Chapter 4
Cannon sighed as he adjusted himself in the seat. He had been in his truck for most of the day and was starting to cramp up. Although Nahla seemed to have turned in for the night, he decided against getting a hotel room.
She wasn’t supposed to know he was here, and if she ended up catching a glimpse of him—one of the only other Black people in the building—it could spiral into her nosy ass trying to figure out who he was.
Nah, he’d just chill in the car.
She was scheduled to go back home the next morning, so he would be all right. His car was parked to the side of the building. He was facing Nahla’s vehicle but was positioned in a space where she shouldn’t notice him whenever she decided to come to the car.
Cannon had been following Nahla for the last two days.
The night before they left, he put a small tracking device on her car so he could follow her closely enough to intervene if something happened, but not so close as to be noticed by her.
She’d been all around the city, asking questions, and earlier today, when she left the public library, she seemed really excited, like she had uncovered something big.
Another reason he decided to remain in his vehicle was that around noon that day, he noticed two plainclothes police officers follow Nahla out of the courthouse.
They may have thought they were doing a good job of blending in, but Cannon had been trained to recognize things that didn’t belong.
They were definitely cops. The men had followed her to the diner where she had lunch, but remained in the car the entire time.
When she returned to the hotel, they followed her but drove past instead of stopping in.
They hadn’t tried anything all day, which may have meant that their boss only instructed them to watch her for the day.
But, if they wanted to do something to her, the middle of the night would be the perfect time.
Cannon figured the best vantage point was in the parking lot, because he could spot and stop any perceived threats at the door.
It had been hours, though, and nothing had happened yet.
Needing to stretch his long limbs, Cannon exited his vehicle and extended his arms above his head before securing his right arm in the crook of his left elbow and pulling tightly.
As he did the same thing with the other elbow, he noticed a car pulling into the parking lot, so he took a few steps back so that his SUV shielded him from being seen.
Once the car’s lights shut off, he stepped from behind his vehicle and observed.
The car had been parked right beside Nahla’s, which was the first red flag.
It wasn’t the exact vehicle that followed her around all day, but once the driver exited the car, he caught a glimpse of his face as he turned.
It was one of the undercover officers from earlier.
The guy reached back into his car and came out with a tire iron, which prompted Cannon to start moving.
He approached the man quietly, so he was clearly shocked when the tire iron he held above his head was being yanked from his grasp.
“What the—” the man said, but cut his statement short when Cannon gripped both his wrists and turned him around effortlessly.
The second man quickly moved toward the action. He lunged forward and threw a wild swing toward Cannon that didn’t connect. Cannon sidestepped it then countered by pushing the man into Nahla’s car aggressively, then gripping his throat with the same hand.
Cannon was a strong man, and more than that, he was a highly skilled fighter. He was confident these men wouldn’t go anywhere until he released them.
In a calm voice, Cannon asked, “Who sent you?”
The one whose hands were being held above his head glanced at his partner before looking back at Cannon and shaking his head.
“No one. We were just—”
“Nah,” Cane said, cutting him off. “Wrong answer.” He then readjusted his grip on the man so that his elbows bent in front of him and his hands were in a prayer position. Cannon then pressed the man’s hands against his own throat and pressed his shoulder into the guy’s chest area.
He also tightened his grip on the other guy’s neck and focused on him.
“You got ’bout five seconds to tell me somethin’ that’s gon’ keep you breathing.”
He had no intentions of killing these men, but they didn’t have to know that.
“It was Allen. Deputy Allen Miller! He’s our superior. He just told us to scare the reporter. That’s it,” the guy choked out.
Pissed, Cannon tightened his grip on them both. “Scare her? Y’all were ’bout to catch charges for property damage, obstruction, and attempted assault, ’cause I got the shit on video. Dumb asses.”
Both guys looked even more scared now. Cannon studied them. They were both young cops, clearly being groomed to be just as crooked as their sheriff.
Cannon’s jaw flexed. “I would never be dumb enough to send the video to your shady ass police department, but I got friends in high places. You want me to send it to them? Or you wanna walk away?”
Cannon could have sworn he saw tears in the eyes of the one struggling to breathe.
“Listen, we don’t want trouble. We were following orders, all right? We were just told to leave a message. That’s it.”
With a cold stare, Cannon said, “Then, here’s mine. You tell your boss that if he sends another one of you bitches after the reporter, he ain’t gon’ get ’em back. Y’all will do well to remember that too. Understand?”
They both nodded quickly.
“Good. When I let you go, get y’all’s asses in that car and go home. You can tell ’em this in the morning. Cool?”
Again, they nodded frantically.
Cannon released them with just as much force as he’d hemmed them up with, then he took a step back. His eyes remained on them until they got in their truck. He pulled out his phone and recorded as they drove away, as a reminder to run the truck’s plates once he got home.
Once their vehicle was no longer in sight, Cannon released a slow and steady breath, methodically allowing the adrenaline to simmer. He glanced at the ground and picked up the tire iron before pausing briefly.
As he was about to move, he sensed slight movement behind him, so he slowly turned.
And there she was.
Standing just behind the glass doors of the well-lit lobby was the woman whose honor he’d just defended.
Because of the lighting, he knew he had a better view of her than she did of him.
He briefly considered remaining a shadowy figure in the night, but something within—something illogical—wanted her to see him.
He lifted his head and pulled his hoodie back slightly as their eyes locked. He allowed himself a moment to admire her in the flesh. She was even more beautiful, with her silky straight hair in a messy bun atop her head, and orange sweats. He only wished the glass wasn’t between them.
As he studied her eyes, he realized she wasn’t what he expected. She didn’t seem reckless or naive in that moment. She was alert. Aware. Observing.
He shook his head slightly, trying to come back to his senses. After giving her a slight nod, he turned and walked away, toward his vehicle.
Back in his car, Cannon watched and waited after about five minutes of nothing. Nahla emerged from the glass doors. Without even looking around, she quickly got into her car and wasted no time pulling out of the lot.
Shaking his head, Cannon started his car.
She was really leaving in the middle of the night after witnessing that.
He would say that he couldn’t believe it, but it wouldn’t have been true. He was getting to know Nahla better, and she didn’t strike him as the type of woman who would let a minor incident shake her.
Once he felt she was a good way down the road, he went to his tracking app on his phone and followed it. As he trailed behind with his headlights off, his thoughts were on her.
The way she traced his face with his eyes, like she was memorizing every detail, reminded him of himself on the job, and that intrigued him more.
The fact that she got her ass in the car to travel in the middle of the night infuriated him, and her beauty aroused him.
In a matter of minutes, Nahla had managed to become Cannon’s headache and his habit, because there was no way he was leaving her alone after this.
He officially felt obligated to keep her safe, and that was precisely what he intended to do.