Chapter 25
Adalyn glanced down as her cell phone buzzed just in case it was Fleur, the only one they’d had to leave behind for this three a.m. op. Gage was back at the safe house as well, monitoring the feed from Ali’s house and the one at Winters’ warehouse, and she was glad he was there regardless to watch her sister’s back.
But it wasn’t Fleur, it was Reese who was texting. Adalyn glanced at Hailey, who was in the passenger seat as they idled, but the other woman was watching the feed on her own screen as they waited for Ali to show up. Jesse was in the back, on his phone, likely answering work emails. He wasn’t part of their crew, but he was handy to have in a crisis. It was because of him that they had a quiet warehouse to wait inside only two blocks from the meeting point. A friend of a friend had said it was open for use so they were literally just idling inside as they watched from their drone feeds.
And waited.
So, you and Rowan?Reese texted oh so subtly.
Adalyn wondered who had narced on her. We’re working a job together, yes. Also, why are you texting at one in the morning?
It’s not one here. It’s breakfast time and my man is off grabbing me food. So, what’s going on with you two?
Nothing.
Not what I heard.
You heard wrong.
Your pants are on fire. I can smell them all the way from Europe.
Must be a pretty boring honeymoon if you’re taking out time to text me. Maybe your man needs to give you more dick.
Reese sent back half a dozen laughing emojis, then a bunch of eggplant ones. I know you’re trying to change the subject and it’s not going to work. But speaking of dick, it sounds like you need more from your man.
Not having this conversation! And he’s not my man.See, this was the problem with having more friends: now she had people knowing her business. And…she also had people who cared about her, so it was a double-edged sword.
Ugh, fine. I’ll get the details from you later. So how’s the op going?
Okay, she was down for the subject change. Anything other than talking about Rowan’s dick. Mainly because she’d been obsessing about it. Or maybe not it, specifically, but what had happened between them. And she wanted more. (Of his dick.) I think we’re close to ending things and giving everyone closure.
Even though their phones were secure, she was still careful about job details. They all were.
Good. I wish I was there for this. I hear your sister is a champ and holding up well. I also heard that you now have a dog named Gumbo. I want pictures pronto!
She laughed lightly, earning a sideways look from Hailey. “It’s your girl, Reese. She wants pictures of Gumbo.”
Hailey simply grinned, then turned back to her laptop.
Adalyn shot off a few pictures because yes, she’d been taking them at an alarming rate. It was like she didn’t even recognize herself this week.
OMG, I want to squish her cute little face right off!
Adalyn grinned again, but bit back a laugh. Right? She’s the best. I’ve gotta go though.
Yeah, go get some dick.
OMG, you’ve got problems.
True enough. Watch your six and check in after the job.
I will.
“You think it’s time to contact Detective Flores?” she asked into the quiet.
“Yeah,” Hailey murmured, not glancing up. “We’re about two hours out. It’s enough time for her to get a team together and get a warrant signed if they want this bad enough. And according to her phone, she’s at the station. Or her cell is.”
Adalyn leaned back against the headrest as she slid her Bluetooth in, dialed Detective Camila Flores.
“Flores here,” the woman barked out. There were soft murmurs in the background and the sound of someone typing on a keyboard.
“Ah, Detective Flores, this is Adalyn Bonnevie.”
The sound of the keyboard clacking stopped. “Are you okay? Is your sister okay?”
“Yeah, we’re both good. Listen, I didn’t lie to you before, but I also didn’t tell you everything. I wasn’t sure if I could trust you.” Not necessarily the reason, but it worked for their situation. “Rory and I had been in contact after Clara’s murder about…about something big. I’m going to cut through all the shit because you’re going to have to move fast. A man named Omar Ali is running weapons through New Orleans. He’s stashing them at a warehouse owned by a woman named Naomi Winters—and he’s going to be there in two hours at three o’clock to broker a sale.”
There was a moment of silence. “That’s a lot of information. And I know who Winters is.”
“Good. Then do you also know that the DEA and ATF are working with a special team within the NOLA PD to bring her down? I’ve got evidence of the weapons being stashed there. I’m sending you images and videos as we speak.”
Hailey nodded next to her as she sent them to the detective’s email from an untraceable account.
“They should be in your inbox now. You can say that a CI from a case you’re working sent them to you as an act of goodwill. Now you’ve got a very clear trail of the information as well since this is your work email. And it’s my understanding that Judge álvarez will give you your warrant—it’s an election year and he wants to get rid of the dirty judges who have been blocking Ms. Winters’ prosecution.”
“Hold on.” She was silent, likely as she reviewed the contents of the email. Then she spoke again, her voice lower. “You’re sure he’ll be there at three?”
