Page 39 of Loco

Like it never happened.

My phone rang again, and I didn’t need to check to know who it was.

“Hey,” I answered, already walking to the front of the car.

“Is the tire swapped?” Roque asked.

“Yeah, and your guy picked up the one with the knife. Didn’t say much, just boxed it up and took off into the store.”

“Good,” he said. His voice was steady but low as if he were juggling too many thoughts at once. “Go home, okay? Just go home.”

I didn’t argue.

The drive back was quiet, a little eerie, but I kept my focus on the road, watching the way the snow was finally melting away at the edges. I didn’t let my thoughts spiral—I wouldn’t let myself fall into the trap of trying to explain what couldn’t be explained just yet.

When I pulled into Roque’s driveway, the moving truck was parked at the curb, and the hazard lights were blinking.

The moment the back doors rolled up, any lingering unease from the mall vanished. I barely had time to think about what had happened. My mind was consumed with sorting boxes, directing the movers, and ensuring everything the kids needed was in the right room.

Kaida’s ballerina pig comforter went into the wash, and Kairo’s fireman puppy set was next. I laid out their beanbags by the window, tested the aurora projector on the ceiling, and stuffed soft star-shaped cushions onto each pillow.

I wasn’t just setting up rooms. I was building a haven, one soft thing at a time.

And whatever had happened in that parking lot, it could wait.

The kids were coming home, and that was the only thing that mattered.

Chapter 13

Roque

Istood in the center of the briefing room, my jaw clenched so tight it ached. Judd was at the head of the table, arms folded, that unreadable expression on his face that told me he was just as pissed off as I was—he just had more practice hiding it. Around the room sat one of the detectives, Imogen, sharp-eyed and always five steps ahead. Kapono—our steady, quietly brilliant investigator—and Keir, the Deputy Sheriff, whose silence spoke volumes. Kai was already thumbing through files on his tablet, frowning.

I’d just finished explaining what happened to Sayla—a flat tire, knife, the two assholes in black, the tire now boxed and sealed for evidence.

Kapono didn’t waste a second. He pulled out his phone and called the lab, asking for his brother. “Yeah, I need you to get that tire Roque flagged. It’s evidence now. Also, do me a favor—check in on Sayla for us. She was there when it happened.”

It was the right call, but it was like striking a match in the powder keg under my skin.

“No,” I snapped, pacing now, my boots echoing off the tile. “No more checkingin—they went after her. This isn’t a scare tactic, it’s retaliation. Theyknowwe’re onto them, and this proves it.”

Everyone in the room went still, the kind of quiet that only came when everyone agreed with the words but no one wanted to hear them.

“They’re worried,” I went on, voice low and furious. “Which means we’re finally making the right noise, but they didn’t come at me, they went afterher. And that—” I stabbed a finger toward the table “—means we’re getting too damn close, so we need someone to watch her.”

Judd exhaled through his nose, then turned to the monitor on the wall. With a few taps on the remote, he pulled up a video still. The Chief—Randolph Topper—standing outside an old building in Palmerstown, shaking hands with two men we’d identified weeks ago as members of the money laundering and prostitution ring infecting the town like rot beneath the surface. The footage was clear, damning even, but it wasn’tenough.

“Without stronger evidence,” Judd said grimly, “we can’t get a warrant or a task force yet.”

“They’re coming home tomorrow,” I said, cutting through the tension, “Kairo and Kaida. I’m working from home for the rest of the week.”

“You need protection,” Judd replied immediately. “Call Enclave Security—let them do a full install on your property. You need to lock that place down, Roque.”

Imogen looked up from her notes, her voice calm but pointed. “They’re targeting you because you have a weakness.”

I looked at her, throat tight.

“Sayla,” she said. “You care about her. They know it, that’s why they went after her.”

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