her everything that’s going on and what could happen. And I swear to God, if you leave a fucking thing out, this is on your head.”

She nodded tightly. That was really all I could do. I was being outnumbered left and right around here.

“Meeting adjourned.”

“That’s it?” Rae asked as I stormed to the door.

I stopped and turned to Eva. “Talk to Eva. She seems to be running things now.”

Petty? Maybe. But how was I supposed to be effective as a leader if she overrode me at every turn?