“Check the video labeled 47875Ali. The conversation about the meeting time is on that one. So no one is just going to have to take your word. Your ass is covered.”
“I looked into you. Or tried to. I didn’t find much, but my college roommate ended up with the FBI. She dug around for me and said you’re likely with one of the other alphabet agencies. She also told me to stop looking into you.”
Yeah, Adalyn already knew that, courtesy of Hailey and Gage. They had alerts set up for everyone who worked for Redemption Harbor. If anyone tried to look into them, they found out who and why. “Smart woman. Now take this information or don’t. But I have reason to believe that not only is Ali trafficking weapons through your city, that he’s the one who killed Rory and Clara. Their families deserve justice and closure. If you don’t bring him down, I will.”
“I’ll run this up the chain.”
“You better hurry.” Adalyn hung up, having told the detective everything she needed to know.
“I hate depending on someone else to do their job properly,” Hailey grumbled.
Yeah, Adalyn did too. “She’s got a solid track record.” The detective had a distinguished career and had a ninety percent closure rate on her cases. She was trustworthy and would take this information directly to the team trying to bring down Winters. And from there, they’d likely call in ESU and then it would be on.
“I know, I just like to complain sometimes.” She sniffed once.
Which just made Adalyn smile. “Why didn’t you guys bring Pumpkin on this trip anyway?”
“We weren’t sure how long we’d be here and Easton was in town already visiting. He said he’d watch him for us and I think it’s good for both of them.”
“She’s just trying to convince Easton to get a dog and thinks this will help him,” Jesse murmured from the back.
“The world would be a better place if everyone had a dog. Or four,” Hailey said.
“We’re not getting three more dogs.” Jesse’s tone was dry.
But something told Adalyn that if Hailey pushed, he’d buy her an entire farm of dogs and anything else she wanted. Llamas, rabbits, whatever.
Her phone buzzed again; this time it was Rowan. And she hated the way her heart rate jacked up at simply seeing his name. Reese clearly wasn’t the one with problems—Adalyn was.
She had one big one. Well other than the psycho who wanted to destroy her life.
Rowan.
Have you reached out to the detective?
Okay, it was just work talk. She could deal with that and nothing else. Yep. Just called her. I think she’s going to run with it.
“Judge álvarez’s phone is on the move,” Hailey said suddenly as she looked up from her screen. “Flores must have reached out to the team already. Looks like he’s heading to the station so he’ll be signing the warrant. And Gage just messaged me that there’s a lot of chatter at the house on the water. There’s a small team of guys about to roll out. Looks like the deal is on for Ali and his buyer.”
She just hoped everything went smoothly, that Omar Ali was brought to justice.
Her phone buzzed again, another text from Rowan. We’re doing the right thing. And what the heck? It was like the man was in her head, reading her thoughts.
I know.
Just reminding you in case you’re starting to doubt yourself.
She gritted her teeth because fine, that was exactly what she’d been doing. So she shoved back her natural defensiveness where it came to him. Because she had to face it—he’d stripped her bare in more ways than one. And no matter how much she wanted to keep walls between them, he was being a good friend and she appreciated that more than she wanted to admit. Thank you. I have been up in my head about this. How are things in your SUV?
Tiago and Ezra are arguing over who is going to ask your sister out.
Are you serious?
No. Just messing with you.
You know everyone is talking about us, right? Because I got a text from Reese asking about you.
What did you say to her?he asked.
Oooh, she didn’t want to touch that at all. That nothing was going on with us.
Really? Nothing?
You’re a good friend, Rowan.
Thank you. But we’re more than friends.
She set her phone down on her lap, unsure how to respond. Because he wasn’t wrong. And oh sweet baby Jesus, she shouldn’t be thinking about this right now.
“I know that look,” Hailey murmured.
“You didn’t even look up from your screen.” And a quick glance at it showed that nothing had changed. The warehouse had a few people standing guard who Adalyn assumed were Winters’ security. They were alert, but a little bored-looking.
“She’s all-seeing,” Jesse murmured. “And she’s not wrong. Because I recognize that expression too.”
“Oh my god, you guys. Nothing is going on. Nothing.”
“Say nothing one more time and I might believe you.” Hailey was full-on grinning.
“We’re just…”
“Friends?” Jesse snorted from the back.
Sighing, she started to text Rowan back, then set her phone down. Because she had no idea how to respond to him. What was she going to text him—that she was broken and didn’t do relationships? Yeah, that would go over really well. He’d convince her that she was wrong, then she’d end up in bed with him again because she was weak where he was concerned—only where he was concerned, in fact. The man brought out a side of her she hadn’t even realized existed.
He made her want things she had no business wanting.
Happy endings weren’t for people like her, and that was okay. She’d learned to live with it and now he’d screwed everything up with his big, wonderful self.