Page 61 of Olivia

“We do. Following them now,”Alice responded.

“Keep on them. I want to know why they left before Diaz,” Jackson said.

“On it,”she responded, but Jackson’s eyes were on Anna.

He wondered again how she did it. He knew how hard being undercover was and how people slowly lost themselves over the years. It was like each day stole a little of the soul. It stole a day of her life too—a day she would not get back to live her own life.

He bit his lip, puffing out a frustrated sigh.

Jackson knew he thought too much about Anna, yet it didn’t stop his mind from constantly drifting back to her. There was something about Anna— and it wasn’t just how beautiful she was. She was like a magnet, drawing everyone closer to her. He even saw it with Damon and Becky. Everyone around her was drawn to her, including himself, but the only thing he should’ve been thinking about was how to get her on his side.

Jackson understood why Diaz had let her into his organization, how she’d been able to work her way in when countless others had surely tried and failed.

Anna’s car roared to life. It didn’t purr like a kitten; it roared like a lion. Angry, tough, hungry.

He wondered again about the time she’d spent undercover, playing a role. He wondered if she’d be able to walk away when this was all done. It was the only life she knew now.

She drove away from the diner, but Jackson didn’t move. He didn’t start his car. He sat in the parking lot and watched everything around him for the next two hours.

Fifteen minutes after Anna left, Jackson saw four men come out of the woods, climb into a sedan, and drive away.

Jackson hadn’t seen these guys following her before. They didn’t look like Diaz’s guys—didn’t dress like them, didn’t walk like them.

Had Diaz hired additional security?

Jackson chewed on his cheek.

Diaz wouldn’t do that—he kept his circle small. Diaz trusted few and outsourcing his security was a risk he wouldn’t take.

Jackson made a mental note to look into this when he heard Alice’s voice.

“Target has pulled up at the south warehouse.”

Jackson’s blood ran cold. That was the warehouse they’d raided and Diaz had no reason to go back to it.

It was the warehouse Anna had been in a few hours ago.

Jackson had a bad feeling about this.

ANNA

Anna turned up the music so Diaz couldn’t hear her thumping heart. He was acting strange, she thought, but she couldn’t tell if it was real or her paranoia.

She thought back to the warehouse. The ring mark on the ground could’ve been placed there after the raid, she realized, second-guessing everything again. This entire thing could have been a setup by Jackson. She barely knew him, she could hardly trust him, and he had a lot to gain from this potential partnership.

But so did she—if Diaz didn’t kill her before she could reap the benefits.

She looked at him, his jaw set, his teeth grinding.

She made herself a promise in that moment. No matter what happened, she would not scream. She would not beg for mercy. She would die with dignity, because that was all she had left.

“What’s wrong, Diaz?” Anna asked gently.

“I don’t trust anyone around me, Anna,” he said, his hands gripping the steering wheel.

“Anyone? That’s unfair, Diaz,” she said, playing the role she had been playing for so many years: the dedicated girlfriend who would take a bullet for him.

“Is it?” he asked, turning his cold, hard eyes on her.

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